$ 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.
S-EBITA
S-EBITA - United Kingdom
Stephane Rouschmeyer, Charlie Velvin, Paul Taylor
Business for Social Good
Stephane, Charlie, and Paul work in finance at Asahi Europe & International. Stephane and Paul attended the One Young World Summit in London 2019, and upon returning to Asahi were inspired to turn finance into a catalyst for sustainability at the company. Influenced by a session at the Summit on sustainability in the financial sector, they considered ways to reconcile Asahi’s sustainability & finance goals and metrics to accelerate climate action. Charlie joined the team soon after hearing about the initiative. The team noted that Finance and Sustainability often appeared as opposing forces; with environmental progress increasing costs, contrary to the traditional business goal of profit maximisation. They recognised when both environmental progress and financial growth are required of businesses, the two fields need to share a common language and goals for both to thrive together. Rather than maximising profit at the expense of the planet or vice versa, we need to maximise profit free of environmental costs.
Non-financial accounting for finance is not new, and while the team started by scouring through established methodologies were unsatisfied with their external focus or high complexity. What the team sought instead was something that any employee in the organisation could understand and use to guide their own decision-making. This led to creating a new metric – Sustainable EBITA (S-EBITA), profit minus the environmental cost of doing business.
Two key questions emerged – what environmental impact do we want to measure and what cost do we want to associate with it?
Asahi’s sustainability team had already begun work to measure the company’s environmental impact around the company’s 2030 goals of carbon neutrality, packaging circularity, sustainable sourcing and ever more efficient use of water. For costing, the team avoided subjective pricing options and based environmental costing around “the polluter pays principle”, something enshrined in both UK and EU law. Based on this principle, Asahi carbon pricing has been set according to the cost of carbon capture & storage, and plastic pricing set according to the Ocean Cleanup’s costs to recover plastic which has entered the environment. These environmental costs are then deducted from profit (EBITA) to arrive at S-EBITA.
S-EBITA allows Asahi to determine which operations, projects and products are already highly sustainable along with areas for improvement, and the methodology has been fully integrated across all Asahi Europe & International financial decision-making forums. For example, the sustainability of investment proposals now directly impacts the financial return shown for each project helping to prioritise profit maximisation net of environmental costs. S-EBITA is further in use for organisational target setting, performance measurement and reward up to the board level to ensure that profit and sustainability remain complementary forces and not opposing priorities.
Stephane, Charlie, and Paul are sharing their methodology with a consortium of corporates through Oxford University’s Saïd Business School and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales in order to promote simple, low-cost and decentralised sustainable thinking in accounting practices.
“We wanted Finance to be a catalyst for climate action, and after bouncing ideas off people at One Young World the biggest gap we saw was that performance metrics of the organisation were based solely on the delivery of profit. We thought – let's try and create a more complete financial metric which takes into account the environmental cost of doing business and can be understood at the individual level.” - Stephane Rouschmeyer
Future of Food
Future of Food - The Netherlands
Anna Klapwijk
Business for Social Good
Anna studied strategic product design at a postgraduate level, integrating sustainability into design solutions including in the food packaging space. After seeing a presentation from a colleague who attended One Young World at Deloitte, Anna successfully applied to attend the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. She learned important leadership lessons and was inspired to action her ideas for social impact within her company. Anna has been able to connect with her colleagues from international Deloitte offices through One Young World, many of whom also work in sustainability, thereby strengthening the sustainability network within the company further.
“I think from the Summit, my main takeaway was that you're never too young to lead and never too old to learn. And that really stuck with me because sometimes I feel like, well, what's really my position? What impact can I make? And I think that's really important for everyone. Like, hey, you don't have to be the CEO of a company to be able to lead.”
Anna sits on the Advisory Board of the Deloitte Impact Foundation and works in the Future of Food team. The latter role involves looking at food systems of the future and determining how to transition our current food system to a more sustainable model. Anna’s contributions to the team are centred on sustainability, and she has worked on building blockchain platforms and renewal strategies. She has also established a partnership with a food bank, working with them to develop strategies to increase the amount of fresh food they receive. Anna was part of the team that worked with the World Food Programme in East Africa to speed up food delivery processes by digitising shipping documents, increasing the efficiency of food systems in the region.
