Constellations AWARDS 2023
Collaborating for Social Impact
Final Deadline: March 7, 2023
To preview the questions in the AVPN Constellations Awards 2023 application form, please click here
Introduction
The Constellations Awards celebrate the remarkable ways in which social investors across Asia collaborate to address the complex challenges of our times.
Asia is big, diverse, and complex - and so are its challenges. Today, Asia Pacific faces an estimated annual funding gap of USD1.6 trillion to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us the cracks in the social impact landscape. The social investment sector has responded boldly. Our members have learnt to react to an unfolding crisis quickly, in the short term, and nurture systemic solutions, in the long term. They have established shared aims and pooled resources to meet the moment with imaginative action, and meet those challenges through collaborations that pioneer solutions at scale.
Since its launch in 2020, the Constellations Awards has illuminated the ripples of positive impact of 15 outstanding projects across Asia. From the World’s Largest Quality Education Development Bond in India and Eliminating Systemic Stunting in Indonesia, to the Green Supply Chain Action of the Real Estate Industry in China and Community Housing Movement in Hong Kong, and Youth Co:Lab in the Asia Pacific as well as the Learn from Home initiative in Malaysia, these collaborations celebrate the ingenuity and effectiveness of our members.
In 2023, the Constellations Awards will put a spotlight on collaborations that advance gender equality in Asia. Inspire and motivate others to start collaborative projects like yours across Asia.
2023 Theme: Creating a More Equitable World for Women and Girls in Asia
While there are substantial improvements in women’s literacy and life expectancy in Asia and the Pacific, gaps persist in education, health, employment and leadership. Discriminatory norms and practices, restrictions on mobility and heavy household responsibilities continue to limit many women’s economic and social activities outside the home, dampening their opportunities for economic security, independent decision-making and personal growth. (Source: Vision for Gender Equality in Asia and the Pacific by 2030: Possible Future Directions for Asian Development Bank’s Gender Work, ADB report
)
Capital can empower the voices of equality and enable women to realise their potential as leaders and agents of change in their communities. If we are to close these staggering gaps in gender equality in Asia, it is vital that we take strong, deliberate, proactive collaborative action to unlock capital to create a more equitable world for women and girls in Asia.
The projects we celebrate in the Constellations Awards are inspiring, but more importantly, they are practical. Demonstrate how you have harnessed the strengths of different actors, drive positive change and achieve long-term impact, share your game-changing point of view. Does your collaborative project have the potential to catalyse impact at scale by providing new means of accessing capital?
Are you a pioneer? Pave the way for others - inspire them to mobilise their capital towards impact and a more resilient Asia.
Final Deadline: March 7, 2023
To preview the questions in the AVPN Constellations Awards 2023 application form, please click here
ABOUT THE AWARDS
Categories
The Constellations Award categories reflect the spectrum of global social and environmental issues that the Constellations projects can rally around:
Climate Action
Covers initiatives where the primary impact areas include and are not limited to championing climate solutions: Agriculture; Biodiversity; Climate Finance; Conservation; Environmental Security; ESG & Sustainability; Food Security & Food Waste; Low Carbon; Renewable Energy; Water Sanitation; and Recycling.
Economic Opportunities
Covers initiatives where the primary impact areas include and are not limited to: Livelihood & Poverty Alleviation; Education, Employability; Financial Inclusion; Affordable Housing; Ageing; and Arts & Culture.
Gender
Covers initiatives that improve outcomes for women and girls where the primary impact areas include and are not limited: Health and Safety; Education; Economic Empowerment; Women in Leadership; and Gender Justice.
Healthcare
Covers initiatives where the primary impact areas include and are not limited to: Healthcare; Nutrition; Sanitation & Hygiene; and Mental Health.
People’s Choice
In addition to the 4 awards, the public has voted for its favourite, most inspirational project from among the finalists, and decided the one that should be given the platform to scale and reach much-needed communities.
MASTER JURY
The panel of judges
The independent panel of jury with distinguished backgrounds has evaluated this year’s Constellations submissions based on their potential to inspire real, positive, and bold transformations that are collaborative, actionable and scalable. This was evaluated against the following criteria: Strength of Collaboration; Impact Potential; Transformative Potential & Innovation; and Growth Potential.
Arnav Kapur
Global Lead - Philanthropic Partnerships, India and South Asia
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Gu Qing
Program Officer, China
Ford Foundation
Chris Addy
Managing Partner, Singapore Office
The Bridgespan Group
Wonyoung Kim
Executive Director
Crevisse Partners
Liza Green
Head, Corporate Citizenship
and Executive Director
Credit Suisse APAC Foundation,
Credit Suisse
Andrew Staples, PhD.
Regional Head, (APAC), Policy & Insights
Economist Impact
Veronica Colondam
Chair
AVPN
Founder & CEO
YCAB Foundation
Susan Afan
President
Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation
Andrew Staples, PhD.
Regional Head, (APAC), Policy & Insights
Economist Impact
what we're looking for
Why Apply?
- Brand exposure Be seen and evaluated by influential leaders who are members of the Asia Gender Network
- Opportunities Winning projects will be celebrated at the AVPN Global Conference, and receive up to 2 complimentary conference passes
- Credibility Gain the AVPN stamp of approval for engaging in multi-sectoral partnerships to achieve lasting, community-wide change
- Break News Tell the rippling impact of your story to the world for the first time and share best practices on collaboration more broadly to accelerate the closing of gender gap in Asia
There will be three rounds of evaluation.
- In the first round, the applications will be reviewed by an internal committee within AVPN. The committee will ensure that all applications are complete and contact applicants where necessary for clarification.
- In round 2, eligible submissions will be shared with judges. Judges will evaluate each submission independently based on the criteria.
- In round 3, the independent evaluations will be collated and the judges will deliberate to make the final selection.
MASTER JURY
An independent panel of judges, all of whom are part of the Asia Gender Network will assess the entries following rigorous criteria.
Where a judge or an assessor has a direct connection with an applicant organisation, they will excuse themselves from the assessment and evaluation of that organisation.
- Only AVPN members are eligible to apply for the awards.
- In 2023, the Constellations Awards celebrate multi-sectoral collaborations which puts a special focus on creating a more equitable world for women and girls in Asia.
- The collaboration must include at least 1 AVPN member organisation.
- Collaborations can be submitted as long as they have started, are in progress, or have been completed within the past 1 year.
- Ongoing collaborations should have been running for at least 1 year at the point of submission.
- The main activities of the collaboration must be located in Asia Pacific.
- To qualify, all applicants must submit both:
- the application form via Survey Monkey; and
- a 1-minute video of the team that answers the questions:
- What are the gender challenges in Asia that your collaboration is solving?
- How does your collaboration solve the gender gap issues at hand and what are the achievements to date?
- Please make sure your video does not go over 1 minute.
- Videos recorded via a webcam/mobile camera are acceptable. Voice clarity is the most important feature we are looking for.
- Please submit your application no later than 7 March 2023, 23:59h Singapore Time (GMT+8)
- Application must only be submitted in English and follow the requirements of the application form.
- The application will be disqualified if:
- The submitted application is incomplete or the video is not submitted.
- The collaboration does not include at least 1 AVPN member organisation.
- The collaboration reflects investor-investee or funder-grantee relationships.
- Applicants must not submit any false documents or information and they must follow the requirements of the overview. If the provided information does not meet the requirements, AVPN reserves the right to decline the application. Should the investigation prove the information provided by any organisations to be false, they will be disqualified from the award.
- Information submitted by applications may be used in marketing, promotion, and media engagement by AVPN.
- AVPN reserves the right to change any specifications.
- For any queries, please contact: constellations@avpn.asia
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-
- Only AVPN members are eligible to apply for the awards
- In 2023, the Constellations Awards celebrate multi-sectoral collaborations which puts a special focus on creating a more equitable world for women and girls in Asia.
- The collaboration must include at least 1 AVPN member organisation.
- Collaborations can be submitted as long as they have started, are in progress, or have been completed within the past 1 year.
- Ongoing collaborations should have been running for at least 1 year at the point of submission.
- The main activities of the collaboration must be located in Asia Pacific.
