Five young people have been named regional winners for the Commonwealth Youth Awards for their exceptional work on promoting clean energy, good health, food security and quality education.
The awards recognise the contributions of young people whose projects are transforming lives in their communities and helping achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Regional winners
The five regional award winners are:
- Africa: Jeremiah Thoronka, Sierra Leone, for producing affordable and clean power for local communities using an innovative method (focus on SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy);
- Asia: Faysal Islam, Bangladesh, for providing low-cost ambulances and medical care to rural people (focus on SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being);
- Caribbean: Bevon Chadel Charles, Grenada, for creating climate-smart farms across the Caribbean (focus on SDG 2: Zero Hunger);
- Europe and Canada: Siena Castellon, United Kingdom, for convincing schools to change how they perceive autistic students (focus on SDG 4: Quality Education); and
- Pacific: Maselina Iuta, Samoa, for advocating for the rights and opportunities of people with hearing-impairments (focus on SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being).
The winners were chosen from more than 1,000 entries received from 43 Commonwealth countries following a rigorous judging process. Each regional winner will receive £3,000 for their projects.
Commonwealth Young Person of the Year
In addition to winning the regional award for Asia, Faysal from Bangladesh won the overall title of 2021 Commonwealth Young Person of the Year for his work and received a total of £5,000.
Sharing the motivation behind his project, he remembered his best friend who had a road accident but died due to the unavailability of an ambulance. His project, which offers low-cost ambulances and medical care, has served more than 1,000 people.
Dedicating the award to his parents, Faysal said: “I am extremely honoured to receive this award. This recognition will help my project grow even more and serve more people.”
Reactions from the winners
Jeremiah from Sierra Leone set up a company that harnesses solar energy to create clean and affordable energy for local communities. His company has powered more than 150 households and 15 schools, and has reached 10,000 people in his country.
He dedicated his award to single mothers and people living with energy poverty. Jeremiah said: “They have no option but to use wood for energy. I stand with them and I look forward to how we can collectively address this issue.”
Grenada’s Bevon started an organisation which builds self-sustainable farms across the Caribbean. The farms are currently spread over 100 acres and provide fresh vegetables and fruits to in-person and online customers.
In her acceptance speech, she said: “It is an honour to be selected among the brilliant youth leaders from across the Commonwealth.
“We have a substantial amount of food being imported to Grenada, which could be produced locally. It is one of our missions to reduce our national import dependence while creating sustainable farms throughout the region.”
Siena from the United Kingdom is the founder of ‘Neurodiversity Celebration Week’, which influences schools and colleges to change the way they perceive students with autism and learning differences. Her initiative has reached about 850 schools and a half million students across the world.
“Winning this award would benefit the 680,000 students taking part in ‘Neurodiversity Celebration Week’ across the world,” Siena said.
Samoa’s Maselina is a founding member of an association which advocates for inclusive opportunities, policies and legislation for people with hearing impairments. Her efforts have helped include sign language and deaf interpretation in the national health programming in Samoa.
In her acceptance message, Maselina signed: “My work with the association is focused on deaf-led initiatives to ensure deaf people can achieve full and worldwide participation in all aspects of society. This award will assist us in raising [that] awareness.”
Words from the Secretary-General
Addressing the virtual ceremony, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: “With 60 per cent of the combined population of the Commonwealth under the age of 30, these awards are a vitally important expression of our collective commitment to young people.
“This means investing in you and with you, so that there are ample opportunities for you to empower yourselves and to engage more widely to bring change at all levels.
She continued: “Those being honoured with awards today show us what it is possible to achieve… Even in times of restriction and isolation we, as a Commonwealth family, can support each other and mobilise for dynamic change and progress.”
This year, ten young people from ten countries were also recognised as ‘COVID-19 Heroes’ for their efforts in addressing the challenges posed by the pandemic in their communities.
