Five social enterprises founded by young people across the
Asia Pacific were recognized for innovative approaches to help achieve the
United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The winning teams were chosen from 16 finalists in the
Summit’s Regional Social Innovation Challenge, which capped the inaugural Youth
Co:Lab Summit 2018 held in Bangkok, Thailand.
Launched in 2017 by the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP), with support from the Citi Foundation, Youth Co:Lab is a regional
program that aims to tackle social and unemployment challenges by harnessing
youth’s leadership, entrepreneurship and innovation. The program is part of
Citi and Citi Foundation’s Pathways to Progress initiative to equip urban youth
with the tools to thrive in today’s economy.
All three Philippine teams won in the categories of
Start-up Track and Scale-up Track.
The Philippine representatives were Alex Austria and Keisha
Mayuga of LawKo, a legal literacy initiative; Pamela Nicole Mejia of Phinix, a
textile recycling center; and Samantha Sanchez and Dominique de Leon of Arooga
Health, a mental wellness platform.
Citi Philippines CEO Aftab Ahmed congratulated the young
entrepreneurs, telling them, "Citi is proud of what you’ve achieved both
as delegates and entrepreneurs. Your entrepreneurial spirit is to be admired
and we look forward to seeing the continued growth of your businesses in
contributing to the development of the Philippine economy.”
A total of 21 teams, consisting of over 30 young people
from 9 countries, participated in two days of dialogue, capacity-building and
mentorship before making their final pitches. The winning teams will
participate in a youth entrepreneurship forum in China in August 2018.
For the Start-up Track category, winners are LawKo, a
social media chatbot that aims to bridge the knowledge gap between a
jargon-filled legal system and the general public by responding to questions
about legal and government processes; and Arooga Health, a platform that
provides users with convenient access to trusted emotional and mental wellness
care providers.
For the Scale-up Track category, winners are Phinix, a
textile recycling center that collects fabric scraps and transforms them into
higher value products like footwear, fashion accessories and lifestyle pieces
and Hands On from China which uses 3-D printing technology to produce
affordable prosthetics for children and young amputees. In the past year, the
social enterprise has made over 50 robotic hands for beneficiaries in over 14
Chinese provinces.
For the Popular Award category, Blue Hearts from the
Maldives has received over 900 Likes on Facebook. The online platform is
designed to provide young people access to psychological care by connecting
them to psychology graduates seeking work experience. The graduate volunteers
will be supervised by registered professionals.
Winners were chosen based on included contribution to
relevant Sustainable Development Goal(s), viability and potential to scale
social enterprise models, team capability and innovation, including potential
to pioneer impactful change, among other things.
The judges were David Galipeau, UNDP SDG Impact Finance
chief impact officer; Brandee McHale, Citi Foundation president and Citi
Corporate Citizenship director; Chinawut Chinaprayoon, Thailand National
Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office New Venture and
Entrepreneurship director; Elsie Tsui, Hong Kong Social Enterprise Challenge
project director; Sujiva Dewaraja, Sri Lanka John Keells Holdings former
executive vice-president; and Chiratas Nivatpumin, Bangkok Post Newspaper
Business assistant chief operating officer.
The Regional Social Innovation Challenge, part of the
inaugural Asia Pacific Youth Co:Lab Summit, marked the first year of
partnership between UNDP and Citi Foundation. The program has reached over
1,700 young people and led to the launch and further development of over 140
social enterprises in 11 countries: Thailand, Philippines, China, Maldives,
Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Pakistan and Vietnam. The
Youth Co:Lab program is expected to include 16 countries by 2019.
“We are here to support young people. While we do not doubt
the ability of young people to lead innovation, we know that the systems that
have been conceived for their economic and social empowerment often fall short
[…] We will only be able to work for the good of the region’s social
entrepreneurs if we solidify our partnerships..., including the new partnership
between Citi Foundation and UNDP... connecting with ongoing national level
initiatives will be crucial to this success,” said Haoliang Xu, United Nations
assistant secretary general and UNDP director for Asia Pacific.
"Youth Co:Lab is enabling young entrepreneurs to be at
the center of efforts to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals,” said
McHale. "The Citi Foundation is looking forward to continue our work with
the UNDP to help more young people across the Asia Pacific region achieve their
full potential."
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