- To qualify, all applicants must submit both:
- the application form via Survey Monkey; and
- a 1-minute video of the team that answers the questions:
- What are the gender challenges in Asia that your collaboration is solving?
- How does your collaboration solve the gender gap issues at hand and what are the achievements to date?
- Please make sure your video does not go over 1 minute.
- Videos recorded via a webcam/mobile camera are acceptable. Voice clarity is the most important feature we are looking for.
- Please submit your application no later than 28 February 2023, 23:59h Singapore Time (GMT+8)
- Application must only be submitted in English and follow the requirements of the application form.
- The application will be disqualified if:
- The submitted application is incomplete or the video is not submitted.
- The collaboration does not include at least 1 AVPN member organisation.
- The collaboration reflects investor-investee or funder-grantee relationships.
- Applicants must not submit any false documents or information and they must follow the requirements of the overview. If the provided information does not meet the requirements, AVPN reserves the right to decline the application. Should the investigation prove the information provided by any organisations to be false, they will be disqualified from the award
- Information submitted by applications may be used in marketing, promotion, and media engagement by AVPN.
- AVPN reserves the right to change any specifications.
- For any queries, please contact: constellations@avpn.asia
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Final Deadline: March 7, 2023
To preview the questions in the AVPN Constellations Awards 2023 application form, please click here
what we're looking for
Eligibility
- Applications for recognition are open to teams that include at least ONE AVPN member. Applications will be disqualified if there are no AVPN members involved in the project
- Applicants are allowed to submit more than one entry.
- Projects can be submitted as long as they have started, are in progress, or have been completed within the past 2 years
- Ongoing projects should have been running for at least a year at the point of submission
- The main activities of the projects should be located in the Asia Pacific
Once all applications have been submitted, we will comb them to check they are complete and all our questions have been answered. Our AVPN team will review everything and contact your nominated contact if we find anything missing. All applications must be fully completed in order to be considered by the judges.
Before voting, consider these evaluation criteria:
Strength of Collaboration
Does the project draw on expertise from a number of sectors and demographic backgrounds?
Impact Potential
Does the project have a coherent plan for addressing a pressing problem in the Asia-Pacific?
Transformative Potential & Innovation
Does the project have new ideas, approaches, and technologies that are game-changing and future-oriented?
Growth Potential
Can the project be scaled up, or replicated successfully in different regions or markets?
Vote for your favourite entry today!
MASTER JURY
An independent panel of judges with distinguished backgrounds will assess the entries following rigorous criteria. They commit to doing this with integrity, objectivity, impartiality, avoidance of conflict of interest, and transparency.
Where a judge or an assessor has a direct connection with an applicant organisation, they will excuse themselves from the assessment and evaluation of that organisation.
- Arnav Kapur, Lead – Philanthropic Partnerships, India and South Asia, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
- Gu Qing, Program Office, China, Ford Foundation
- Chris Addy, Managing Partner, Boston Office, The Bridgespan Group
- Wonyoung Kim, Executive Director, Crevisse Partners
- Liza Green, Head, Corporate Citizenship and Executive Director, Credit Suisse APAC Foundation, Credit Suisse
- Andrew Staples, PhD. , Regional Head, (APAC), Policy & Insights, Economist Impact
- Veronica Colondam, Chair, AVPN and Founder & CEO, YCAB Foundation
The winners will be ratified by our master jury, and they will be announced at the AVPN Global Conference 2022.
APPLICATION
- Application deadline: 7 March 2022, 23:59 Singapore Time (GMT+8)
- Application should be submitted in English only and follow the requirements of the application form
- The application is free of charge
- Applicants must not submit any false documents or information and they must follow the requirements of the overview. If the provided information does not meet the requirements, AVPN reserves the right to decline the application. Should the investigation prove the information provided by any organisations to be false, they will be disqualified from the award.
- Information submitted by applications may be used in marketing, promotion, and media engagement by AVPN
- For AVPN’s data protection policy, please visit: https://avpn.asia/data-protection-policy/
- AVPN reserves the right to change any specifications
- For any queries, please contact: constellations@avpn.asia
Preview the AVPN Constellations Awards 2022 application form here
5 COLLABORATIVE SOLUTIONS
Constellations Awards 2021 Winners
In 2021, we are proud to recognise 5 outstanding collaborative solutions that are addressing complex problems of our times.
5 collaborative solutions
In 2021, we are proud to recognise 5 outstanding collaborative solutions that are addressing complex problems of our times.
The Challenge
The 2030 Water Resources Group estimates that if India continues to consume water as per current rates, India will only have half the water it needs by 2030. Agriculture accounts for 80% of India’s freshwater use, almost twice the amount used by comparable countries to grow one unit of food. Hence, innovative and scalable solutions are needed to solve a spectrum of water-related problems.
Collaborative Solutions
Villgro Innovations Foundation partnered with Hindustan Unilever Foundation (HUF) to identify and support social enterprises that can work with non-profit organisations to address India’s water challenges. Through an incubation program, high impact ideas with significant potential to address India’s rural water crisis are selected and provided with support. The partnership also facilitated engagements between social enterprises and NGOs to scale innovative solutions, operationalise pilots, and disseminate and promote successful models across the agriculture, water, and climate ecosystems to garner visibility, adoption, capital infusion, and scale-up.
Partners
Hindustan Unilever Foundation; CultYvate; CIPT; Villgro
Resources Pooled
- Collectively saved over 238, 534, 000 litres of water and 27,241Kwh of energy
- Created a total of 75 jobs
- Reached over 3565 end-beneficiaries
By AVPN
AVPN Constellations 2021 | Technologies for Collective Good in Agricultural Water Use
The Challenge
In 2018, China’s real estate and construction sector contributed to around 10% of the global fossil CO2 emission. Decisive action from the private sector is needed to achieve China’s 2030 peak carbon and 2060 carbon neutrality goals.
Collaborative Solutions
To integrate sustainable environmental processes into the traditional supply chain, 5 organisations worked together with consultants and NGOs to launch the GSCA project in 2016. The project encourages voluntary actions of Chinese real estate enterprises to improve environmental performance and reduce carbon emissions via green supply chain management. The GSCA project created and introduced different levels of environmental standards, according to which the suppliers are sorted into white, green and black lists. By June 2021, 13 categories of building materials including steel, cement, aluminium, wood etc. have been assigned rigorous voluntary environmental standards. Through implementing green procurement, where real estate developers are encouraged to only buy building materials from qualified suppliers from the white or green list, developers are exerting leverage on their upstream suppliers to enhance their environmental regulatory compliance performance. As of 2021, a total of 100 real estate companies, representing 20% of the sales revenues of the whole sector in China, have joined the project and engaged 3,874 upstream suppliers.
Partners
Organization of Initiation
Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology; China Urban Realty Association; China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce; Vanke Enterprise Co., Ltd.; Landsea Holding Group
Green Supply Chain Action Promotion Committee
Society of Entrepreneurs and Ecology; China Urban Realty Association; China Real Estate Chamber of Commerce: Vanke Enterprise Co., Ltd.; Landsea Holding Group; Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center, Ministry of Ecology and Environment; Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs; Beijing New Building Materials Public Limited Company; China Association of Building Energy Efficiency; Industrial Cooperation Committee of China Real Estate Association
Partners of Technical Support
Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs; Vanke Enterprise Co., Ltd.; World Wildlife Fund; China Association of Building Energy Efficiency; China National Quality Supervision and Testing Center for Stone Products; Committee of Material and Facility of China Real Estate Association; Landsea Holding Group; China National Forest Product Industry Association
Resources Pooled
Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs; Vanke Enterprise Co., Ltd.; World Wildlife Fund; China Association of Building Energy Efficiency; China National Quality Supervision and Testing Center for Stone Products; Committee of Material and Facility of China Real Estate Association; Landsea Holding Group; China National Forest Product Industry Association
By AVPN
AVPN Constellations 2021 | The Green Supply Chain Action of the Real Estate Industry in China (GSCA)
The Challenge
Poor nutritional status of employees reduces productivity as it leads to compromised health and increased absenteeism. According to a recent study by Chatham House and Vivid Economics, businesses in developing economies like India stand to lose up to $850 billion a year if immediate nutrition interventions are not undertaken. As most adults have at least one meal a day at work, the workplace offers unique opportunities to address malnutrition.