Deloitte’s Impact Foundation is a distinct entity within the company that does pro bono work, with Deloitte employees in the Netherlands contributing 1% of their work hours to these projects. The Foundation has three primary pillars: Inclusive Society, WorldClass Education, and Sustainability. As a board member on the Foundation’s Sustainability pillar, Anna assesses project applications on a diverse range of environmental and sustainability issues, including ocean cleanups, employing AI solutions to prevent deforestation, and building coalitions to tackle problems in the food space.
Anna has also been involved in diversity, equality and inclusion within Deloitte and served on the board of the Cultural Diversity and Inclusion network at Risk Advisory in the Netherlands. She led the Female Ventures Amsterdam team, a non-profit supporting and empowering women in corporates, SMEs and start-ups through mentorship opportunities, community events, and a growing online community.
Focus on Mental Health
Focus on Mental Health - South Africa
Sithabile Nombuso Nqobile Nkosi, Nikheil Bryan Singh
Business for Social Good
Nikheil and Sithabile participated in a year-long leadership development programme through Transnet and Henley Business School Africa, which included working on a community project and culminated in them attending the One Young World Summit in Belfast, 2023. Both Ambassadors have been active in social impact and volunteering spaces in their personal lives and have a keen interest in mental health.
Through the One Young World Summit, Nikheil and Sithabile were exposed to various community projects and mental health solutions, including the work of One Young World Ambassador Alice Hendy’s organisation, R;pple. The concept of a Chief Mental Health Officer, which they encountered at the Summit, also piqued their interest as a means to integrating specific mental health resources into Transnet’s daily operations.
After returning from the Summit, Nikheil and Sithabile presented se
veral proposed initiatives to Transnet leadership, with plans for short, medium, and long-term implementation. The first of these, to be rolled out in the short-term, is the promotion of the company’s comprehensive but under-utilised Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) to ensure that Transnet employees are aware of the resources available to them. The team is also hoping to introduce the OctoberHealth platform, where fellow One Young World Ambassador Mandy Muchnick is CFO, to democratise mental health care for company employees. Nikheil and Sithabile are interested in introducing R;pple’s interceptive tool for online self-harm searches to Transnet employees who are parents. The team is exploring the possibility of bringing mental health first aid to Transnet and integrating this training at the organisation’s academy.
“The greatest takeaway from the Summit was to dream big but start small, helping just one person is a step in the right direction”
In the long-term, Nikheil and Sithabile are also hoping to propose the expansion of mental health services on Transnet’s Phelophepa health train that has been providing both urban and rural communities in South Africa with basic health services since 1994. The Phelophepa train currently offers limited psychological support and counselling to people struggling with mental health, but Nikheil and Sithabile hope to scale the mental health resources Transnet can offer through the service. The team are engaging with leadership at Transnet and its Wellness Department to explore how best to merge their ideas for mental health with the company’s existing efforts to maximise their impact.
Airium
Airium - France
Elena Dunaeva
Business for Social Good
Elena has always been passionate about using her professional role to bring about positive change for sustainability, and is an advocate for women’s leadership and empowerment. She attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022, which inspired her to begin developing Lean In Circles with her colleagues at Holcim who are also Ambassadors, centred on women’s support and reverse mentoring in the company.
These Circles are inspired by the Lean In movement founded by Sheryl Sandberg, and they have already impacted the lives of over 300 Holcim female employees in 32 countries. Over the coming months, the Circles will be spread in all 60 countries where Holcim operates. At Holcim, 87% of participating women attribute a positive impact from being in a Circle and 63% feel like they have a stronger support network.
“During those four days at the Summit in Manchester, I found so many young, passionate people who started actions to shape the world, facing our main challenges almost alone. And for me it was like a sign which gave me a lot of inspiration to start some social projects with my colleagues, other Ambassadors from our team, and also to be more active in my own project area.”
