$ 1 : 16
For every $1 of value invested, One Young World Ambassadors deliver $16 of social value, based on a Social Return on Investment analysis of 43 Ambassador-led initiatives addressing the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in 2024/25
SDG Impact Tracker
Interested in supporting impactful initiatives led by young leaders? Search this database of over 430 projects from the One Young World Community to find out more.
The Food and Genes Initiative
The Food and Genes Initiative - Nigeria
Samuel Ogunsola
Ambassador-led Initiative
15
SROI
Samuel founded The Food and Genes Initiative to improve the lifestyles and wellbeing of those closest to him and their communities through three key pillars: substance abuse, malnutrition, and non-communicable diseases. Nigeria continues to have a high burden of drug abuse despite the country’s strict laws [1]. The Food and Genes Initiative utilises research and technology, both on and offline, to improve the health outcomes of both Nigerians and people across Africa, now partnering with more than 20 organisations across the continent.
Samuel attended the One Young World Summit in London, 2019, and immediately formed fruitful relationships with other Ambassadors, including Stephen Ogweno, Founder of the Stowelink Foundation. Since then, Samuel has remained active in the One Young World Community, with six Ambassadors speaking at his Impact Leaders Connect initiative.
In 2019, The Food and Genes Initiative facilitated the 365Days campaign, the largest campaign of its kind on substance misuse in Nigeria. The initiative has visited more than 70 schools, organised 10 street conferences, and educated over 50,000 young people through its in-person campaigns, in addition to maintaining a substantial online presence. It also partners with organisations involved in substance abuse treatment to provide a comprehensive approach in its target communities. Its work on malnutrition has impacted 5,000 people, while its campaigns on non-communicable diseases have reached 20,000 people and provided them with guidance on risk factors, self-care, and disease management. The Food and Genes Initiative recently worked with the David Folaranmi Foundation and the North-East Development Commission Nigeria to train 150 people, who in turn facilitate projects in their own communities advocating against substance misuse.
“I would say One Young World has helped me in terms of network, resources, access to
knowledge and as a platform to share what I do. So, I am very grateful for that. For
example, I have invited six speakers from One Young World to come and speak at the
Impact Leaders Connect event, and One Young World partnered with us to spread
information about the event publicly.”
Zafree Papers
Zafree Papers is an Ethiopian company that manufactures paper and paper products using 100% tree-free pulp made from agricultural waste. Founded by Bethelhem in 2017, Zafree Papers’ solutions are non-toxic and 100% recyclable. The organisation’s tree-free pulp means fewer trees being cut, less crop-residue being burned, and is of higher quality than pulp made from waste paper. Before the Lead2030 programme, the organisation was in the process of proving its product to prospective investors.
As a Lead2030 Challenge Winner with the 100+ Accelerator powered by AB InBev, Zafree Papers used the funding it received to set up its pilot factory, begin production, and send samples to AB InBev’s South African markets. This has helped the company prove its product quality to a global standard. Zafree is currently focused on packaging, collaborating with 20 local farmers to collect banana stems, extracting the fibre, and transforming the pulp into corrugated boxes. Waste from this fibre extraction is processed into a nutrient-dense fertiliser through vermicomposting, to reduce the impact of waste by-products. The company offers 100% virgin kraft paper that can be used in food packaging or even heavy material packages.
The mentorship opportunities offered by the Lead2030 programme gave Bethelhem new skills to develop partnerships with corporates. The partnership with AB InBev also led to a shift in strategic priorities for Zafree Papers, in terms of product offerings and market location, with the organisation sending samples to the South African market. As such, the Lead2030 programme has accelerated Bethelhem’s goal to disrupt the packaging industry with 100% tree-free and sustainable packaging solutions in the coming years.
“During the Lead2030 programme, in terms of sustainable leadership, I learned a lot throughout the entire process, especially through the partnership we had with the 100+ Accelerator. It really helped us to see the world through different eyes, especially in terms of business, in terms of expansion, in terms of going global and what it requires to actually go global.”