Collaborative Solutions
IMPAct4Nutrition (I4N) is India’s first collective commitment-based platform in the public space for public-private engagement on nutrition. I4N has aligned its goals towards achieving India’s nutrition targets through encouraging Workplace Nutrition and Corporate Social responsibility (CSR) to work towards Government of India’s POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission) goals. I4N works with corporations who take the ‘I4N pledge’, an ethical commitment to work towards better nutrition at the workplace and communities, to transform the workplace landscape and implement roadmaps for employee engagement programmes, nutrition literacy, and capacity development for employees, their children, and their communities.
Partners
UNICEF India; DSM; Sight and Life; Tata Trusts; CSR Box; Confederation of Indian Industries (CII); Nasscom Foundation; IPE Global; United Nations Global Compact; PATH; United Way; IIT Delhi Alumni Association (IITDAA); the World Bank Group; NITI Aayog; Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
Resources Pooled
- I4N has 189 pledged partners in just over 2 years of operation
- As of May 2021, I4N has reached over 2.5 million employees, and an additional at least 10 million people in the companies’ customer-base, families and communities
- During the pandemic lockdown, I4N-pledged partners provided sanitation, safety kits, and nutritious dry ration kits to the most vulnerable, helping over 10 million citizens in 2020
By AVPN
AVPN Constellations Awards 2021: IMPAct4Nutrition
The Challenge
The grassroots housing problem in Hong Kong has become more serious in the past decade. In 2016, almost 210,000 citizens were living in subdivided units plagued by poor hygiene, ventilation, and lighting, which severely affected individuals’ physical and mental well-being. And they are trapped under poverty and lack social support.
Collaborative Solutions
The Community Housing Movement (CHM) is a social movement that provides affordable and decent housing to alleviate the poverty of the grassroots household in Hong Kong. They provide short-term relief for individuals or families in need of transitional housing or currently living in dismal and inadequate housing conditions. The transitional social housing provides better quality of physical living space and a supportive community environment for residents to build up their social capital and improve living quality.
Partners
The Hong Kong Council of Social Service (HKCSS); The Community Chest of Hong Kong; Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund (SIE Fund); landlords; NGOs and social enterprises; and the government
Type Of Resources Pooled
As of September 2020:
- Total of 506 units benefiting 664 households (up to 1863 persons)
- Housing conditions are improved in terms of lightning, ventilation, space for showering, cooking, eating, and resting and child activities. Per capita living space in average increases from 62.0 sq.ft. to 115 sq.ft. due to more shared space
- 87.3% reported an improvement in residential conditions, and 77.2% reported an improvement in building conditions
- Median rent and related expenses have decreased by 25% from HK$5280 to HK$3975
- Economic pressure due to housing and household expenses in average value has dropped by 45.0% and 35.0% respectively
- 63.6% reported being happier and more optimistic, with 51.5% reported experiencing less psychological pressure
- Family relationships improved in terms of the average value of “I feel support from household members”, “family members will help if I have difficulty”, “I feel satisfied with the studying environment for children at home”, “the family relationship is good”
- 79.4% of households report that they learn more community resources
- After living in social housing, 90.9% of households report they know new friends. In average each household knows 8 new residents and 4 social workers; Households are also more likely to greet, chat, eat, and join social activities with other neighbours
- 56% think their self-confidence and self-esteem is improved; 57.0% think the problem-solving ability is improved
- Finally, around 90% of households think social housing is alternative affordable housing, a caring place, and a place with human support. And around 95% of households are satisfied with the Community Housing Movement
By AVPN
AVPN Constellations Awards 2021 | Community Housing Movement
The Challenge
India is ranked 131 out of 188 countries in UNDP’s 2016 Human development Index (HDI), with the living standards in India differing substantially among states and districts.
Collaborative Solutions
To improve various human development indicators in 112 of India’s most vulnerable districts, India’s government launched the “Transformation of Aspirational District Programme” under NITI Aayog (Government of India’s leading think tank) in 2018. Piramal Swasthya collaborated with NITI Aayog to transform health and nutrition indicators in 25 of these Aspirational Districts across 7 states. These 25 districts are home to about 41 million people, which Is 3.4% of India’s population.
Piramal Swasthya led the facilitation of health and nutrition interventions in these selected districts. It collaborated with various technical and knowledge partners to avoid duplicity of efforts and secure maximum impact in the regions. The interventions by Piramal Swasthya were spread across 4 themes: capacity building of health personnel, community engagement, strengthening of healthcare facilities, and effective scheme implementation.
Partners
AVPN Members
Piramal Swasthya Management and Research Institute
Other Collaborative Partners
Centre for Social and Behaviour Change, Ashoka University; Envisions Institute of Development; Population Research Centre, Madhya Pradesh; Sattva Consulting; CTARA, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai; UNICEF, India; Oxford Policy Management; Elsevier, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation
Type Of Resources Pooled
The programme aims to reach the most vulnerable section of society and impact 41 million people. From 2018 to 2021, some key achievements included an increase in pregnant women registering for antenatal care from 74% to 94%, an increase in women opting to deliver at health facilities from 66% to 82%, facilitating over 12,000 Village Sanitation and Nutrition Days (VHSNDs), mobilizing over 250 million community members and government officials to support POSHAN Abhiyaan in 15 districts among others.
By AVPN
AVPN Constellations Awards 2021: Transformation of Aspirational Districts Programme
COLLABORATIVE SOLUTIONS
People's Choice Awards: Constellations 2022
The Constellations Awards 2022 celebrate the ingenuity and effectiveness of our members and the remarkable ways in which social investors across Asia collaborate to address the complex challenges of our times. These outstanding projects that we recognise in the Constellations Awards are inspiring, and more importantly, they are action-oriented. We seek to illuminate the ripples of positive impact they have triggered, share their game-changing point of view, and provide these projects new means of accessing capital.
commendable collaborative projects
Here are some of the more commendable collaborative projects.
PC01: Reweave Program
AVPN Member(s): Enviu India
Other Collaborative Partner(s): Doen Foundation; Ikea Foundation; RVO
The fashion sector is trapped in a linear system of take-make-waste. This results in huge amounts of waste and the destruction of valuable materials. There is an urgent need to transition from a linear to a circular fashion economy, in which regenerative inputs are used, the true value of materials is captured, resources continue to circulate and waste is phased out.
Enviu’s Reweave Program builds disruptive ventures that drive the fashion sector towards a circular and fair value chain. Our focus is on building disruptive ventures with sustainable, circular manufacturing processes, we also look to create value from current production waste streams. These ventures serve to influence and inspire market participants driving innovation towards the creation of a new normal.
Our ventures include: Khaloom, which works with handloom weavers and produces high quality fabrics from recycled and organic yarns; PurFi, a waste rejuvenation technology for post-production of textile fabric waste; and Susclo, which produce garments for small and medium brands in an ethical and sustainable manner; and DesertSpring, a patented technology that offers manufacturers a sea buckthorn based alternative to the use of heavy metals in the production process.
PC02: SDGs Unicorn Accelerator (SUA)
AVPN Member(s): China Alliance of Social Value Investment (CASVI); Ashoka: Innovators for the Public; Green Startups Accelerator; Heroad (Shenzhen) Venture Capital Co., Ltd; Impact Hub Shanghai; Non-Profit Incubator; SINIC Foundation; SEED InVenture; Star of Social Innovation; CreditEase
Other Collaborative Partner(s): Chifufund; Cloudstone Fund; Tsing Capital; Global Social Finance Network; Yunqi Partners; Shenzhen Securities Information Co. Ltd; Shengshi investment; Oriental fortune capital; EY; China Galaxy Securities Co. Ltd.; SDIC Chuangyi; Asia Green Fund; FPA Microfinance; Bits x Bites Capital; Dao Capital; Technode; Y-city; Slush; TC; Youchange China Social Entrepreneur Foundation; AI Innovation Center, Shenzhen; Startup Weekend Shenzhen; Coin Platform; Enable Platform; Hong Kong X Foundation; The Youthink Center; Bottle Dream; Innovation Works; China Global Philanthrophy Institude; UNDP; Shenzhen Municipal Local Financial Supervision Administration; Singularity University; National School of Development, Peking University; iResearch; 36 Kr
Despite an emerging number of social entrepreneurs taking on the challenge of solving social and environmental issues, there is a lack of effective solutions and well-rounded support systems to drive value incubation and commercialisation.