Elena is an R&D project leader. Her role is dedicated to developing an innovative insulative material, Airium, at R&D level, offering technical support to countries who are deploying Airium, and co-development of new applications based on local clients feedback and market needs. Airium is already present in nine countries. The Airium R&D team is based in Holcim Innovation Centre in Lyon, France.
Airium is an innovative mineral insulating foam range for improved energy efficiency in floors, roofs and walls and for efficient lightweight filling and levelling. Boosting energy efficiency in both new buildings and renovation, from emerging to developed countries, is a cornerstone of humanity’s fight against climate change. Airium offers an insulation solution that is planet-friendly and in line with the principles of the circular economy. Airium can be produced directly on-site resulting in less volume of material being transported, decreasing waste on site. It is mineral and easy to recycle, with no separation phase from other mineral layers at the end of the building’s life.
Airium has been labelled an efficient solution by the Solar Impulse Foundation, and was included in their Solutions Guide launched during COP27. Airium is particularly useful in developing countries which don't have strict thermal insulation standards to make buildings more energy efficient, and also lack the resources to develop alternative insulated materials like organic foams or mineral wool. In contrast, the cement necessary for Airium production is available in most countries.
The Airium R&D team has calculated a case study for a 107 m² individual house in an Algerian climate using 12 cm of Airium™ Thermoroof as insulation versus no roof insulation. The case shows that Airium leads to yearly energy savings of 61% on heating and 45% on cooling. It allows communities to be more sustainable and use fewer natural resources to heat or cool buildings. Holcim is proposing a broad range of sustainable constructive solutions to their clients and Airium is a part of that.
Open Green Road and Genomawork
Open Green Road and Genomawork - Chile
Fabián Martínez
Ambassador-led Initiative
44
SROI
Fabián is a visionary entrepreneur at the forefront of educational and workforce innovation in Latin America. As the Founder of Open Green Road and Genomawork, he has spearheaded initiatives that address significant disparities in both education and employment across the region. Open Green Road is a pivotal e-learning platform that offers comprehensive resources for students facing compulsory standardised school graduation exams in Colombia, Chile, Mexico, and Brazil. Programmes like PuntajeNacional and AprendoLibre have been instrumental in preparing over 3.5 million students and supporting 85,000 teachers. Its Gradúate.cl programme has empowered an additional 180,000 adults to complete their secondary education and earn their high school diplomas. The organisation’s social impact work extends to providing financial literacy workshops for high school students from underprivileged communities and organising the AprendoEmprendo student entrepreneurship competition.
Parallel to his work with Open Green Road, Fabián also established Genomawork, a groundbreaking recruitment platform that leverages automation and AI to revolutionise the hiring process across 12 countries in Latin America. Genomawork’s mission is to level the playing field in the job market, ensuring equal opportunities for all candidates. By offering customised solutions, including gamified evaluation processes and AI-driven interview assistants, it facilitates more efficient and unbiased hiring practices.
Fabián’s involvement in the One Young World Summit in Bangkok, 2015, was a turning point, allowing him to engage with young leaders globally and amplify his impact. This experience has been a catalyst, inspiring him to promote his initiatives more effectively and reach a broader audience. Through both of his initiatives, Fabián is making substantial strides towards closing the educational and employment gaps in Latin America. His dual role as a founder highlights his dedication to fostering accessible education and fair employment practices, making a tangible difference in the lives of millions.
“After the Summit, I realised that the way you show others what you're doing is important. One of the key impacts that One Young World has had on our project is this thing about marketing actively, trying to not only do the thing but showing what you're doing. After the Summit, I realised that I have made so much impact, I've impacted so many students, and I’ve also built up my public speaking skills as a result to present this.”
Refugee Mentoring
Refugee Mentoring - United Kingdom
Sarina Pathela
Business for Social Good
Sarina attended the One Young World Summit, 2021, where she formed a powerful network of like-minded peers with whom she could collaborate and think about how to create greater impact. She has always believed in the power of mentorship and one-to-one relationships, and how they can give people the space and tools they need to grow into their full potential.
