Campaigners, entrepreneurs, and innovative industry
experts are just a few of the 20 talented young people who
have been shortlisted for the 2018 Commonwealth Youth
Awards.
The awards recognise outstanding young people aged 15 to
29 whose innovative projects and programmes have had a
significant impact on their communities. This year’s focus is
on celebrating young people’s contribution towards a fairer,
more sustainable, more secure and more prosperous future
for the Commonwealth: the four sub-themes of the
Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)
taking place in London in April.
The 20 finalists span every region of the Commonwealth,
including Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Americas, Europe,
and the Pacific. They were shortlisted from more than 400
applications from across the globe. The programme is being
coordinated by the Commonwealth Youth Programme.
Regional Young Persons of the Year will be selected, with
one exceptional entrant being recognised as the
Commonwealth Young Person of the Year during the
Commonwealth Youth Forum, in London in April.
In addition to a grant of GBP £1,000 to continue their
development work, finalists will each be awarded a trophy
and certificate. The Regional Young Persons of the Year will
receive £3,000, and the Commonwealth Young Person of the
Year will pick up £5,000.
The Pan-Commonwealth adjudication panel for the final
shortlisting of the overall regional and overall winner of the
2018 awards, convened by the Commonwealth Secretariat, ,
included the High Commissioner for Saint Kitts and Nevis,
representatives from the High Commissions of Fiji, Malaysia,
and Kenya, a trustee of the British Youth Council and the
Commonwealth Local Government Forum.
Last year’s Commonwealth Young Person of the Year was Krystle Reid, an advocate for empowerment of young persons living with disabilities in her native country Sri Lanka. Speaking about her experience of winning the award, she said, “It was a highlight of my life and a great opportunity and platform to further scale up the work of the Enable Lanka Foundation for an incubator space for young entrepreneurs with disabilities. This award will allow me to reach out to even more marginalised groups and communities. It is an opportunity no young person should miss.”
The finalists this year have initiatives and projects that aim
to build a more secure, prosperous, fairer and a sustainable
future for all in the grassroots levels and exemplify the
outstanding contribution of young people from across the
Commonwealth in achieving the Sustainable Development
Goals and realising the CHOGM2018 aspiration “Towards a
Common Future”
The shortlisted finalists are:
ASIA
1. India - Mrinalini Dayal
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality.
Mrinalini is the campaign leader for ‘Health Over Stigma’, an
organisation which aims to challenge the stigma of accessing
sexual health services and create a safe haven for women to
reproductive health facilities. The organisation also
supports women to gain the skills to run advocacy
campaigns and positively impact the lives of other women.
To date, ‘Health Over Stigma’ has trained more than 450
young activists.
2. Pakistan - Zain Ashraf
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reduced
Inequalities.
Zain is the founder of ‘Seed Out’, a not-for-profit
crowdfunding platform which works to end poverty by
establishing micro-entrepreneurs through interest-free
micro-financing. Since 2014 the organisation has raised 350
entrepreneurs, selecting and pairing micro entrepreneurs
with a business based on need.
3. Singapore - Vanessa Paranjothy
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and
Well-Being.
Vanessa is the founder of ‘Freedom Cups’, an organisation
which distributes reusable, sustainable menstrual products
in developing regions of Asia and provides education to
women and girls about their bodies and the environmental
impact of periods. It is run on a buy-one, give-one model
where every cup purchased results in one being donated.
There are 15 projects in 7 countries which have provided
support to more than 3000 women and girls.
4. India - Yogesh Kumar Rao
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality.
Yogesh is the founder of ‘Even Cargo’, a social enterprise
which promotes gender equality through the employment of
women couriering, which is a traditionally male profession
in India. The organisation works to overcome the barriers of
unemployment through skill development of women,
training female drivers in motorcycle driving, self-defence
and logistics.
5. Brunei - Khairul Azmi Salleh
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities
and Communities.
Khairul is the vice chair of the ‘Society of Community
Outreach and Training’, which encourages low income
earners to gain income through recycling, and supports
them to be more innovative. Since 2011, the organisation
has collected more than 60,000kg of recyclables. The
significance being that, for every $1 of recyclable materials
contributed, a resident receives 1.5kg of rice.
AFRICA AND EUROPE
6. Tanzania - Elia Timotheo
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities
and Communities.
Elia is the founder of ‘East Africa Fruits’, a company that
aims to increase the shelf-life of produce through cold-chain
technology. In addition, it works to increase the income and
standard of living of smallholder farmers, creating
employment opportunities for young people. It also focuses
on sustainable production methods, with the aim of
reducing the amount of carbon dioxide omitted to the
atmosphere.