SDGs Unicorn Accelerator (SUA) is a pioneering initiative by CASVI that bridges the gap in the Chinese market to cultivate the domestic social innovation ecosystem. Through collaborating with more than 30 partners from the public and private sectors, SUA supports early-stage entrepreneurs who align with SDGs and have innovative solutions to social and environmental problems. Since 2018, SUA has empowered 258 sustainable development start-ups, accelerated 45 start-ups, gathered 85 mentors, and cooperated with 10 incubators.
PC07: Transforming Primary Care for Cardiovascular Risk Management in Indonesia
AVPN Member(s): The George Institute for Global Health
Other Collaborative Partner(s): Malang District Health Authority, Govt. of Indonesia; The University of Brawijaya, Indonesia; The University of Manchester, UK; Badan Penyelenggara Jaminan Sosial (BPJS), Indonesia; Give2Asia (on recommendation of Pfizer Foundation grant); Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases; National Health and Medical Research Council, Australia
In 2016-2017, about 25% of the population aged 40 years and above screened from 8 villages in Malang district, Indonesia were detected to be at high cardiovascular disease risk with only 11% of them on any blood pressure (BP) lowering treatment.
The SMARThealth program, a technology-enabled primary care ecosystem to improve the appropriate identification and management of cardiovascular disease was implemented by the George Institute in collaboration with the Malang District Health Authority (DHA), the University of Brawijaya, and BPJS in 4 villages as a pilot study and was found to improve the BP medication usage to about 57% within the community. Reflecting this impact, the SMARThealth program was awarded the Indonesian Ministry of Health’s 2019 “Best Health Service Innovation Award” and is currently being effectively and sustainably scaled-up by the same consortium for implementation in 100 villages of Malang district by 2022.
By The George Institute for Global Health, India
SMARThealth Global
Social Equality and Inclusion
PC08: #COVIDActionCollab (CAC)
AVPN Member(s): Catalyst Foundation; Arthan; ChildFund; Industree Crafts Foundation; MacArthur Foundation; Dasra; SBI Foundation; Sesame Workshop
Other Collaborative Partner(s): Skoll Foundation; USAID; FNDR; Noora Health; Molecular Solutions Care Health; NeuCures (Covid-19 Homecare); Vihara Innovation Network; Design Beku; Change Alliance; Urban Morph; Gram Vaani Community Media; Molecular Solutions; LabourNet Services India Pvt. Ltd; ResilienceWorks; Private Hospitals & Nursing Homes Association – Karnataka (PHANA); Signable Communications; Siriti Design; Gnothi Seauton; ElderAid Wellness Pvt. Ltd; PCMH Restore Health; HealthSetGO Pvt Ltd; Change Alliance; Dhwani Rural Information Systems; Exotel Techcom Private Limited; Cloud Physician; Frida; Treemouse; Neshaju Envirotech Private Limited; SNEHA
The COVIDActionCollab (CAC) is an all India collaborative, united to provide relief, recovery and build resilience among the most vulnerable communities. Our partner organizations and networks work together to support these communities during the period of crisis and enable them to secure their future. We are a 326 partners strong collaboration and have reached 3 million vulnerable with 2000 volunteers. Our ambition is to reach and impact 10 million vulnerable people.
We are inspired by humanity, serving the vulnerable population with a people first approach, irrespective of the crisis. We are people, partner centric and social impact, purpose led. We are obsessed with urgency & are powered by possibilities.
We envision a new resilient world where vulnerable communities are empowered to survive and thrive during a humanitarian crisis.
By #CovidActionCollab
Stronger Together 2.0
PC10: Producer Owned Women Enterprises (POWER)
AVPN Member(s): Industree Crafts Foundation
Other Collaborative Partner(s): USAID; National Bamboo Mission of India (Karnataka Chapter); Integrated Tribal Development Agency; Odisha, Mahila Arthik Vikas Mahamandal (MAVIM); IKEA
*Female employment in India is on a decline regardless of the GDP growth rate of 7%. Female participation in Indian labour force fell from 36.7% in 2005 to 26% in 2018. Around 195 million women in India are in the informal sector or in unpaid work.
Industree Crafts Foundation (ICF) with support from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has initiated the Producer-Owned Women Enterprises (POWER) project which focuses on increasing economic opportunities for women through sustainable use of natural resources. The project, which is awarded under USAID’s Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) initiative, will socially and economically empower marginalized communities in rural areas by taking work closer to their homes. Through partnerships with public and private organisations such as Grameen, IKEA, and the Ministry of Textiles, POWER aims to create 28 women-owned enterprises that connect women producers to commercial supply chains of natural and biodegradable products. This will help 6,800 women producers gain productive self-employment and indirectly benefit 55,000 members from the women entrepreneurs’ communities.
By Industree Foundation
POWER Project film
PC11: Promotion of Agriculture Production Cluster in Tribal Regions of Odisha
AVPN Member(s): Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN); Bharat Rural Livelihoods Foundation (BRLF); Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)
Other Collaborative Partner(s):
Government Departments: Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Govt. of Odisha; Dept. of Mission Shakti, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department, Govt. of Odisha; Dept. Of Water Resources, ST&SC Development Dept.
NGOs: IDA (Ideal Development Agency); Janasahajya; Harsha Trust; SHRISTI; YCDA (Youth Council for Development Alternatives); SIDI (Sambalpur Integrated Development Institute); SEWA (Social Education for Women’s Awareness); CYSD (Centre for Youth and Social Development); Vikalpa; LOKADRUSTI; FES (Foundation for Ecological Security); JMA (Janamukti Anusthan); BGS (Balangir Gramoudyog Samiti); Adhikar; Shramik Shakti Sangha, (SSS); AJSA (Anchalik Janaseva Anusthan)
Low and unpredictable agricultural productivity, inadequate ecosystems to support livelihood activities, and lack of employment opportunities locally are some key factors of poverty in the tribal regions of Odisha.
Promotion of Agriculture Production Cluster (APC) in Tribal Regions of Odisha’ project aims to double the income of 135,000 smallholder women farmers by ensuring end-to-end support in crop production; from input procurement, production enhancement to value addition and marketing the output. To sustain the endeavour, the project creates livelihood infrastructures like irrigation, post-harvest management structures, livestock rearing infrastructures in the rural locations.
The project focuses on collaboration of public sector, civil society organisations, community institutions and private sector by integrating implementation of schemes of multiple Government departments, orchestrating the change processes, strengthening community institutions and linking with effective market channels.
Along with ushering in substantial increase in income levels through comprehensive livelihood approach, APC project plays a pivotal role in ensuring agriculture as an environmentally sustainable livelihood option by adopting non-pesticide management techniques and large scale fruit tree plantation.
The project both in its process of implementation and output, nurtures relationships among multiple stakeholders to generate a sustainable impact. The project is addressing various goals of the SDG to bring multidimensional changes.
By APC Odisha
APC Intro Video
PC12: Seoul Welfare Facilities Children Education SIB
Other Collaborative Partner(s): Seoul Metropolitan Government; People and Peace Link; UBS Securities Seoul Branch; Daekyo Co. Ltd.; Daekyo Culture Foundation; Sungkyunkwan University Research and Business Foundation
Borderline Intellectual Function (BIF) children are those with IQ levels between 71-84. They are entirely neglected in policies, yet the probability of BIF children ending up as welfare beneficiaries is 30%, which is 15 times higher than ordinary children.
Furthermore, BIF children have a tendency to become mentally retarded over time if left behind.