“My biggest takeaway from One Young World is having the opportunity to form an incredible network with like-minded individuals who have bold ideas. You know what they say, if you want to have some impact, do it alone. If you want to have a greater impact, do it together.”
For the past three years, Sarina has been actively involved in mentoring with a non-profit organisation that supports individuals to rejoin the workforce, advance their careers, or find their purpose in life. Sarina has personally supported individuals to return to employment through one-to-one coaching and workshops on essential skills like CV writing, interview preparation, and skills identification. She is also involved with MovingWorlds, through which she has worked with and mentored an enterprise based in Liberia called Rehab Africa. Her work with them has focused on building a mentoring programme to support recent university graduates, people applying for scholarships, and people looking to enter the job market or advance their careers.
Sarina also looks for platforms for her colleagues to engage in the power of mentorship. She recently initiated a partnership between Reckitt and Tent Partnership for Refugees, an organisation connecting mentors from the private sector with refugees in the UK to support their integration into the labour force. While the initiative is still in its early stages, Sarina is confident that she and her colleagues at Reckitt will be able to provide vital support in assisting refugees rejoining the workforce. Sarina and the rest of the team are working closely with Tent to understand what value Reckitt can add to the programme, and is ensuring that materials are in place to support both mentors and mentees. Tent will play a key role within Reckitt’s global approach to mentorship as a way employees can use their skills and knowledge to accelerate social impact.
Mentors will be asked to contribute at least one to one and a half hours a month for a period of four to six months, but additional contributions are encouraged if mentors feel they would be beneficial to the mentees. The pilot programme is kickstarting with 10-15 mentors from Reckitt, but Sarina is hoping to significantly scale this initiative in the near future.
Within Reckitt, Sarina also runs a monthly series in which colleagues from different areas of the company’s operations talk to the global team she forms part of on a diverse range of subjects. This series is designed to enhance knowledge and awareness of upcoming trends, while promoting a safe environment for all employees.
The Young Tinker Academy & Foundation
The Young Tinker Academy & Foundation - India
Anil Pradhan
Ambassador-led Initiative
9
SROI
Anil founded the Young Tinker Academy and Foundation in 2015, to address the lack of access to quality education and opportunities in rural India. The Young Tinker Academy and Foundation is democratising access to STEM education through its Intent, Content and Environment pedagogical method for 21st century skills development and hands-on learning. Anil is a recipient of the Indian government’s National Youth Award for his achievements in education accessibility.
Anil attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. He connected with fellow Ambassadors working on education projects across the world and has taken inspiration from their work, incorporating their approaches and ideas into his own. Additionally, he has used the One Young World Community as a network to connect with corporates for possible collaborations through corporate social responsibility programmes.
The Young Tinker Academy has provided education to 247,000 young people between grades 6-12. Young Tinker Spaces offer a collaborative workplace, mostly in schools, for the students to work on their projects through hands-on learning. Students of the Young Tinker Space Programme also must plant a tree to graduate. Additionally, students get to participate in the annual Young TinkerFest, a science festival where they can showcase their innovations. Through the Rural Innovation Programme, students from other countries volunteer to support the implementation of ongoing Young Tinker Foundation projects. Students from the Young Tinker Academy have participated in NASA’s Human Exploration Rover Challenge (HERC) 2021 and 2023 editions, where they won World Rank 3 and the Social Media Award respectively.
“The experience that we get at One Young World is totally different, meeting all these leaders in one place. Once you have the entire world in one place, you get energised, inspired and you also gain leadership skills. Leadership skills are not about going to a classroom and learning, they’re about watching people and learning from them. So I gained those leadership skills and it impacted our own organisation in a big way.”
