PIONEERS IN SDGS AWARDS 2020
Congratulations to all project participants!
The Journalists and Writers Foundation and its 35 Global Partners from 24 countries appreciate your contributions to society through innovative project. Your projects have a potential to serve as exemplary models and inspire others to make positive social change while contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This is a remarkable opportunity for your organizations to share your projects as best-practices with the United Nations and other relevant stakeholders while exploring other opportunities for collaboration and partnership.
The Pioneers in SDGs Awards pay tribute to outstanding individuals and organizations that contribute to sustainable peace and development through innovative and creative projects. Promoting peaceful and inclusive societies; protecting human rights, the rule of law, and democratic values; empowering women, girls, and youth for social justice and equal opportunities play an essential role in achieving sustainable development goals worldwide.
Our international jury evaluated the contributions of your projects based on four criteria: innovation, stakeholders, scope, and impact. Our international jury also considered your project descriptions, concept notes, and the video presentations to provide you with comments that can help improve your projects with its scope and impact. Recommendations and comments of the jurors can benefit your project and your organization to make the changes, improvements, and modifications necessary to achieve tangible and higher levels of outcomes.
The first-place winner was awarded with $1,000 USD, second-place winner $750 USD, and third-place winner $500 USD. All category winners, including Innovation Award, Stakeholders Award, Scope Award, Impact Award and Changemakers Award, received a Certificate of Recognition for their commitment, dedication, philanthropy, and community service.
The winners were announced at the Pioneers in SDGs Virtual Award Ceremony on 24 September 2020 at 12:00pm EST during the UNGA Conference 2020. Event videos and photos are available on our website www.unga-conference.org to share for greater visibility within your network.
We wish all project participants the best for many more accomplishments and we look forward to working with you to make this world a better place for all.
Journalists and Writers Foundation
Global Partners
Disclaimer: The evaluations are prepared by our international jury in their personal capacity on a voluntary basis. The opinions and recommendations expressed in the evaluation forms are the jury’s own and do not reflect the view of the Journalists and Writers Foundation or its Global Partners.
WINNERS OF THE PIONEERS IN SDGs AWARDS 2020
1st PLACE
GLOBAL CALL FOR ACTION: SAVE LAKE VICTORIA NOW & STOP TOXIC FLOW!
ACAD Interfaith Kenya-Swiss-Turk Curatorium Bamboo-Equator Africa
Brief Information about the project: Save Lake Victoria “fish and weed” Initiative was launched in 2002 as MDG/PPP with : Swiss Federal Dep.of foreign Trade, to implement new Policy “Trade-is-Aid with Kenya Ministry of Social Services and Heritage (Prison Service) Maseno University, Faculty Social Study, Diozese of Kakamega Bishop Dr.Sulumetti , KIBOS Prison, BUYANGU Mission Hospital , and the Dunga Fisher Community – facilitated and managed by Swiss Organic Heritage – as Rebel.edu Lecturers of Dr.Rudolf Steiners anthroposophical Bio-dymanic Tropical Agro-Forestry and Permaculture .
2nd PLACE
LOCALIZING THE SDGS BY EMPOWERING YOUTH AS CHANGEMAKERS
Green Hope Foundation
Brief Information about the project: Green Hope is working to engage and educate youth – focusing on marginalized people (refugees, orphans, homeless) and empowering them to demand their rights, in particular to inheriting a sustainable environment. Our project addresses the lack of inclusivity and the low level of awareness amongst young people. Our mission is to empower young people, cutting across social, cultural and economic barriers, in the implementation of the SDGs, taking grassroots level actions as well as providing a platform that amplifies our voices in policy making. We use Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) as a transformative tool to engage young people in the implementation of the SDGs. ESD enables us to view the current challenges as one’s own and shows how to approach them at a grassroots level (“think globally, act locally”), thereby creating new values and behaviors that contribute to solutions for those problems and, by extension, to the creation of a sustainable society. During the ongoing COVID-19, we are building resilience amongst poverty-stricken villages in Bangladesh, providing them with food, masks, soaps and sanitary napkins. Most of these villagers have lost their sources of income due to COVID-19, hence we are training them in sustainable farming and poultry, so that they can become self-reliant.
3rd PLACE
LANGUAGE CONVERSATION & INTEGRATION CLASSES FOR REFUGEE AND MIGRANT WOMEN
Turquoise Harmony Institute
Brief Information about the project: With a view to combat the social exclusion of refugee women and migrants and promote their smooth integration into South African society, THI provides free intense courses in English, adapted to the particular daily needs of the participants, as well skills development classes including baking and sewing. The teaching materials and lesson plans have been developed in such a way that they can speak English on a basic level and carry on their lives in the host country more confidently. Language classes are designed to meet every day conversational needs of the participants. With specific chosen themes, the participants will learn how to express themselves in certain places and certain occasions. The classes are held every Saturday morning for 12 consecutive weeks. Because of the current pandemic and lockdown in South Africa and the world, we offer these classes via WhatsApp. The lessons are edited to fit in an online format by recording the lessons as voice notes, as well as preparing worksheets and flash cards accordingly. The group participants are kept active and involved by assignments and various discussion topics on WhatsApp.