Seoul Welfare Facilities Children Education Social Impact Bond (SIB) wanted to improve the self-reliance capability of BIF children to prevent potential future social cost. Created in collaboration by Pan-Impact Korea and Seoul Metropolitan Government, with funders People & Peace Link, MYSC, and UBS Securities, and a service provider Daekyo Consortium, it aims to improve the cognitive ability and social adaptability skills of 100 children with BIF living in welfare facilities. To reduce investors’ risk, Pan-Impact Korea combined SIB with blockchain, developing the world’s first electrically securitized SIB. Finally, 52.7% of the beneficiaries succeeded, and the maximum performance target was exceeded by 10.7%.
PC13: Taaron ki Toli-TKT (Gang of Stars)
AVPN Member(s): Breakthrough Trust; J-PAL South Asia
Other Collaborative Partner(s): NRMC
India has deep-rooted structural inequities and discriminatory gender norms that give rise to a culture of violence against women and girls that limits their full and equal participation in society.
Breakthrough Trust’s Taaron ki Toli (TKT) curriculum aims to shape the gender views of over 2 million young people in India to bring a generational shift in girls’ agency and decision making capabilities about matters concerning their own lives, as well as in boys’ behaviours around gender roles and stereotypes. This is achieved through a rigorously evaluated 2-year, school-based gender equity curriculum for adolescents aged 11-18 years old that is proven to bring significant shifts in gender attitudes and behaviours. The curriculum has already been adopted by the Government of Punjab to be incorporated into school syllabi and reach all middle school students across more than 4500 schools in the state; Breakthrough also delivers the programme directly in 4 states of India.
By Breakthrough India
Legion Of Stars – Short Cut | Breakthrough India
PC14: Youth Co:Lab
Co-created by: UNDP and Citi Foundation
AVPN Member(s): Makesense (Philippines); Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE); Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT); British Council; Cartier Women’s Initiative; ChangeFusion Institute; China Alliance of Social Value Investment (CASVI); Hanyang University; LinkedIn Singapore; Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC); raiSE Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise (raiSE); SEED; Singapore International Foundation; Social Enterprise Academy International CIC; Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN); Thomson Reuters Foundation; UNICEF
Other Collaborative Partner(s): Youth Co:Lab partners with an alliance of ecosystem players who are contributing to youth empowerment across Asia-Pacific. So far, the Youth Co:Lab Youth Empowerment Alliance includes 192 members from government, the private sector, youth organizations, regional intermediaries, academia, and the development sector from across the region.
Young people today are more connected, creative, informed and persuasive than any previous generation. They are responding to challenges with innovative approaches, contributing fresh ideas, creating the world they want, and driving human development for themselves, their communities, and their societies.
But at the same time, of the 660 million young people in Asia-Pacific, around 160 million are not in employment, education, or training (NEET), facing direct economic insecurity.
Co-created in 2017 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Citi Foundation, Youth Co:Lab aims to empower and invest in youth in Asia-Pacific so they can accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through youth leadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship.
By developing 21st-century skills, catalysing and sustaining youth-led startups and social enterprises across the region, Youth Co:Lab is positioning young people front and centre in order to solve the region’s most pressing challenges.
In addition to supporting youth entrepreneurship, Youth Co:Lab works closely with multiple stakeholders across the region, particularly through the Youth Empowerment Alliance, which has 192 members from governments, civil society and the private sector, to strengthen the entrepreneurship ecosystem and give policy support to better enable young people to take the lead on new solutions that will help meet the SDGs.
So far, the initiative has reached over 75,000 participants, benefitted over 8,000 young social entrepreneurs and helped to launch or improve over 1,000 youth-led social enterprises across 28 countries and territories in Asia-Pacific.
By #CovidActionCollab
Youth Co:Lab Is
winners
In 2022, we are proud to recognise 5 outstanding collaborative solutions that are addressing complex problems of our times.
Bringing Sustainable and Equitable Sanitation Services to Small and Medium Towns in India
The Challenge at Hand
Wai and Sinnar, two small towns in Maharashtra, India faced distinct challenges across their sanitation value chain – access to toilets, containment of excreta, collection and transport, treatment, disposal and /reuse. Like most small and medium towns, they had limited technical and financial capacity to address these issues with conventional solutions.
In both the towns many households were dependent on community toilets or defecated in the open. The practice of open defecation endangered health and also polluted the environment. Both towns are dependent on onsite sanitation systems such as septic tanks. Faecal sludge from septic tanks was emptied once in 8-10 years, when the septic tanks overflowed. This resulted in widespread pollution. Also, the collected septage was dumped on open ground without treatment leading to pollution of ground, water and environment.
Collaborative Solutions
In 2013, preparation of City Sanitation Plans was initiated in both cities by CWAS through a consultative process with the local governments. This eventually led to support for these towns in making them Open Defecation Free (ODF) and implementing citywide Faecal Sludge and Septage Management (FSSM) services. The city-level improvements were identified which also aligned with programs of the state and national government. Many stakeholders were involved in service planning. The cities engaged private operators and self help groups (SHGs) for provision of services, sector experts and consultants for training and project development; and mobilized citizens and leaders for demand driven toilet construction programs and acceptance of scheduled desludging services. Funding was mobilized from the city’s own budgets as well as philanthropic funds. Rigorous monitoring of services is done through digital monitoring systems.
CWAS also supported the cities to introduce a first-of-its-kind ‘scheduled desludging service’, where all septic tanks are desludged once in 3 years. This is implemented through a Performance linked annuity model (PLAM) by engagement with the private sector (link). The town of Wai has just completed the first cycle of three year scheduled desludging covering all septic tanks with 95% acceptance rate. It has helped to improve the quality of ground water and river water. It also ensures safe disposal of faecal waste to treatment facilities. The design of these services helps to ensure inclusive and equitable access, including especially for vulnerable areas such as slums.
Wai and Sinnar have become model cities in sanitation for the state of Maharashtra and their experiences have contributed to policy, guidelines and program design at state and national levels.
Partners
- AVPN members: Center for Water and Sanitation (CWAS), CEPT University, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF)
- Other project partners: British High Commission, New Delhi (earlier DFID), Local government of Wai and Local government of Sinnar.
Type of Resources Pooled
The total grant for this project was around USD 1 Million, from BMGF and DFID. This was leveraged over three times (USD 3.4 Million) by resources from various stakeholders. This included public funds from local governments (38%) , and the remaining (62%) from households and the private sector. These total resources have contributed to new toilets, scheduled desludging services and treatment facilities.
Bringing sustainable and equitable sanitation services to small and medium towns in India
Youth Co:Lab
The Challenge at Hand
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes the significant role of youth in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and calls for action against the challenges faced by young people that limit their economic, social, and political inclusion. Today, young people are more connected, creative, informed, and persuasive than any previous generation. At the same time, of the 660 million young people in the region, around 160 million are not in employment, education, or training (NEET), facing dire economic insecurity. In addition, many young people are left out of decision-making processes, which further contributes to their marginalisation and exclusion.
Collaborative Solutions
Co-created in 2017 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Citi Foundation, Youth Co:Lab aims to establish a common agenda for Asia-Pacific countries to invest in and empower youth to accelerate the implementation of the SDGs through leadership, social innovation, and entrepreneurship by developing 21st skills, catalysing and sustaining youth-led start-ups and social enterprises across the region. Youth Co:Lab also works closely with multiple stakeholders across the region, including governments, civil society, and the private sector, to strengthen the entrepreneurship ecosystem and policy support.
Partners
- AVPN members: United Nations Development Programme, Citi Foundation, Accelerating Asia, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE), Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Ashoka, ChangeFusion Institute, China Alliance of Social Value Investment (CASVI), Damson Capital, LinkedIn, Makesense (Philippines), Microsoft Operations, Social Enterprise Academy International CIC, Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), TheVentures and UNICEF
- Other project partners: Some other partners include 500 Global, CVC Capital Partners, Impact Hub, YGAP (Bangladesh), Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, The Commonwealth Secretariat, LinkedIn, Samsung, Facebook, Intel, Islamic Development Bank (ISDB), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and United Nations Volunteers (UNV) .
Resources Pooled
- By collaborating with their 200+ partners, Youth Co:Lab has mobilised 50 million USD, supporting 1240 youth-led social enterprises, and produced 11 research and knowledge products.