Mitti Café
Alina began her social impact journey volunteering with organisations that worked to develop inclusive spaces in her youth. She founded Mitti Café while at university to provide adults with physical, intellectual, and psychiatric disabilities with opportunities for professional development and economic empowerment. Mitti Café’s outreach programmes are creating awareness of inclusivity and disability rights across India. It is also providing employees’ mothers with cooking skills, resources, and a platform within their cafés where they can sell their products, empowering them with vital business management training through the Mitti Moms programme.
Mitti Café has expanded to 42 locations in India, operating in both corporate and public spaces. Employees have served over 11 million meals and beverages as trained baristas. The organisation now employs hundreds of people with disabilities and has upskilled 5,000 individuals with disabilities from vulnerable backgrounds to jumpstart their careers and work to become economically secure. As part of its outreach campaigns, Mitti Café’s employees have served over six million meals to the economically vulnerable through the organisation’s Karuna Meals programme. Alina is hoping to expand Mitti Café further in the coming years, taking the concept global and facilitating the economic empowerment of adults with disabilities to help them generate sustainable livelihoods.
Sickle Cell International
Sickle Cell International - Cameroon
Tchofor Dick Nchang
Ambassador-led Initiative
20
SROI
Tchofor Dick founded Sickle Cell International Foundation to support people affected by sickle cell disease in Cameroon after undergoing a bone marrow transplant himself. Sickle Cell International Foundation is tackling the significant stigma surrounding sickle cell disease in the country. The initiative begins by onboarding families affected by sickle cell, getting to know their needs in order to personalise the support and care that it can offer. A support plan typically includes counselling, nutritional advice, healthcare, and lifestyle changes. Patients are routinely monitored by volunteer mothers, while the project also creates spaces for families to meet and share their experiences and best practices for dealing with sickle cell disease in their daily lives.
Tchofor Dick attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. His experience at the Summit, and interacting with other young leaders working on different issues, widened his perspective and helped him become a more compassionate leader. As a result, Tchofor Dick returned to his organisation with a stronger sense of purpose and calling.
Sickle Cell International has impacted 150 families with its programming, including support plans and providing over-the-counter medications and blood tonics. These blood tonics, which increase the blood volume of patients, are taken monthly. Sickle Cell International has also taught families how to create blood tonics. Through partnerships with hospitals and medical clinics, the organisation helps patients save money on treatments, medical studies and other hospitalisation costs associated with sickle cell.
“When I got to the Summit in Manchester, I was humbled, I was amazed, I was touched, I was inspired by the many other people who've been able to do so much from nothing. I came back with a stronger sense of purpose, a stronger sense of calling, and I came back more determined on my own work and what I was doing. That is really where I would say I benefited a lot.”
Glitterpill
Bjørn’s primary professional focus has always been on countering violent extremism. He founded the Khalifa Ihler Institute, an international think tank, lab, and consultancy organisation developing and promoting effective strategies for peacebuilding within communities. His work led to him becoming the inaugural Chair of the Advisory Committee of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism, an initiative to facilitate information and technology transfer to reinforce automated content moderation.
In the aftermath of the January 6th attack on the US Capitol, Bjørn and his team were asked by the Congressional Select Committee to research the Proud Boys movement within the US. This, combined with real inroads both in policy and the private sector in the US, led Bjørn to found Glitterpill, a company focused exclusively on counter-terrorism, working in tandem with the not-for-profit Khalifa Ihler Institute. The company uses open-source intelligence to determine threat-levels, advising private sector companies on the misuse of their tools and services by extremist or proscribed organisations and on operational threats directed against their infrastructures and assets.
