Four young Indian leaders are among 50 social entrepreneurs, environmental champions, innovators and human rights activists from across the Commonwealth shortlisted for the Youth Awards of the Year. now.
Young people aged 15 to 29 are all involved in initiatives that specifically contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Hailing from India, Akshay Makar was shortlisted in SDG13 Climate Action, Soumya Dabriwal SDG 5 Gender Equality, Kaushal Shetty SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities and Shrutika Silswal SDG 4 Quality Education.
“Every year, I continue to marvel at the creative and transformative work these young people undertake to create a better world for all of us,” said Baroness Patricia Scotland, Secretary General of the Bloc commonwealth said. “I am especially proud to have 50 young leaders honored in this Commonwealth Youth Year. I have always believed that development should be driven by young people. Those shortlisted prove that young people are more than just passive spectators, waiting to see what the future holds. Instead, they actively shape it,” she said.
Akshay Makar is the CEO of Climatenza Solar, a company with an active mission to decarbonize the industrial sector and which works in partnership with leading global companies such as Coca-Cola, Tata Group and Unilever to decarbonize their thermal process, where they deployed 23MW to reduce their carbon footprint by 37,430 tons. Over the next five years, it aims to produce 273 MW of capacity, which will save more than 650,000 tons of carbon emissions. Soumya Dabriwal is a development practitioner and graduate in economics at the University of Warwick. While volunteering in Ghana, she observed girls skipping school three days a month during menstruation and using unsafe tampons. Understanding that this is a global phenomenon, the Baala project was born to provide innovative menstrual hygiene solutions. Since 2018, Project Baala has provided 1.5 million reusable pads and conducted more than 4,000 awareness workshops for 500,000 women and girls in 4 countries and 25 Indian states. Degree.
Kaushal Shetty is the co-founder and CEO of Nostos Homes, a nonprofit dedicated to building durable emergency shelters for people displaced by natural disasters. These homes act as a scalable, data-driven, low-cost, and rapidly deployable solution for disaster zones. Kaushal’s work has been recognized by Forbes, World Bank, Mastercard, Diana Awards and has facilitated over 481,000 nights of stays in India and the African continent.
Shrutika Silswal is a Dalai Lama Scholar and Program Manager at the Simple Education Foundation in Uttarakhand, an organization that supports over 200 government students in five schools by providing school-based transition programs. contextual and sustainable. She is currently designing another program that will impact more than 100 public schools in Uttarakhand. Together, these programs will ensure that children in this area have age-appropriate academic and social-emotional skills.
Twenty of the finalists will be selected for the final round and the overall winners will attend the awards ceremony in London on September 14. Each of the 20 finalists will be shortlisted. will receive a trophy, certificate and £1,000 to extend the impact of their work. The winner of each region will be recognized as the regional winner and will receive 3,000 GBP. One of five regional winners will become Commonwealth Young Person of the Year 2023 and receive £5,000. Just under 1,000 nominations from 39 Commonwealth countries were received for the annual award. After a rigorous evaluation process, shortlisted individuals were selected in each of the five regional award categories – Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Europe and Canada and Pacific Positive. The jury consists of senior commissioners, development experts and young leaders from across the Commonwealth.
Traditionally, the Commonwealth Youth Awards nominate 20 shortlisted individuals each year, from which five regional winners are selected. The dramatic increase to 50 people on the shortlist this year celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Commonwealth Youth Programme.