- 200,000 youth participants have been trained on innovation, leadership and entrepreneurship.
- The Movers Programme – a regional movement to develop SDGs awareness, entrepreneurial mindsets and 21st century skills – has reached 45000 youth in Asia Pacific.
Youth Co:Lab
Yaring Pinay
The Challenge at Hand
Yaring Pinay aims to promote women and men’s participation in non-traditional technical-vocational education, training, and employment. To influence gender norms around job segregation, on women and men’s roles at home and at work, towards a more gender-responsive Technical-Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector in collaboration with education institutions, employers, and students, the program consists of three pillars, namely a research, capacity-building of TVET players, and a year-long online communications campaign targeting Edukasyon’s Gen Z audience.
Collaborative Solutions
The program served and continues to serve as the connector between the TVET academe and industry by fostering a gender-responsive community in tech-voc. In addition to partnerships with schools and companies, they are closely working with the government agency overseeing the country’s technical-vocational education and training. The partnership with TESDA helped them reach institutions around the Philippines and facilitated the program’s sustainability by equipping TESDA trainers with gender communication skills and practice.
Partners
- AVPN members: Investing in Women, Schneider Electric
- Other project partners: Edukasyon, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), TESDA Women’s Center, Primary Structures, Primary Structures Educational Foundation (PSEFI), School of Knowledge for Industrial Labor, Service and Leadership (SKILLS), FIRST Industrial and Technology School, Negros Occidental Language and IT Center, Teleperformance, Maayo Hotels & Resorts, Maayo Medical, La Salle Green Hills, Adult Night School – TVET Department, Joji Ilagan Career Centre Foundation, Inc., Bulacan Polytechnic College, Primona Holy Infant, Healthcare Information Management Association Of The Philippines, German – Philippine Chamber Of Commerce, Women in Infrastructure Foundation, Inc., Porsche Training And Recruitment Center Asia, Saint Peter Academy Of Alegria Foundation Inc., St. Louise De Marillac College Of Bogo, Cebu, Inc., Enchanted Kingdom, Inc., Cargill Philippines, Vistaprint Manila, Concentrix, Pointwest Technologies, Quantrics, Asian Institute of Technology And Education, Inc.
Resources Pooled
- The program has trained 116 professionals from 35 TVET schools and 13 companies/employers in the Philippines.
- The launch of the Gender Communication Toolkits in March 2021 gathered 195 participants.
- For their student-targeting initiative called Tech-Voc Ready Fair, which aimed to equip TVET students and graduates with essential skills to help them secure employment in a non-traditional sector, they upskilled 23 students in resume writing and interview skills through a mock interviews session with TVET industry professionals.
- The Yaring Pinay nationwide online campaign reached over 29.7 million users, 123.7 million+ impressions, and 3.5 million+ engagement. The program took on a 360 degree approach by engaging with the three important stakeholder groups in TVET, namely the academe, industry and students.
Yaring Pinay
Primary Healthcare (PHC) Tech Challenge
The Challenge at Hand
India suffers from an under-resourced and unregulated health system, with significant shortages of skilled healthcare workers, adequate supplies, quality-assured diagnostic services at the primary healthcare level and disparate data management systems. These gaps are amplified in rural areas and drive a poorer patient experience. PATH’s vision through this challenge is to accelerate deployment of near-ready solutions in public health settings to improve access to primary health care in India and similar low- and middle-income countries.
Collaborative Solutions
Through the PHC Tech Challenge, PATH along with global partners have laid the foundation of a platform that brings together promising MedTech, digital health, and cold chain innovations for strengthened primary healthcare.
The project’s focus areas are:
- Innovative MedTech solutions in screening, diagnosis, treatment, monitoring, and management of physical, mental, and social health aspects at primary care level,
- Digital health innovation including telehealth, capacity building of health care providers and community engagement for increasing learning, knowledge, awareness, and driving behaviour change and participation,
- Cold chain system strengthening innovations in temperature-controlled packaging, remote temperature monitoring (during storage and transportation), real-time data monitoring (temperature, data reporting) at the last mile for vaccines/immunisation and other pharmaceuticals, and
- Any other technology that improves overall operationalization of PHCs either by bridging a required skill gap or by reducing cost.
Partners
- AVPN members: PATH
- Other project partners: Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Social Alpha, Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), Swasth, The Stanford Centre for Innovation in Global Health, Stanford Byers Centre for Biodesign, ACT
Resources Pooled
After a rigorous selection process that involved evaluation of more than 115 applications, 17 groundbreaking innovations from countries including India, the United States, Canada, China, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands with the most potential to create significant impact in public health were selected as the winners along with four notable mentions. The evaluator panel consisted of national and global domain experts from government, industry, academia, donors, and the development sector. In addition to featuring in a compendium for showcasing to global stakeholders, the winning solutions are provided with an opportunity to access PATH and program partner’s support for implementation on the field as well as a chance to receive expert advisory in refining their operational plan, navigating regulatory landscape, and understanding national and global market dynamics.
Primary Healthcare (PHC) Tech Challenge
Learn From Home Initiative
The Challenge at Hand
The COVID-19 pandemic had the devastating impact of not just seeing educational institutions closed for almost two continuous years, but also a severe loss of learning among school-going children. A loss exacerbated among the underserved and vulnerable children. At the start of the pandemic in March 2020, with all schools closed across Malaysia, YTL Foundation saw the need to provide access to online learning for students. To do this, internet access and quality learning resources needed to be provided for all school-going children from preschool to Year 11.
Collaborative Solutions
YTL Foundation provided internet access by providing free 4G SIM cards, smartphones and nationwide access to appropriate online educational resources based off the Malaysian national curriculum. The programme was initially launched in March 2020 with entities of the YTL Group, FrogAsia and YTL Communications, as a coordinated emergency response, with particular focus on low-income families. Shortly after, content partners were brought in to help develop online lessons and quizzes, the principal ones being Teach For Malaysia, MyReaders, UKM, Kindity (a pre-school) and Pelangi (which had a readymade bank of quizzes). Most recently, CIMB Foundation became a partner, co-funding the development of lessons in new subjects. This came to be known as the Learn from Home Initiative.
Partners
- AVPN members: CYTL Foundation
- Other project partners: YTL Communications, FrogAsia, Teach for Malaysia, MyReaders, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Kindity School, Pelangi Publications, CIMB Foundation
Resources Pooled
- By giving out 100,000 smartphones and 450,000 data SIM cards and subsidising another 730,000 phone and data plans, they have increased equitable access to online educational resources for students and their families over the past 2 years.
- The foundation has curated digital lessons with the help of FrogAsia – an edtech social enterprise
Learn From Home Initiative
FINALISTS
Finalists for People’s Choice Awards
The 12 finalists have been carefully selected by our panel of judges and the project with the maximum votes will be entitled to win the People's Choice Award 2022.
Bharat EdTech Initiative (BEI)
Categories: Economic Opportunities
AVPN Member(s): Sattva Media and Consulting Pvt. Ltd.
Other Collaborative Partner(s): Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Give India, Danaher Foundation, CIPLA, Intuit, Games 24×7, Punchh Foundation, Deutsche Telekom, Atlassian, Google LLC, Matta NY, PLT Health Solutions, Vedantu, Convegenius, Toppr, Byjus, EI Mindspark, Barefoot Education Foundation, Transform Schools, Milaan Foundation, Claylabs, Masoom Foundation, Gram Vikas Trust, Light of Life Trust, Makkala Jagrati, Dream School Foundation, Gnothi Seauton, Convegenius Insights, EI Detailed Assessments, Trivium
Bharat EdTech Initiative (BEI) was launched in August 2021 with an objective to improve learning outcomes by providing equitable access to quality learning solutions for grade K12. BEI envisions to bridge the digital divide in education and impact 1 million children from underserved communities by 2025. As of February 2022, 116,000 students have started learning on the EdTech platforms.
In the first year, the focus of the program was on building awareness about EdTech, addressing issues related to affordability and accessibility, increasing student adoption and engagement rates and improving student learning levels. To ensure replication and scale, there was an emphasis on generating data and building evidence on driving regular high engagement of students on the EdTech platforms.