The mission of Glitterpill is to make the world safer for all, with a respect for human rights, human dignity, and communities at the core of the company’s ethos. Glitterpill focuses on networks, instead of on individual actions or pieces of content, to better understand the context and patterns of influence. This allows Glitterpill to tailor strategies, supporting clients in keeping their assets, infrastructure and interests safe from violent extremism and terrorism, and work with clients and partners in the tech and security sector to take strategic, targeted action, leading to the organised dissolution of online extremist networks, and reduction in threat levels. Glitterpill is working across sectors, both with the tech industry, companies in the infrastructure, energy and logistics sectors, the event and hospitality industry, and municipalities and civil society organisations focused on understanding the extremist landscape within specific regions or cities.
shipzero
Mirko is Co-Founder and CEO of shipzero, a social enterprise decarbonising the transportation and logistics industry on a global scale. The organisation is tackling the problem of supply chain emissions, traditionally the most difficult aspect of global emissions to account for due to the complexity of global logistics systems and a lack of accurate data collection. shipzero is enabling better monitoring of carbon emissions by integrating a wide range of data sources and formats, offering tailored, high-quality analysis and calculations thanks to the company’s multimodal data collection approach.
shipzero also includes primary data from its clients’ and their logistics partners in its calculation, ensuring that its reporting focuses on real emissions data and not only on estimated projections, as has been standard in logistics previously. The company’s comprehensive reporting allows for continuous supply chain emissions monitoring.
The data shipzero provides its clients offers the most accurate look at their carbon footprint, allowing companies to then implement informed strategies for carbon reduction and ensure compliance with national and supranational regulations and requirements. On top of emission tracking and optimization, the solution offers an end-to-end automation including data quality checks regarding completeness and consistency to ensure auditability. shipzero has tracked over 100 million shipments so far, helping clients in over 60 countries reduce their carbon emissions by as much as 5-10% per year.
Nivishe Foundation
Amisa is the Founder and Executive Director of the Nivishe Foundation, a non-profit organisation working to provide grassroots community-based mental health interventions, innovations and approaches. Amisa ensures that Nivishe’s approach is culturally sensitive to mental health in the African context, decolonising practices and designing interventions for local relevance to ensure that implementation is collaborative rather than imposed. The Nivishe Foundation works with community radio stations, using local languages to reach its target audience on topics surrounding mental health and its impact on communities. It also offers pro bono therapy services primarily to women, girls, and young people in informal settlements in Kenya. Additionally, the initiative works with marginalised communities in the country, including the Nubian community of which Amisa is a member.
Amisa attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022, which gave her a global perspective that has continued to impact her work. Amisa learned about more health interventions and practices through networking with fellow Delegates and attending mental health panels at the Summit.
The Nivishe Foundation reaches 5,000 women and 10,000 young people through its community-based mental health interventions. The organisation reports a 40% increase in people better positioned to seek mental health support as a result of its radio programmes and community outreach. Additionally, it has trained 320 mental health fellows on counselling, mental health, neuroscience and psychology. Fellows are tasked with designing a specific community-based mental health intervention as part of the fellowship programme in their own communities, and must reach at least 200 community members. Through this programme, the Nivishe Foundation has impacted an additional 64,000 people indirectly.
“Attending the Summit gave me exposure. My work is local, so by attending several mental health sessions and interacting with other Delegates working on the field about the interventions they were using, I was able to learn from them and gain a global understanding.”
Econox Laos and Econews Laos
Econox Laos is a social enterprise and environmental consulting firm providing services across a wide range of sustainability-related areas, including designing corporate social responsibility programmes, environmental impact assessment, training and capacity-building programmes. The organisation was founded by Valy, Phai Akone Sakountava, and Maliya Phommasone, It has worked with local communities to protect their natural resources, and it is also promoting and training communities in green tourism. Econox Laos also runs Plastic Free Laos, through which they work with businesses in the hospitality sector, offering consulting, auditing, and training services. The company also works with the country’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry to establish certificates and labelling norms for environmental standards.
Valy attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022, and was then successfully nominated by One Young World for the Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco’s Re.Generation leadership programme. She and her team have implemented a ‘Rent your Cup' programme, through which people can rent refillable cups that can be later be returned at several locations across Laos. Econox Laos also has several established programmes for young people, including a project called ‘Youth for Wildlife’, through which young people are trained in conservation and tackling the illegal wildlife trade before creating communication tools to raise awareness within their own communities.