100% tree-free pulp, paper, and paper products produced using agricultural waste
Breaking the Silence
Nadav served in an IDF sniper’s team in the special forces of the Nahal brigade. Following the exposure this gave him to the reality faced by Palestinians, he joined Breaking the Silence (BtS) as a Testifier-Activist in 2012. BtS has struggled against occupation and apartheid for nearly 20 years, but since Hamas’ attack on October 7 and Israel’s escalating military campaign in Gaza, its work became even more vital. Today, Nadav works as senior director.
BtS has spoken with over 1,400 testifiers to ground its extensive media and advocacy work. This exposes the IDF’s practices which lead to disproportionate military actions and a failure to restrain its own use of force. During the current war in Gaza, BtS testifiers, including Nadav, have been able to raise their voices about these practices and advocate for the protection of both Palestinian and Israeli life. In 2023, BtS raised awareness about the unprecedented levels of settler violence in the West Bank, including via a billboard campaign throughout Tel Aviv. Nadav himself testified in a Knesset conference regarding the effects of displacement on women from Masafer Yatta in the West Bank, an area facing extreme threats of forced expulsion.
BtS has expanded its educational arm to conduct seminars for educators across Israeli society, including staff of pre-military programmes, teachers, and Rabbis. BtS is also preparing a generation of activists through an intensive seminary in partnership with Combatants for Peace. BtS will continue to lead the pursuit of a peaceful resolution for the people of Israel and Palestine, and an end to the occupation.
2030 Child Nutrition Project
2030 Child Nutrition Project - Zambia
Khazana Sihwaya
Ambassador-led Initiative
21
SROI
Dr. Khazana Sihwaya is Founder of the 2030 Child Nutrition Project, a non-profit organisation combating malnutrition in Zambia, particularly among households with pregnant women and children living in poverty. Zambia has one of the highest rates of malnutrition in the region, with 35% of children under five years suffering from stunting [1]. Khazana established the 2030 Child Nutrition Project to tackle poor feeding practices and unhealthy eating habits fuelled by common misconceptions on nutrition in underprivileged communities. The project supports low-income households with locally sourced high-protein relief foods, and offers clinic referrals for mothers whose children may need specialised Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) treatment.
Khazana attended the One Young World Summits in Munich, 2021, and Manchester, 2022. She was a Delegate Speaker for Manchester, 2022, for the Health plenary challenge. She received funding from One Young World’s COVID-19 Young Leaders Fund and has developed her leadership skills through her exposure to, and interactions with, her fellow Ambassadors.
The 2030 Child Nutrition Project ran clinic workshops with pregnant and lactating women before the pandemic, reaching 1,000 women directly. The project switched focus to school feeding programmes due to COVID-19 and, with the support of One Young World, provided more than 5,000 children with vital food hampers and education on nutritious food. It has since established partnerships with 10 schools, providing gardening tools and seeds to support students and communities in growing their own fruits and vegetables sustainably.
“Being a One Young World Ambassador has significantly expanded my network and introduced me to a myriad of new opportunities, and I’ve been able to engage with diverse global initiatives and collaborate with like-minded individuals on meaningful projects.”
Vlinder
Dr. Irina Fedorenko-Aula is Co-Founder and Chief Carbon Officer at Vlinder, a social enterprise that aims to become a mangrove unicorn by planting over a billion mangrove trees and democratising access to carbon markets and investments in high quality blue carbon projects. Mangroves, alongside other coastal wetlands, are reported to sequester carbon 10 times quicker than tropical forests [1]. Vlinder works with local communities, especially women and young people, in Kenya, Senegal, Indonesia, Tanzania, and Myanmar. With Vlinder’s support, community members, most of whom are women, collect seeds, build nurseries, grow seedlings, and plant mangroves while participating in data collection and mapping activities using drones.
Irina attended the One Young World Summit in The Hague, 2018. As an Audi Scholar, she was able to interact with corporate Ambassadors working in sustainability, an experience that proved useful for her own work.
Vlinder has so far planted 1,470 hectares of mangroves across several countries, benefitting 22,000 people through the establishment and maintenance of these new and thriving ecosystems. The company’s community focus ensures that locals can receive employment opportunities, carbon measurement training, as well as the socio-economic and environmental benefits accruing from the mangrove ecosystems themselves. Mangrove systems have been shown to improve fish stocks, protect against climate change and tsunamis, and guard against soil erosion. Vlinder aims to plant another 2,150 hectares of mangroves in 2024.