Collaboration and building a shared vision is core to BEI’s approach, and the program has successfully leveraged EdTech product experts, entrepreneurs, investors and thought leaders to enable effective learning at home through EdTech.
Today, BEI is the largest and one-of-a-kind collective that focuses on driving improvement in learning outcomes through adoption of EdTech solutions.
In the pilot year, BEI has brought together 34 diverse stakeholders from multiple industries including 5 EdTech providers, 9 non-profit organisations, 3 assessment partners and 14 impact funders. In this upcoming year, BEI is poised to work with ~45 organizations to further strengthen the program and build on the gains made in the 1st year.
By Sattva Media and Consulting Pvt. Ltd.
Bharat EdTech Initiative (BEI)
Cha-Ching Money-Smart Kids (“Cha-Ching”)
Categories: Economic Opportunities
AVPN Member(s): Prudence Foundation
Other Collaborative Partner(s): JA Asia Pacific, Junior Achievement Africa, Junior Achievement Philippines, Junior Achievement Vietnam, Junior Achievement Thailand, Junior Achievement Malaysia, Junior Achievement Indonesia, Junior Achievement Ivory Coast, Junior Achievement Ghana, Junior Achievement Zambia, Junior Achievement Uganda, Junior Achievement Kenya, Junior Achievement Nigeria, Cartoon Network Asia, Ministry of Education of the Philippines, Ministry of Education of Vietnam , Ministry of Education of Malaysia, Ministry of Education Indonesia, Ministry of Education Malaysia, Ministry of Education Zambia, Children Rights Foundation in Cambodia, GVEF in Taiwan, Education Department Center, Two Moos
Cha-Ching is Prudence Foundation’s flagship financial literacy programme which aims to provide children with a strong foundation in financial knowledge, skills and behaviour to help them make better financial decisions later in life. Financial literacy impacts issues such as household debt, lending and borrowing, consumer protection and savings, and is therefore a critical enabler to financial inclusion, which is also an enabler of multiple UN SDGs (Goals 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9 10). However, over two-thirds of the global population are financially illiterate, and current education systems are not addressing this gap. Research has shown that children develop the foundation for financial behaviours by seven years old. Asia and Africa are at a critical juncture as by 2050, 80% of children will be living there. They have therefore focused on financial literacy for children aged 7-12 in Asia and Africa. , and have worked with leaders in their field to develop and distribute 18 educational animated music videos teaching four key money smart concepts (Earn, Save, Spend and Donate), a school curriculum, parent teaching guides, games and other materials.
Since Cha-Ching’s establishment in 2011, the 18 Cha-Ching music videos reach 35 million children each day. Other Cha-Ching related online content has received 93 million views to date via Cha-Ching’s website and social media channels.
The Cha-Ching Curriculum has been rolled out in 13 markets in Asia and Africa, with 870,000 students having undertaken the Curriculum at school and 23,000 teachers having been trained. The Curriculum has recently been reviewed by an independent financial literacy expert, and the report concluded that there is clear evidence that Cha-Ching is improving students’ knowledge, behaviour and positive attitudes towards financial matters.
By The George Institute for Global Health, India
SMARThealth Global
Green Inclusive Cloud – Carbon Emission Reduction Digital Account Book
Categories: Climate Action
AVPN Member(s):Beijing Green Inclusive Technology Co.,Ltd
Other Collaborative Partner(s): N/A
Striving to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 is a major strategic decision made by China as a country. Studies show that greenhouse gas emissions from household consumption in China already account for 53% of total emissions. The promotion of digital carbon reduction on the consumption side is of great significance to social and economic development.
Beijing Green Inclusive Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as ”Green Inclusive”) is a leading integrated carbon inclusive solution provider in China. The product “Green Inclusive Cloud – Carbon Emission Reduction Digital Account Book” is a third-party green life carbon reduction measurement underlying platform. It utilises digital technologies such as the Internet, big data and blockchain to record and quantify the green behaviour of each citizen performed on different platforms, such as clothing, food, housing, transportation and travel, to form a trinity carbon account book of government, enterprise and individual. Green Inclusive established a carbon inclusive platform for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, Luzhou City and Suzhou city.
By The George Institute for Global Health, India
SMARThealth Global
Impact Pioneers Network
Categories: Economic Opportunities
AVPN Member(s): Xchange, Villgro Philippines, Artha Impact (Rianta Capital), DFAT
Other Collaborative Partner(s): USAID
The Impact Pioneers Network is a first-of-its-kind angel investment platform that focuses on catalysing local capital to exclusively support impact enterprises in the Philippines. The network brings together individuals and institutions to invest in early-stage enterprises with market-based models, solving deep social and environmental challenges with the potential for scale. The network seeks to bridge the “missing middle” lack of early-stage risk capital for impact enterprises.
Inequality gaps in the Philippines are deepening and have been made worse by the pandemic.
Locally, these gaps are felt strongly as enterprises navigate a challenging market environment, difficulties in last mile delivery, and challenges in accessing risk-appropriate capital. The project aims to address these gaps in the ecosystem by creating a strong pool of impact angel investors and unlocking local catalytic capital. The network also aims to address the gender financing gap in the country. The gap exists despite the huge presence of women-led businesses, as many of them are unable to access suitable capital for their needs due to systemic challenges.
By Villgro Philippines
Impact Pioneers Network
Jal Sanjivani
Categories: Climate Action
AVPN Member(s): United Way Mumbai
Other Collaborative Partner(s): Krishi Vigyan Kendra- Solapur, Krishi Vigyan Kendra- Damoh, Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya- Jabalpur, National Institute of Sorghum- Solapur, Vegetable Growers’ Institute of India – Pune, Various relevant departments of Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra government such as; Agriculture, Veterinary, MGNREG, etc.
United Way Mumbai’s Jal Sanjivani focuses on providing sustainable watershed solutions with an aim to build climate-resilient agrarian communities. The project was initiated in drought affected regions of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh to aid communities in building water security. 26 out of 36 districts in Maharashtra amounting to 72% of the area are reeling under water scarcity and crop failure. Over the past 4 years the project has ensured protection and increase in surface and ground water availability, integrated watershed management interventions in a phase-wise manner, improvement of agricultural efficiency of vulnerable farmers through training and demonstration of sustainable agricultural practices, capacity building of the village level institutions and facilitation of alternative sources of livelihood generation to reduce over-dependence on agriculture.
Since its inception, they have given immense focus on community participation and ownership. Community participation carries the feeling of ownership and builds a stronger base for successful implementation. A bottom-up approach right from planning to implementation to monitoring helps in adapting the programme to the local culture and context.
By United Way Mumbai
Jal Sanjivani
Kilkari and Mobile Academy
Categories: Healthcare
AVPN Member(s): LGT Venture Philanthropy
Other Collaborative Partner(s): Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Beehyv, IMI Mobile, Airtel
Lack of access to critical preventive care information is a key gap leading to poor maternal and child health outcomes, as overburdened health workers neglect non-technical components of care such as counselling. Health workers are also inadequately trained, poorly skilled and unable to detect and manage high-risk conditions in time.
Mobile Academy (MA) is a refresher training course for ASHAs (frontline health workers) focusing on life-saving preventative health behaviours and improving the quality of engagement with new/expecting mothers and their families. Implemented through a co-invested public-partnership model with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Kilkari and Mobile Academy are mutually-complementary programs that enable women to be well-informed on danger signs/symptoms and seek timely care, while training ASHAs to provide care.
Kilkari, the largest mobile-based maternal messaging program, sends critical preventive care information through weekly voice-calls to the mobile phones of women during pregnancy and infancy, linked to the gestational age/age of infants. It aims to improve families’ knowledge and uptake of life-saving preventative health practices. Kilkari uses Interactive Voice Response (IVR) technology to deliver time-sensitive audio information directly to families’ mobile phones.
In the next 5 years, Kilkari will reach 45 million women and Mobile Academy will train 1 million ASHAs across all states and union territories of India.
