Indian-origin teen from UK wins 'Oscar' for social progress
18-year-old Amika George of Indian origin has won one of the three Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards, popularly known as the Oscars for social progress. George won the Campaign Award for her #FreePeriods campaign that brought 2,000 protesters outside 10 Downing Street in London in December 2017 to demand free sanitary products for poor girls in schools. Here are the details.
The Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards is a Bill Gates initiative
The Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards was started by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2017 promote global action and to track progress made on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. There are three awards - the Campaign Award, the Changemaker Award, and the Progress Award.
The #FreePeriods campaign was aimed at ending 'period poverty'
George's #FreePeriods campaign began as an online petition to end 'period poverty', where lack of sanitary products prevented many girls from low-income families from attending school. It led to a 2,000-strong protest outside 10 Downing Street days before Christmas in December 2017, and subsequently, the British government awarded £1.5mn (around Rs. 14,000cr) towards her cause. Now, George wants free sanitary products for all girls.
George recounts her experience from the day of the protest
"It was cold, a few days before Christmas, and I was there with my grandpa, brother and mum and dad wondering whether anyone would turn up at all. But it was amazing, thousands of girls and boys showed up," recounted George.
The Changemaker Award went to IS genocide survivor Nadia Murad
The Changemaker Award went to 24-year-old Nadia Murad. Murad's family was killed by the Islamic State (IS) in the genocide of the Yazidi people in 2014. She managed to escape, and has since become the voice of the Yazidi people, including the 13,000 Yazidi women still enslaved by the IS. Murad is the UN Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking.
Dysmus Kisilu won the Progress Award for renewable energy solutions
Finally, the Progress Award went to 28-year-old Dysmus Kisilu from Kenya. Kisilu developed a low-cost cold chain (a temperature-controlled supply chain) called Solar Freeze that helped over 3,000 small Kenyan farmers increase their agricultural yields by 150%. Kisilu also runs the 'Each One, Teach One' skill-transfer program wherein he mentors 18 to 29-year-olds to maintain and operate renewable energy equipment.
This year's focus was on youth and community-changing innovations
"These awards celebrate the best of what we do. Progress is absolutely happening but it is not inevitable and this year's big focus is on youth and the innovations that can change things in communities," said Melinda Gates at this year's event.