“As part of the Audi delegation at the Summit, I met corporate employees who were also young, really motivated and wanted to make a change. Thanks to this, I understood how corporates and civil society are on the same side and can work together to do a lot more good. I had never been exposed to anything like that before.”
Water Sustainability Pillar
Water Sustainability Pillar - The Netherlands
Eva Amsterdam
Business for Social Good
Eva is Senior Sustainability Manager at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners for the Netherlands, and leads the company’s sustainability strategy in the country. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners maintains strong local roots in the Netherlands, utilising local resources and operating a local factory, which has allowed Eva to pursue an active strategy of sustainability and giving back to local communities. The company’s sustainability strategy in the Netherlands ranges from reducing carbon emissions by transitioning the factory from gas to electricity, converting transport trucks away from fossil fuels to biofuels, and phasing out fossil fuels from packaging.
Eva attended the One Young World Summit in Munich virtually in 2021. She found the Summit to be deeply inspiring, as someone who was already extremely familiar and passionate about sustainability. The Summit nonetheless showed her the human side of social impact, and since then she has become more involved with Coca-Cola’s established community partners in the Netherlands and has strived to foster new partnerships for local impact. She and her team are working with A Beautiful Mess, a restaurant-concept by NPO The Refugee Company, that gives employment opportunities to refugees and asylum seekers, by sponsoring their barista training programme. Eva believes the biggest impact can be made if as many people as possible join the impact movement. She had therefore introduced sustainability training for senior leaders within her company.
“For me, the Summit really opened up more the human side of impact, which I was really struck by and which has really inspired me. So actually since then, I've become way more involved locally in our community partner program. It really motivated me to look for new partners around refugees here in the Netherlands and make more of an impact with them, which we actually have been able to do since.”
In line with the company’s target to be net zero by 2040, Eva has led the Water Sustainability pillar for the Netherlands. Coca-Cola Europacific Partners aims to reduce the amount of water being used through water efficiency technologies, but also to compensate for the company’s sites water usage by replenishing water used in Coca-Cola’s production processes by 2030. To do this, they have partnered with Natuurmonumenten, a local NGO restoring the environment. Through partial financing across two years, Eva and her team have replenished the Liskes with 85 million litres of water per year, and the Pastoorswijer with 57 million litres of water per year. A third project is currently underway that should replenish 135 million litres.
The replenishment of these areas with water has in turn led to an increase in biodiversity in the area. These projects are utilising land that was traditionally reserved for water storage but which had been nonfunctional prior to the replenishment. Eva is actively involved throughout the process, and an external auditor assesses the amount of water that has been restored. The company and Eva are also looking into projects to increase biodiversity with Coca-Cola Europacific Partners’ sugar beet suppliers and to reduce the carbon footprint of sugar beet cultivation.
MAIA Impact School
MAIA Impact School - Guatemala
Vilma Saloj, Martha Lidia Oxí Chuy
Ambassador-led Initiative
24
SROI
The MAIA Impact School, of which Vilma is Director, and Martha Lidia is Co-Executive Director, is an educational organisation in Guatemala led by Indigenous women that supports Indigenous girls' access to quality secondary education. MAIA began in 2008 by providing Indigenous girls the opportunity to attend further education through scholarships. The MAIA team founded the Impact School in 2017 with an original cohort of 50 Girl Pioneers. The students of the Impact School are called Girl Pioneers because the majority of them are the first girls in their families to continue their studies beyond primary school. The MAIA model begins with Project Impulso, a year-long preparatory programme through which students reach a suitable academic level for middle school. The students then join the Impact School programme for grades 7-11, before participating in the organisation’s Launch Year programme after graduation. The Launch Year programme assists graduates in developing vocational skills, while also offering university preparation and workplace readiness training.
Martha Lidia attended the One Young World Summit in Belfast, 2023. In 2020, Vilma led the MAIA Impact School in receiving funding from One Young World’s COVID-19 Young Leaders Fund, designing a journalism programme for Girl Pioneers to continue advocating for their communities during the pandemic. It also disseminated health and safety information in Maya Kaqchikel, K’iche, and Tzutujil.