By LGT Venture Philanthropy
Kilkari and Mobile Academy
Life Skills Collaborative
Categories: Economic Opportunities
AVPN Member(s): Breakthrough India Trust, Children Investment Fund Foundation, Dream a Dream, Pratham Education Foundation, Quest Alliance, Magic Bus, Porticus Asia, Omidyar Network India, Sattva Consulting
Other Collaborative Partner(s): Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Echidna Giving, Center for Science of Student Learning, International Center for Research on Women-Asia, The Teacher Foundation , Kaivalya Education Foundation, Room to Read, Shantilal Muttha Foundation, Gnothi Seauton
Life Skills Collaborative (LSC) comprises 18 collaborator organisations including funders, civil society and private sector organisations, which have come together with a winning aspiration of transforming learning ecosystems to facilitate children and young adults to thrive. LSC has partnered with four state governments and onboarded 80+ national and international experts to drive the creation of robust and credible tools for the life skills ecosystem. According to the 2011 national census, India is home to 253 million adolescents and an OECD report highlights that capabilities beyond academic excellence are required for adolescents to be future ready in the fast changing world.
LSC aims to develop a knowledge goods platform that can create impact for the longer term and transform the life skills ecosystem in India through creative and innovative approaches. This includes establishing a collaborative to harness the strengths of various organisations, creating a first-of-its-kind glossary of life skills for India (the EASEL Lab at Harvard University helped map 26 frameworks for this) and listening to the voices of key stakeholders to drive systemic and better-informed action for life skills in India (200,000 voices will be collected over 3 years). LSC is building robust and contextual assessment tools for life skills for students, teachers and the system; these tools have been piloted with 40,000 adolescents in the age group of 11 to 18 years, 1000 teachers and 250 government officials across 18 districts in 4 states.
By Sattva Consulting
Life Skills Collaborative
PATH’s systemic approach for improving Oxygen access and creating sustainable oxygen systems during COVID-19 in India
Categories: Healthcare
AVPN Member(s): The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID, JHPIEGO, Google.org
Other Collaborative Partner(s): All India Institute of Medical Sciences, WHO Collaborating Centre for Emergency and Trauma (AIIMS WHOCCET), Clinton Health Access Initiative, Give India, Kaiser Parmanente, National Stock Exchange Foundation (NSE Foundation), Philips Foundation, Swasth, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The World Bank, The World Health Organization, United Nation Children’s Fund (UNICEF), UNITAID, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, Department of Health, Medical & Family Welfare Department, Andhra Pradesh, Health Department, Bihar, Department of Health & Family Welfare, Delhi, Health and Family Welfare Department, Gujarat, Department of Health, Medical Education & Family Welfare, Jharkhand, Health and Family Welfare Services, Karnataka, Public Health Department, Maharashtra, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Meghalaya, Health Department, Odisha, Department of Health & Family Welfare, Punjab, Medical, Health & Family Welfare Department, Rajasthan, Department of Health, Medical & Family Welfare, Telangana, Department of Medical Health and Family Welfare, Uttar Pradesh, Department of Medical Health and Family Welfare, Uttarakhand, Department of Health & Family Welfare, West Bengal
When the second wave of COVID-19 led by the Delta variant of SARS-Cov2 virus ravaged India between April 2021 to June 2021, medical oxygen proved to be a life-saving drug for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in the absence of a proven therapeutic solution to patients suffering with the infection. The demand for medical oxygen peaked from around 3,800 metric tons (MT) per day in mid-March 2021 to around 11,000 MT per day in May 2021, an increase of over four times. Although production scaled up to meet the demand, many challenges related to supply chain logistics and procurement, installation, operation and maintenance of oxygen systems to deliver oxygen to patients remained. PATH played a pivotal role in strengthening the oxygen ecosystem in India by assisting state governments and non-governmental organizations to rapidly install and commission oxygen generator plants and equipment, strengthening supply chains, developing education and communications material, upgrading skills and capacities of health workers, deploying digital solutions and data strategies, accelerating innovations and instilling sustainable policies.
By PATH
Systemic Approach For Improving Oxygen Access And Creating Sustainable Oxygen Systems During COVID-19 In India
Powering Livelihoods
Categories: Climate Action
AVPN Member(s): Villgro Innovations Foundation, IKEA Foundation
Other Collaborative Partner(s): Shell Foundation, DOEN Foundation, Good Energies Foundation, Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), Foriegn Commonwealth and Development Office- UK Govt
Villgro and Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) have initiated the ‘Powering Livelihoods’ programme to catalyse a transformation of India’s rural economy with clean energy solutions. The Powering Livelihoods programme aims to support social enterprises serving rural livelihoods with innovative solution(s) that are suitable for incorporating clean energy into livelihood generating activities. The main sectoral focus areas of the programme are agriculture and textiles. The programme is designed to select social enterprises working in the juncture of rural livelihoods and climate action, based on parameters like feasibility, scalability, social impact and technology readiness. The Powering Livelihoods project aims to set the stage for the right partnerships, technical support systems and innovative financial solutions that would ensure any new enterprises with promising solutions would not fall into the commercial valley of death.
By The George Institute for Global Health, India
SMARThealth Global
Project Sampoorna
Categories: Economic Opportunities
AVPN Member(s): Sattva Consulting
Other Collaborative Partner(s): Dream a Dream, IDInsight, Kaivalya Education Foundation, Porticus, Quest Alliance
Project Sampoorna aims to adopt a Whole Child Development (WCD) approach by building critical Social Emotional Learning (SEL) competencies in 1 million school going adolescents by building systemic capability in Jharkhand. The programme is being implemented in Jharkhand from December 2020 in 60 schools covering 27,000 adolescents, 8000 parents and 500 teachers.
Following are the key tenets of the 4 year (2020-2024) long project
- Adolescent focus: Focus on adolescents between the ages of 10-19 from adverse backgrounds facing multidimensional challenges of poverty, abuse, neglect and violence
- System’s change focus: Aim to drive systemic change by building the capability of the system to support and implement SEL initiatives in Jharkhand
- Evidence building: Aim to build data-based and ground-up evidence for SEL implementation in a state meant to be replicated across other states
- Gender focus: Ensure the needs and interests of all genders are integrated into the design and execution to enable opportunities for all
The following have been key achievements of the programme since December 2020: Strengthened engagement with the State Government (300 state level resources trained, SEL learning material developed and disseminated); deepened engagement with students, teachers and district officials (97% of 27k students are able to distinguish between empathy and sympathy, 68% of 150 teachers feel highly prepared to integrate SEL in the classes, 67% of 80 district officials included SEL as part of their review meeting agenda); and increased engagement with the WCD ecosystem (including ~8000 parents on supporting mental wellbeing of students during COVID)
By The George Institute for Global Health, India
SMARThealth Global
Puhang Pangkabuhayan: MPIF’S Road-to-Recovery Alternative Livelihood Program
Categories: Economic Opportunities
AVPN Member(s): Metro Pacific Investments Foundation Inc.
Other Collaborative Partner(s): Alagang Kapatid Foundation Inc. and Donate A Bike, Save a Job with Ms. Gretchen Ho, Local government units (Mabini, Batangas; Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro; Del Carmen, Surigao del Norte; and Alaminos, Pangasinan)
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a rapid decline of available employment opportunities for a significant portion of the Filipino workforce. Due to the granular lockdowns that were implemented by the national government, one sector that is highly affected by unemployment difficulties is the tourism sector of the country.
The Local Government Units (LGUs) greatly depend on ecotourism, a source of income that was jeopardised significantly during the onset of the pandemic. Without any stable livelihood generating avenues, unemployed individuals heavily relied on donations to sustain their daily need – some of whom were unable to receive any social amelioration from the government or other organisations. When Metro Pacific Investments Foundation realised that their operations would not return to normal anytime soon, they worked on developing Puhunang Pangkabuhayan (translation: Capital for Livelihoods), a programme which will create viable and long-term employment opportunities to provide out-of-work individuals, primarily displaced tourism workers, with livelihood tools for them to secure their own sources of income.
By The George Institute for Global Health, India
SMARThealth Global
AVPN Constellations Awards
Discover the collaborative stories of our Constellations Awards winners