7. Uganda - Sherifah Tumusiime
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality.
Sherifah is the founder of Zimba Group, a start-up business
that provides technology and software solutions for SMEs. It
also provides tools, technologies, platforms and networks to
improve the livelihood of women in underserved
communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.
8. Uganda - Okettayot Lawrence
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities
and Communities.
Okettayot is the creator of ‘Sparky Dryer’, a low-tech
dehydrator which dries fruits and vegetables to extend their
shelf life from two days to two years. The aim of the creation
is that it increases food security and income for local
communities.
9. Nigeria - Omowumi Ogunrotim
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality.
Onowumi is the founder of ‘Gender Mobile’, which aims to
increase the reportage of, and reduce the incidence of,
gender-based violence through coordination of linked
services. It also works to provide survivors with information,
referrals, assistance and longer-term help to close the gap in
service delivery through creative use of technology.
10. Kenya - Gerald Matolo
Focus Sustainable Development Goal 8: Decent Work and
Economic Growth.
Gerald is the founder of ‘Angaza Africa Technologies’, a clean
energy company that manufactures electric and manual
briquette machines and carbonisation kilns, in addition to
processing eco-friendly charcoal pellets for cooking. The
company also focusses on empowering women and youth
groups by distributing the machines in an affordable way.
PACIFIC
11. Australia - Kate Crowhurst
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education.
Kate is the founder of ‘Advocate’, an initiative aimed at
improving the financial literacy of young Australians. It also
creates resources that enable students from low English or
low literacy backgrounds to learn additional skills. To date it
has created two textbooks for the Australian curriculum,
which are used in 3,500 libraries across the country.
12. Australia - Usman Iftikhar
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities
and Communities.
Usman is the founder of ‘Catalysr’ a start-up incubator that
enables migrants and refugees in Australia to start their own
businesses and create a sustainable future for themselves
and their communities. The company’s four-month
incubator programme offers office space, mentoring
sessions, networking opportunities and access to capital.
13. Fiji - Josevata Rotidara
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and
Well-Being.
Josevata is an advocate for ‘Campaign for Mental Health’, an
organisation that promotes education to enhance the
capabilities of young people, gender equality and
sustainable development. It also focuses on mental health
and well-being in order to overcome the stigma that
surrounds it.
14. Fiji - Elvis Anal Kumar
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 16: Peace, Justice and
Strong Institutions.
Elvis is a mindfulness trainer at ‘Peace for Pacific’, an
organisation that conducts self-development workshops for
young Pacific Islanders and teaches stress management,
conflict resolution, non-violent communication and youth
empowerment.
15. Papua New Guinea - Lazarus Towa
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 8: Decent Work and
Economic Growth.
Lazarus is a youth worker at ‘Unemployment Initiates’, which
links youth with employment opportunities. The
organisation also engages youth through social media and
targets jobseekers who do not have easy access to job
vacancy sites, in addition to providing additional support
through advice such as CV writing.
CARIBBEAN AND THE AMERICAS
16. Jamaica - Rayon Mclean
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 10: Reduced
Inequalities.
Rayon is the founder of Quilt, a performing arts company
which engages with children with disabilities, minority
groups and at-risk young people.
17. Jamaica - Sophia Bryan
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality.
Sophia is the founder of ‘Women of Unlimited Worth’, which
provides holistic support to young women who are exposed
to, or at risk of, discrimination or gender violence. The
organisation also provides coaching and mentoring
mentorship services, specifically aimed at teaching women
to provide for themselves.
18. Trinidad and Tobago - Jonathan Barcant
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action.
Jonathan is the founder of ‘Vetivier Education and
Empowerment Project’, a cost-effective bio-engineering
scheme to build climate change resilience. The scheme
delivers a penetrating root system to stabilise land,
preventing erosion and slowing down water run-off.
19. Canada - Kehkashan Basu
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education.
Kehkashan is the founder of ‘Green Hope Foundation’, which
engages, empowers and educates more than 1000 young
people in Canada, India and Malaysia to take action on
climate change, the right to education, and gender equality.
The foundation also runs environment academies which
deliver customised workshops with the mantra of “By Youth,
For Youth”.
20. Guyana - Patricee Douglas
Focus: Sustainable Development Goal 3: Good Health and
Well-Being.
Patricee is the founder of SRHR Adventures, which promotes
sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) with an
emphasis on family planning and contraception in Guyana.
The organisation also empowers women and girls to take
control of their SRHR, in addition to promoting family
planning, safe sex practices and the HPV vaccine.
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