For the 2023 academic year, the MAIA Impact School had 253 Girl Pioneers enrolled and provided 1,238 hours of education. In 2021, MAIA celebrated the graduation of the first cohort of 40 Girl Pioneers from high school, while 51 and 36 girls took part in Project Impulso in 2022 and 2023 respectively. The MAIA Impact School goes beyond providing education to Girl Pioneers, and it also engages with around 2,100 family members in the year through socio-emotional education and 1,456 home visits. It provides students with two meals a day, amounting to 10,680 meals, and offers mental health and digital skills training to 118 and 126 Girl Pioneers respectively.
“To see Lidia waving the Guatemalan flag wearing her Maya Kaqchikel traditional clothes on a global stage at the One Young World Summit was something that we could not have accomplished without the platform that One Young World offers. At MAIA, we say that we are Pioneers, so to have Lidia present giving visibility to Indigenous women was a confirmation for us and our Girl Pioneers that we can achieve our goals and can be present at these stages.” - Vilma Saloj
Water for Development
Water for Development - Burundi
Olivier Nihimbazwe
Ambassador-led Initiative
16
SROI
Olivier is the Founder and Executive Director of Water for Development, a non-profit organisation working to provide access to clean and safe water, hygiene, and sanitation services. Water for Development is active in rural areas of Burundi, where in 2021 32% of the population was spending over 30 minutes per day collecting water [1]. Olivier launched his initiative to address the inaccessibility of safe drinking water to give back to his community. He works with local young people to manufacture and distribute chlorine for water treatment through dispensers and disinfected water systems. Water for Development has also incorporated microbial analysis and water testing using rapid test kits.
Olivier attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. He was inspired by his fellow Ambassadors to continue using his leadership role to improve lives and transform his community.
Water for Development has provided safe, disinfected water through chlorine dispensers to 49,000 people. Community members are tasked with upkeep of chlorine dispensers and receive training on product maintenance. The organisation produces chlorine locally and has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Burundian government to chlorinate traditional water points, install dispensers, and clean piped water systems. Olivier has reached an additional 93,000 people through disinfecting these piped water systems. The team has supported 22 schools through hygiene and WASH education and training, impacting a further 9,000 children, and providing handwashing facilities, chlorine, and sensitisation activities. In partnership with the local government, Water for Development has installed dustbins in public places through the Make Cibitoke Green campaign. The initiative has also trained 55 young people on climate change.
“At the One Young World Summit, I was inspired by fellow young people. For me, leadership is using your life to change or improve other people’s lives. My passion for community transformation went higher, and I decided to focus the most productive years of my career into doing this work that I am doing.”
The Global Green Rising Squad
The Global Green Rising Squad - Pakistan
Muhammad Abbas Reza
Business for Social Good
Abbas has worked primarily within manufacturing spaces at Unilever Pakistan, which has the highest carbon and environmental footprint of any area of the company’s operations. He has worked extensively on sustainability projects throughout his career at Unilever, including on water reduction and management, reducing carbon emissions, and energy saving. Abbas worked closely with a supplier to design a biomass boiler that was cost effective and carbon efficient as an alternative source of steam for manufacturing processes. This boiler uses locally sourced organic waste instead of the imported and costly natural gas that had been used previously, generating steam at almost 40% of the cost and reducing the carbon emissions of the production site by 1,960 tonnes per annum.
Abbas also implemented a dissolved air flotation system to separate fat content from the water used in ice cream manufacturing, resulting in an ETP sludge that in turn can be used as fuel for the biomass boiler. The water can then be recycled. In recognition of his achievements, Abbas was selected to attend the One Young World Summit Belfast, 2023, as part of the Global Unilever Green Rising Squad. The Summit introduced him to a new network, demonstrating for him that projects can be scaled and replicated across different geographies. Abbas connected with a range of entities and changemakers from across the globe and connected them to Unilever’s Manufacturing operations in Pakistan, establishing a partnership for the recycling of multiple items and for employing more efficient energy consumption solutions.