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INNOVATION AWARD
PREVENTION AND COUNTERING VIOLENT EXTREMISM
Kamukunji Community Peace Network-KACPEN
Brief Information about the project: In partnership with, Kenya Ni Wajibu Wetu – NIWETU and USAID, Kamukunji Community Peace Network (KACPEN) implemented a CVE knowledge and skills training activity that targeted the same 242 community members who participated in the trauma healing activity; and an additional 40 community members, who have never participated in any CVE intervention/activity. The CVE knowledge and skills activity involved joint trainings bringing together community and security agencies, in order to strengthen trust and relations among them. KACPEN enhanced the technical knowledge and skills on countering violent extremism (CVE) and to equipped them in analyzing and addressing local drivers of VE. This intervention targeted participants that went through an earlier trauma healing session (242 participants) and additional 40 participants from the community that where be identified by KACPEN in consultation with NIWETU. These participants included women, men, youth and government agents.
STAKEHOLDERS AWARD
CommUnity
Intercultural Dialogue Platform
Brief Information about the project: CommUnity aims to prevent the radicalization of young people by strengthening community engagement and social cohesion and addressing the factors that push youngsters towards extremism, such as inequality, marginalization and discrimination. Our strategy is innovative in the sense that it aims to turn vulnerable audiences into our most effective allies in preventing radicalization. Empowering young people, including those who feel marginalized or unfairly treated, will pave the way for stronger communities that will play a key role in preventing extremism. To avoid the risks of stigmatization, which can lead to mixed results such as exclusion rather than inclusion, CommUnity adopts an empowerment strategy rather than a strategy that focuses on the label of vulnerability. The project strategy is supported by a creative approach, exploring identity through cultural and artistic expression.
SCOPE AWARD
TUNU FOOTBALL CLUB
Tunu Foundation
Brief Information about the project: This project was birthed from the need to occupy girls from less privileged backgrounds during the Corona period when schools were indefinitely closed and most girls fell prey to child prostitution and being sexually taken advantage of so as to afford basic needs that were mainly provided for in school. The basic needs include sanitary pads and hygiene products which Tunu FC provides for the girls.
IMPACT AWARD
CULTURE CONSERVATION-BASED INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
EMIC Culture Union
Brief Information about the project: The project is designed upon most of the ethnic minority villages in developing region where women are so left to the impoverishment, however, they are blessed on the land with their very treasure culture resources waiting for better development. Therefore, the project designed with the goal to develop a project model which build upon the Shui culture resources, pushing forward women’s participation in cultural heritage matters, which up lifting the economic independency of Shui women as well as allowing the inheritance of Shui cultural heritage.
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CHANGEMAKERS AWARDS
100 MILE HUNGER WALK
Maurice A. Bloem and Diana Muresan
Brief Information about the project: Inspired by the spirit of volunteerism behind the CWS CROP Hunger Walks, Maurice Bloem, Church world services Executive Vice President, set out on his own journey. The 100 Mile Walk follows in its trail and is an annual event to raise awareness, funds and collective action to fight hunger around the world started by CWS’ Executive Vice President Maurice A. Bloem in 2012. Since its inception, Bloem has walked over 900 miles globally. He has been accompanied by or visited countless CWS program beneficiaries, CWS CROP Hunger Walk volunteers/CWS staff, community members, local politicians and artists.
CHANGEMAKERS AWARDS
AMBASSADORS OF HUMANITY
Ambassadors of Humanity
Brief Information about the project: Ambassadors of Humanity is a student led CVE project which has come up with various creative solutions to tackle the objectives. Main objective of the project is to strengthen the cohesion and integration among students in order to counter all forms of violent extremism at the University level, the specific objectives are as follows; i. Eradication of polarization through demolishing seen and unseen boundaries between students by appreciating everyone’s identity and culture, ii. Countering aftereffects of any terrorist attack and creating awareness around the nature of terrorism, iii. Giving an opportunity to students to be part of the solution.
CHANGEMAKERS AWARDS
PREVENT 240 MILLION NILOTES FROM CONTAMINATED FISH & LAKEWATER BORNE DISEASES – CURE TOXIC FLOW IN KENYA’S WINAM GULF
ACAD Interfaith Kenya-Swiss-Turk Curatorium Bamboo-Equator / UN Civil Society EAC
Brief Information about the project: Since EAC independence the ‘cash-as-catch can” development of Lake Victoria – supported with millions of Donor money was detrimental for the “Blue Economy” – as we have experienced as Community – and will prove in the Video. Mission DE-TOX as PPP – to implement the relevant Goals 3,6,15 will be the trigger for Change by the responsible Authorities to notch up and gear to Goals 16 and 17. Private Sector (Contaminating the Rivers) Public Sector (ignoring the Impact) Slumdwellers (waiting for solution). Using CANOPS and DE-TOX methodology for Rivers and Wianm Gulf the rehab fishery biological situation by latest 2050 – and apply by 2030 as candidate for UNESCO world heritage site – UNITED as EAC. foremost strengthen the EAC Community co-operation on the Civil-Society level – by addressing common SDG’s. Restoration of the world’s second largest Sweetwater Reservoir for the next Generation – with the River Nile connection the cradle of Humanity and Culture.