We are proud to announce 2 One Young World Ambassadors have been selected as Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards winners by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The Awards are “an annual recognition of remarkable individuals taking action to help achieve the Global Goals by 2030.” This year, a key focus was action delivered during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Hauwa Ojeifo of Nigeria was selected for the Progress Award for her work to support SDG 3, Good Health and Well-being, and Bonita Sharma of Nepal was named Changemaker Award winner for her inspirational work driving forward SDG 5, Gender Equality.
Additional 2020 Goalkeeper winners include the Mash Project Foundation, a youth-led social enterprise in India, and Dr John Nkengasong, Director of Africa CC.
Previous winners from the One Young World Community include Gregory Rockson of Ghana, Aya Chebbi of Tunisia, and Laura Ulloa of Colombia.
Congratulations to our 2020 winners:
Bonita Sharma, Nepal
Changemaker Award
Bonita is the co-founder and CEO of Social Changemakers and Innovators (SOCHAI) – a youth-led non-profit organization in Nepal. Bonita founded SOCHAI to improve the nutritional health for nursing mothers and young children and to economically empower marginalised women through business opportunities. Bonita was listed by the BBC as one of the 100 most influential women in the world in 2019. She has been recognized by UNESCO as a Female Champion for educating women and girls in Nepal. She was also the winner of One Young World Lead 2030 Challenge and UNICEF Asia Pacific Youth Innovation Challenge 2016 for her idea of ‘Nutribeads’ bracelet – a low tech wearable nutrition education tool.
Hauwa Ojeifo, Nigeria
Progress Award
Hauwa is a sexual and domestic abuse survivor and the founder of She Writes Woman, a women-led movement giving mental health a voice in Nigeria. She Writes Woman is providing mental health support through a helpline, teletherapy and virtual support groups serving as a first point of contact to ensure that survivors of gender-based violence and those living with mental health conditions have access to confidential psychosocial support and counselling.
Hauwa is championing "nothing about us without us" by advocating for the inclusion of persons with psychosocial disabilities in decision making on laws, policies and solutions that concern them. In February 2020, she became the first woman and person to testify before the Nigerian parliament on the rights of persons with mental health conditions and psychosocial disabilities in the country's bid to pass its first mental health law.
She addressed the One Young World 2018 Summit in The Hague as part of the Young Leaders Against Sexual Violence (YLSAV) initiative. Alongside fellow YLASV advocates, she addressed the first-ever United Nations sexual violence Survivors Town Hall calling on world leaders to pass a UN Sexual Violence Survivors’ Bill of Rights.