“I think overall, One Young World gets you in touch with people who are working on similar ideas across the globe. in terms of the platform itself, it can unleash your potential. I connected with a lot of people. There were multiple changemakers and inspiring individuals I connected with, and then in turn, I got them connected to the supply chain operations in Pakistan where they've started working together to optimise consumptions and reduce/reuse/recycle resources within Unilever’s operations through employing more efficient, technologically advanced and responsible means of manufacturing.”
The Global Green Rising Squad is a network of six Unilever employees – Mariam Mahdi, Ananya Vangala, Mahima Sharma, Stephanie Chill, John-Joseph Ilagan, and Abbas – who are working to create awareness of green jobs in the future of Unilever. The team is creating a playbook to promote awareness of green skills, allowing Unilever employees across the world to transform their own jobs within the company into the green jobs of the future. The Squad recognises that embedding sustainability into all aspects of Unilever’s vast operations is the best way of ensuring that the company taps the best talent and reaches its sustainability goals. Abbas sees the work of the Squad as an opportunity to transfer his sustainability skills and mindset to his team and the wider organisation. Inspired by Unilever’s ‘Discover your Purpose’ workshop, the Global Green Rising Squad are building pathways to allow their colleagues to discover their green purpose, and how they want to work towards environmental sustainability and social equity for the Unilever of the future.
Members of the Squad are continuing to work on sustainable projects within their own roles at the company. Abbas is also part of the larger Unilever for Pakistan agenda that Unilever Pakistan is implementing through which the payment model for Unilever’s contractual workers in Unilever’s ecosystem goes beyond minimum wage, investing in the individuals and local communities upon which the company is reliant.
Aloi
Sonika co-founded Aloi with Tiffany Tong as a social enterprise building credible financial trust in green micro-entrepreneurs and facilitating their access to affordable financing options through its solutions. Aloi’s platform helps micro-entrepreneurs who otherwise lack a formal credit history to track their loan utilisation and income, data which can then be used by Aloi’s commercial partners to provide formal loans. The organisation also engages in financial literacy training for micro-entrepreneurs to support effective loan utilisation. The company is working to become a last-mile digital bank in Nepal.
Sonika won One Young World’s LEAD2030 Challenge with Standard Chartered Ventures in 2020. The team at Standard Chartered connected Sonika with its Nepal branch, which developed into Aloi’s first partnership with a commercial bank. This recognition helped establish Aloi in the Nepalese market and laid the foundations for greater collaboration with other financial institutions.
Aloi has 2,300 active users, primarily women, who have so far secured $800,000 in formal loans. All users receive financial and digital literacy training, as well as business management training, to make them less susceptible to loan sharks. The organisation currently has partnerships with six commercial banks in Nepal. 70% of Aloi users are in the sustainable agricultural sector, while 30% are active in the electric vehicle market with Aloi currently supporting 135 electric vehicles. Aloi will be working with 3,000 farmers in the coffee and dairy sectors in 2024, training them in climate-smart agriculture and accessing scale-up financing. Sonika is also looking to expand Aloi’s operations to Indonesia.
“I went to One Young World as a Standard Chartered Ventures LEAD2030 Winner, and because of it we got connected with Standard Chartered bank in Nepal. That's how we got our first commercial bank contract for Aloi and that's still ongoing.”
Waves to Home
Waves to Home - Palestine
Zoya Miari
Ambassador-led Initiative
Zoya was motivated by her lived experience of becoming a refugee twice, as half Palestinian and half Ukrainian, to found the global storytelling movement. The initiative, Waves to Home, was born after an impromptu meeting between 11 young leaders at the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. These Delegates came together and shared their stories, finding genuine connection and empowerment through their participation. Zoya realised the power of storytelling in bringing people closer together and established Waves to Home as a safe space to establish human connections.
“I think ever since joining One Young World, I felt this is a crazy community where I can connect with crazy people who believe that they can change the world. And up until today, I truly believe that being part of this Community, there are so many good humans who really want to change the world and if we can collaborate together, we can create a lot together. I feel like through One Young World, we have access to the world, I can reach out to any community I would want to, and I feel that makes our work much easier and our world much more connected.”
