Dubai, United Arab Emirates, 14 February 2019: Snapchat has partnered with Dubai Lynx International Festival of Creativity in a new competition that invites the regions creatives to utilize the power of Snapchats latest augmented reality (AR) capabilities for a social purpose.

The brief asks creatives to design an impactful branded AR experience that helps raise awareness and drives donations for the work of Mdecins Sans Frontires. The NGO worked with Snapchat to develop the brief which focuses on the efforts the organization is making with young people around mental health and psychosocial support programs. Submissions can be an actual Snapchat Lens, storyboards of the creative idea, or even a short animation or video.

The competition is open to anyone currently working within a creative agency in the MENA region. Entry into the competition can be as an individual, or as part of a team of up to three people, and all entries should be submitted to gayathrid@dubailynx.com by February 28, 2019.

Competition winners will be awarded with a four-day trip to Los Angeles to visit Snap Inc, and will also have their work showcased at this years Dubai Lynx Festival, which takes place on March 11 12 at the Madinat Jumeirah. Additional details about the competition can be found here.

Augmented reality is a key part of the Snapchat app -- more than 70% of daily active users play or view AR "Lenses" on the app every day and Snapchatters spend, on average, more than 30 minutes on Snapchat every day.

Last year Snapchat launched a global Lens Creative Partners program designed to connect brands with AR experts and Lens creators. The program certified 30+ creators, from large agencies to expert individuals, whove been building engaging, immersive AR Lenses for Snap since the launch of Lens Studio. Snapchat aims to give brands easy access to expert AR ad creators, no matter their budget, brand, or location.