Innovations, UNLEASHed!
On June 5 and June 6, Asia P3 Hub’s Senior WASH and Partnership Advisor, Phearak Svay, served as a judge at 2018 UNLEASH and enjoyed the energetic closing ceremony!
UNLEASH is an annual global innovation lab that brings together people from around the world to generate solutions supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This year’s event was held in Singapore. Speakers at this year’s closing ceremony included: President of Singapore Halimah Yacob, Nobel Prize laureate and Former President of Timor-Leste José Ramos-Horta, CEO of DBS Bank Piyush Gupta, and Oscar-winning actor and UNESCO Special Envoy for Peace and Reconciliation, Forest Whitaker. The event focused on 8 SDGs:
SDG 2: No Hunger
SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being
SDG 4: Quality Education
SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities
SDG 12: Responsible Supply Chain and Consumption
SDG 13: Climate Action
Phearak and his judging panel evaluated teams of young participants called “talents,” who worked on solutions within SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation. Remarking on his experience with UNLEASH, Phearak expressed, “I’m amazed by the ability of UNLEASH to attract interest from every sector of the society – from students, academia, governments, UN agencies, non-government organisations and businesses – it’s inspiring to see such a large group of talents (1000+) coming together under one roof to innovate solutions that advance SDGs. The whole event itself was able to generate an abundance of innovative ideas within a very short span of time.”
It was heartening to know that one of the innovative solutions under SGD 6, SaniHive, won the Global Scalability Potential Award. SaniHive focuses on the problem of the lack of accessibility to toilets due to high population density in Khayelitsha, an informal township in Western Cape, South Africa. SaniHive “is inspired by honeycombs to maximise space and form a modular, fully integrated sanitation solution.” Aiming to simultaneously tackle SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), and SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), SaniHive aspires to start its project in Khayelitsha, expand into South Africa, and eventually reach a worldwide impact. “What’s interesting about this solution is that it has potential to be applied in the Asia Pacific landscape as well,” noted Phearak. An inspiring solution in the making and congratulations to all winners of other categories!
Join our community to receive updates from us by signing up at our website! And like us on Facebook, too!