Since Israel’s bombardment of Gaza began in October, Zoya and her peers, including fellow Ambassadors Manal Makkieh, Firas Bali, and Shams Albeshawi, have used the power of storytelling to support the people of Gaza. The group had already created storytelling workshops for refugees, and adapted this to create Waves to Home Sharing Circles through which both Palestinian and non-Palestinian participants could express themselves freely.
Waves to Home has created five Sharing Circles so far, with a sixth edition planned featuring Joe Abujayyab, a young Palestinian from Gaza. Waves to Home has raised €29,106 for his and his family’s emergency needs, essentials, and educational support. After the success of the first campaign, Joe launched an evacuation campaign which raised over €90,000 that helped him and his family evacuate Gaza. The Waves to Home movement is humanising voices from Gaza.
It is also partnering with organisations like Peace Therapist, founded by One Young World Ambassador Jîn Dawod, to provide psychological support for participants, and storytellers from Gaza, while facilitating Sharing Circles. Zoya is planning more Sharing Circles centred on Palestine and hopes to expand internationally in the coming months and years to revitalise a sense of belonging for displaced people.
Advisory Singapore
Advisory Singapore - Singapore
Yi Jun Mock
Ambassador-led Initiative
12
SROI
Yi Jun is the Co-Founder and President of Advisory Singapore, a charity dedicated to empowering students and youth from all walks of life to make informed career and further education choices, through nationwide mentorship and industry programmes. Advisory Singapore aims to support young Singaporeans to achieve their education and professional goals, regardless of background.
Yi Jun attended the One Young World Summit in Munich, 2021, virtually as a Deloitte Scholar. He was a Delegate Speaker for the Education plenary challenge. After attending the Summit, Yi Jun further developed his relationship with Deloitte into a partnership that has led to Deloitte’s involvement in the Advisory Educators Roundtable. He also participated in the One Young World Academy programme on health and pandemic preparedness, which in turn led to engagement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Advisory Singapore’s programmes include an online repository of interviews with professionals working in different fields, industry engagement through panels and learning journeys with partner companies, skills development pathways, and one-on-one mentoring programmes. Additionally, the organisation is upskilling teachers to better support their students in terms of career guidance via the Advisory Educators Roundtable in partnership with the National University of Singapore’s Centre for Future-ready Graduates and Deloitte. Advisory Singapore has reached 212,000 people via tailored mentorship, programmes, and collaborations with corporates – including over 12,000 hours of one-to-one mentorship delivered since 2020. The Advisory Educators Roundtable has developed into a community of 100 teachers from different institutions discussing best practices for education and career guidance.
“I attended One Young World on a Deloitte scholarship, and not only was the Summit an opportunity for growth, it was the genesis of our partnership with Deloitte. We got to know the Deloitte Southeast Asia and Singapore teams well, and explored how we could do more for students and schools together, including through Deloitte’s WorldClass initiative. We brought Deloitte aboard the Advisory Educators Roundtable, and the industry perspectives they’ve brought to educators on topics like the Green and Digital Economies has been invaluable.”
enke: Make Your Mark
enke: Make Your Mark - South Africa
Rufaro Mudimu
Ambassador-led Initiative
12
SROI
Rufaro is the Director of enke: Make Your Mark (enke), an organisation focused on bridging socio-economic inequalities in South Africa by empowering young people to generate social impact and enterprise. The organisation contributes to reducing the high rates of youth who are NEET (not in education, employment or training). The Trailblazer+ Programme supports high school students and trains them to lead education improvement projects in their schools. The Catalyst Programme gives unemployed post- school youth the mindset, skills and tools to access opportunities to thrive socio- economically, while the Community Partners Initiative aims to generate systemic change through collaboration with other youth development organisations.
