The Global Goalkeeper Awards are dedicated towards taking practical action to bring global goals to life, achieving them by the year 2030. In today’s world, there are challenges everywhere. The areas which demand the most attention are poverty, inequality, climate change, environmental degradation, peace and justice. All the global goals are interconnected and they need to be addressed by 2030.
The UN General Assembly understood the severity of the agenda for Sustainable Development, charting 17 goals, and built it around the principle of ‘leaving no one behind’. A holistic approach is essential to achieve sustainable development for all. With problems creeping fast due to fall outs in economic, geographical and social areas, the world must recognizing the need to bring the planet to several life-changing ‘zeroes’. That is, zero poverty, hunger, diseases and zero discrimination against women and girls.
What Can Be Done?
Integrated solutions are the need of the hour. We do not merely need thematic sector building solutions, but a focus on root causes of challenges. We also need a strong support system and partnership between governments, private sectors, civil societies and individuals, in order to have a beautiful and better world with a healthy environment.
Awards Category for the Global Goalkeeper Awards
For acknowledging efforts in this direction, the Global Goalkeeper Awards are held every year, to bring together and share extraordinary stories from around the world. In September 2019, the fourth Global Goalkeeper Awards were held in New York. There are different categories to honor various people and organizations.
- Progress Award: This is given to individuals who have used everything, from science and technology to operating a business, dedicated towards achieving sustainable goals. The award is for individuals between the age of 16-30.
- Changemaker Award: This is given to people in the age group 16-30. Those who are creative, inspirational and have been instrumental in bringing positive change in their community by their unique vision and leadership skills are considered for the award.
- Campaign Award: This is given to individuals or groups for starting positive campaigns which have motivated an entire community. Such programs are long-termed aiming for a fruitful goal. The age group considered for the award is between 16-30.
- Goalkeepers Voice Award: This award is bestowed on an individual who has used his position and voice to bring about a positive change in society. He/she has kept in mind the need for sustainable development and left good imprints for future generations. Age is not a bar in this case. Anyone can be a nominee.
- Global Goalkeeper Award: This is dedicated to a powerful and influential politician, who by his vision has made his people understand the need for meeting sustainable development goals. He makes the agenda the immediate need of the hour and is able to influence an entire state.
To celebrate the success stories of such people, a network of experts are engaged to find top class submissions for these awards. Some of the partners during the 2019 awards were: African Youth Networks Movement, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Global Citizen, Goalkeepers Community, Mandela Institute for Development Studies, Obama Foundation, One Young World, Project Everyone, Save the Children, UNICEF, UNLEASH and We Day. Top Class Visionaries act as judges.
The Campaign, Changemaker and Progress Award winners get $10,000 as unallocated funds while appreciation letters are awarded to recipients of Global Goalkeepers and Goalkeepers Voice Awards.
Inspiring Stories of Previous Winners
There is an interesting list of people who have received these awards, so far. Let’s get to know some of them and their groundbreaking work.
- Nadia Murad, a 24 years Yazidi woman was awarded the Changemaker Award, for advocating for the cause of survivors of genocide. She is the founder and president of Nadia’s initiative which supports women and minorities.
- Amika George won the Campaign Award at a very young age of 18. She aimed to make sure that no girl in the UK suffered from period poverty. Her efforts, such as the #FreePeriods is an inspiring campaign, working to de-stigmatize menstruation.
- Coronelia Poper from Germany has bagged the Changemaker Award for developing ‘Wefugees’, a platform which helps refugees. Today, Wefugees is the most widely sought platform for refugees.
Impact
The hard work and vision of many foundations has accelerated the progress towards achieving sustainable development goals. Goalkeepers, an initiative by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, provides in-depth reports and data flow charts related to SDGs programs. The first annual Goalkeepers award was held in Sept 2017 with wonderfully qualified speakers like President Obama, Canadian P.M. Trudeau, Malala Yusuf, and Queen Rania.
These awards bring together the hard work of changemakers and UN’s sustainable development goals. The foundation has been supporting a range of education, health, economy and social development policies, since 1994. There were moments in between, when people doubted the initiatives, criticizing them for having no clarity or being opaque. But the foundation kept working towards its objective. Through good reports and feedback, it soon had the support of people. The Global Goalkeeper Award seeks to encourage the visionaries of our world. By 2030, hopefully, the global goals will be achieved.
The world needs such efforts today all the more. Times are tough, and we owe the future inhabitants of this beautiful planet, the fundamental resources that shall allow human beings to succeed. Our efforts shall affect the course of history. The Global Goalkeepers Awards offer great opportunities to improve our policy analysis, for ourselves and for our future generations.