Econox Laos also has an established news and media platform called Econews Laos. It is the first and only news agency focused on environmental conservation, publishing news on sustainability issues and solutions both in Laos and from across the world. The platform is published in Lao to ensure that Laotians have access to environmental news that is otherwise usually only published in English.
“I was nominated by One Young World to join quite an amazing leadership programme called The Re.Generation Future Leaders Program funded by Prince Albert II of Monaco and I got the opportunity to be there for two weeks. And I think I'm quite impressed with how One Young World loves to make sure that us Ambassadors are being promoted or supported in any way possible that would be beneficial for what we are doing.”
The Iodine Deficiency Project
The Iodine Deficiency Project - Papua New Guinea
Peter Mabin
Ambassador-led Initiative
14
SROI
Peter is a medical student and the Founder & Coordinator of the Iodine Deficiency Project, an initiative addressing iodine deficiencies in rural and remote areas of Papua New Guinea. The Iodine Deficiency Project began working in Peter’s home province of Simbu, where school children present with high levels of iodine deficiency [1]. The project identifies communities in need and provides dietary and nutrition awareness through educational outreach to help rural Papua New Guineans avoid the harmful long-term consequences of iodine deficiency and lead a healthy diet. It also distributes supplements to tackle iodine deficiency in children and women of childbearing age. The Iodine Deficiency Project has since grown to include preventive work on other non-communicable diseases and vitamin deficiencies in Papua New Guinea.
Peter attended the One Young World Summit in Manchester, 2022. Attending the Summit changed his perspective on social impact, and he left feeling inspired to change his approach to addressing issues in Papua New Guinea by including different perspectives in his work.
The Iodine Deficiency Project has reached 300,000 people through medical awareness on iodine deficiency. This medical awareness has not only emphasised the importance of including iodine in local diets, it also addresses preventive and treatment measures for other health issues such as maternal and child healthcare, breastfeeding nutrition, malnutrition, sanitation and hygiene practices, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and cancer. Additionally, the project has distributed iodine capsules to 6,000 women and children, while providing local communities with additional healthcare and health centre access through its team of medical students.
“Being an Ambassador changed my view of solving issues not from just the community level but from the global perspectives. It also boosts and motivates me to do more for my community and my country.”
Hydroquo+
Zahin attended the One Young World Summit in The Hague, 2018, through The Resolution Project, and received his first impact funding as a result for his idea of leveraging AI and data analytics to tackle water-related challenges at scale. His organisation, Hydroquo+, deploys sensors at critical junctures of water infrastructure to forecast outbreaks of waterborne disease. These sensors use ultraviolet wavelengths through a UV spectrophotometer to measure flowing water’s spectrum in real time, with each spectrum corresponding to a World Health Organisation parameter that can indicate turbidity, dissolved solids, or free chlorine. Beyond a certain value, these parameters can be detrimental to human health so water networks are tested intermittently to ensure the safety of the water supply. Hydroquo+ can produce analyses of water quality parameters that would traditionally take laboratories days or even weeks in minutes through its diagnostic and monitoring systems.
Hydroquo+’s prescriptive copilot is trained against a corpus of over one million data points in relation to microbiology and water chemistry, and can provide real time guidance to ensure that corrective actions are taken in the event of anomalous indicators.
Zahin’s solution has been implemented in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where Dhaka WASA and C’WASA, which serves Chittagong, cater to over 30 million residents on a daily basis. Hydroquo+ technology is being used to diagnose, pre and post treat water, with stations currently deployed across the city’s supply network. The enterprise has also pioneered the use of drones and rovers to prevent critical failures in public water infrastructure. In the past two years, Hydroquo+ sensors have generated over 500 million data points, flagging over 10,000 potential contamination breaches and mitigating 170,000 tonnes of CO2 by reducing the need for over-chlorination by 25% and, as a result, limiting the amount of trihalomethane produced.
“One Young World holds a very special place in my heart. I got my first, I would say impact funding, back in 2018 at The Hague One Young World Summit. At that point, I thought, okay, what is the biggest challenge in the world, and can we leverage AI and analytics to solve that.”
Pagination
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.