Rufaro attended the One Young World Summit in Ottawa, 2016, and remains an active member of the One Young World South Africa Community. Rufaro connects with fellow Ambassadors, sharing her work and engaging in community events and opportunities.
enke has impacted over 12,800 youth through its various youth skills development programmes, whose social impact projects have in turn have impacted over 142,000 people in their own communities. Additionally, it has trained 681 facilitators to deliver its programmes, and reached 3,308 young people through other projects, such as the 2022 National Youth Service initiative, a specialised volunteer service project in partnership with the government. Additionally, enke has run a business generator that enabled the establishment of 19 youth-led enterprises, and provides bespoke consulting services to support effective design and implementation of youth-focused projects. Visit www.enke.org.za
“The One Young World Southern African Community is very active, and I made a deliberate decision to be active and participate within that Community itself. I stay connected to other people who are in the impact space and have access to a platform to share the work that I do.”
Refugee Bank for Africa
Refugee Bank for Africa - Democratic Republic of Congo
Abraham Kahasha Kabral
Ambassador-led Initiative
5
SROI
Abraham Kahasha has always been motivated to empower refugees because of his lived experience as an internally displaced child refugee in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He founded, and is Executive Director of, the Refugee Bank for Africa, a non-profit organisation empowering refugees by providing access to education, skills development training and resources. The project aims to help refugees learn and develop their skills so they can access the job market and become financially independent.
Abraham attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. He has found the Community to be a useful source of support for his work, and regularly shares advice on opportunities and the development of the Refugee Bank for Africa. Abraham also believes that being a European Commission Peace Ambassador helped him access other opportunities to work with the European Union on regional projects in DRC, Rwanda Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania as Regional Project Assistant & Project Security Officer.
The Refugee Bank for Africa has impacted 400 refugees across its different initiatives. Young people have received support with resources and online opportunities to acquire knowledge and skills, including 100 handbooks designed by Abraham called the Refugee Action Handbook, giving readers advice on accessing educational resources and opportunities for further education, as well as information on cultural background and diversity for those who are able to leave the refugee camps. Children have been given 100 basic education kits and materials, including books, pens and bags while 105 families have been provided with access to clean water, food and clothing. In the future, the Refugee Bank for Africa aims to create a Centre for Refugee Empowerment in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“As an Ambassador I participated in One Young World’s Action Accelerator, which helped me to be empowered and to learn more skills and knowledge. I’m trying currently to apply these leadership skills in my projects’ work.”
iDixcover
iDixcover - Nigeria
Abdullateef Lawal
Ambassador-led Initiative
24
SROI
Abdullateef founded iDixcover in 2019 to support young people in Nigeria and reduce the high unemployment and poverty rates they face, with an objective to eradicate poverty in the long-term. iDixcover connects young Nigerians with job opportunities and mentors, while also providing vocational and technological skills training to prepare them for their entry into the workforce. Abdullateef was part of the team that advocated for the domestication of the Nigerian Startup Bill, which supports SMEs in the country through its adoption and implementation.
Abdullateef attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. He received a grant from the Z Zurich Foundation as a result of attending One Young World, which has enabled iDixcover to establish a vocational training centre. He was also connected with fellow Ambassadors at the Summit who have been able to support his work, particularly iDixcover’s Young African Fellowship Programme through pro bono training.
iDixcover has provided over 1,000 people with vocational, business development and entrepreneurship training since its founding, with an additional 150 people trained through the organisation’s dedicated vocational centre. It has helped 150 people access $2,000,000 worth of scholarships and grants. iDixcover students have established 50 family businesses so far, and Abdullateef has coached another 20 family businesses towards financial viability.
“One Young World was an inspiration for me. I had underestimated the value of what I'm doing, getting to One Young World and seeing the impact that people are sharing, I get to know the value of what I'm doing and it motivates me to do more. I was able to start up this vocational training centre through the Z Zurich Foundation, who sent me to the Summit. So without One Young World, I wouldn't be able to own a vocational training centre.”
How to use to the SDG Tracker
Search for projects by the following case study categories:
- Ambassador-led Initiatives: qualitative and quantitative analysis of the social impact of projects which are led by young leaders in the Community.
- Business for Social Good: written case studies for initiatives ran by corporate partner organisations, led by young Ambassadors/employees.
- Leadership Biographies: short biographies of Ambassadors who are growing into influential leaders for social good in some of the world’s largest companies, organisations, and in government.
- One Young World Funded Projects: detailed case studies of grant recipients from One Young World's funding opportunities, including Lead2030, Rebuilding Communities, and the COVID Young Leaders Fund.