Broadcasted around the Commonwealth
The awards were hosted virtually for the first time due to the pandemic. The ceremony was live-streamed on Facebook and aired in partnership with media outlets such as the South African Broadcasting Corporation, Caribbean Media Corporation, Fijian Broadcasting Corporation and News Bangla 24.
For nearly two decades, the awards have brought the innovative, scalable and replicable projects of young people to the forefront of global leadership and have kicked local projects into the international arena.
Commonwealth Youth COVID-19 Heroes
Commonwealth Youth COVID-19 Heroes are:
Vedika Agarwal (India) – Vedika is the founder of Yein Udaan, an NGO supporting marginalised families in rural Indian communities. During the lockdown, Yein Udaan has distributed food supplies worth over 216,000 meals, sanitation supplies to over 3000 families, educational kits to over 400 students and launched a virtual learning programme in six community libraries. They have also worked with doctors to create informative posters in regional languages to tackle health misinformation.
Bilal Amjad (Pakistan) – Bilal is the founder of InstaCare; which launched a response unit to provide free online medical consultations to communities in Pakistan during the pandemic. Currently, over 300 doctors have provided over 10,000 consultations through the platform. InstaCare also partnered with private institutions to provide telemedicine services to the public including universities and hospitals.
Alexia Hilbertidou (New Zealand) – Alexia is the founder of GirlBoss New Zealand which empowers and equips young women to develop leadership and entrepreneurial skills. During the pandemic, Alexia launched GirlBoss Edge – a virtual career accelerator giving over 1000 women access to 1:1 leaders mentorship and career skills masterclasses, particularly Indigenous, Pasifika, low-income and rural women.
Dr Isaac Olufadewa (Nigeria) – Isaac is the founder of Slum and Rural Health Initiative (SRHIN). The SRHIN COVID-19 Project has translated COVID-19 health messages from the World Health Organization into over 100 languages, reaching over 1.5 million people. Isaac also launched an AI-driven app and chatbot offering thousands of young people access to comprehensive sexual and mental health information.
Dr Camir Ricketts (Jamaica) – Camir is the founder of MindsOf Initiative; a programme which increases young people’s access to career mentorship and S.T.E.A.M training opportunities. Camir co-launched an online app helping 100,000 people find their nearest COVID-19 testing sites, and raised $4000 USD in funds to purchase devices and mobile data for students affected by the pandemic.
Sukhmeet Singh Sachal (Canada) – Sukhmeet is a co-founder of Translations 4 Our Nations; an initiative which works with indigenous community members to create medically accurate and culturally-relevant COVID-19 information in indigenous languages. The programme has recruited over 140 indigenous translators to translate public health policy information into over 45 languages, reaching over 45,000 indigenous people.
Momin Saqib (United Kingdom) – In March 2020, Momin launched ‘One Million Meals’; an emergency response to the COVID-19 crisis. Led by volunteers, the programme has provided over 100,000 meals and beverages in over 200 locations to frontline key workers, NHS staff, homeless people and vulnerable families affected by the pandemic, including through 47 hospitals, trusts and food banks.
Kritz and Bianca Sciessere (Australia) – Kritz and Bianca are founders of The Big Sister Experience; a social enterprise that provides online mentorship to empower young women and girls on life skills. During the pandemic, the programme has focused on face-to-face and online workshops to support over 5000 young girls dealing with isolation and as they return to on-campus learning.
Brent Alexander Scotland (Antigua and Barbuda) – Brent is the president of the Halo Foundation Generation Y; a national youth body supporting and empowering young people. The Foundation funded monthly groceries for vulnerable persons, and provides a support network to elderly communities isolated during the pandemic. The foundation has also hosted youth events on character building, mental health and suicide awareness.
Natalie Robi Tingo (Kenya) – Natalie is the founder of Msichana Empowerment Kuria; an organisation combating gender based violence and FGM and empowering of girls and women in Kenya. During the pandemic, the organisation set up a menstrual care bank to support menstrual health care for 2000 girls in rural and urban slums; and a community-based cash transfer programme to allow over 400 marginalised girls and young women to access vital funds and support.
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