SAP Wins Top Prize for the Inaugural Global Prosperity Award

Cohort 2 Challenges focus on Sustainable & Healthy Food for All, Innovation for Inclusive Trade, Innovation for Peace and Justice, and Climate Change 

Global Prosperity Award Ceremony was held in New York Alongside the United Nations General Assembly

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – 2 November 2019The Mohammed bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity (the Global Prosperity Initiative), an initiative of the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS), launched today Cohort 2 of the Global Maker Challenge at the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Least Developed Countries which is being held at the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi. The Initiative also announced SAP, the global enterprise software company, as the winner of its inaugural Global Prosperity Award at a special ceremony held in New York, marking the close of the Initiative’s Cohort 1. 

The Global Prosperity Award ceremony was organised in collaboration with the UAE Consulate in New York, alongside the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) which was held in September, and was attended by leaders from the public and private sector, representatives of UN agencies, heads of accelerators and business incubators and philanthropic associations.

The reception was also attended by H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the UAE Ambassador to Sweden, H.E. Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing, and Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office, H.E. Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, H.E. Hessa bint Essa Buhumaid, Minister of Community Development, H.E. Abdulla Nasser Lootah, Director General of the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Authority (FCSA),  H.E. Abdalla Shaheen, Consul General of the United Arab Emirates in New York, and LI Yong, Director General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

SAP, the German multinational enterprise software company that helps businesses run better, received the trophy from H.E. Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi, United Arab Emirates Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing, and Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office, for taking the lead in making corporate social responsibility a top priority. 

Commenting on the announcement, Her Excellency Ohood bint Khalfan Al Roumi, Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing, and Director General of the Prime Minister’s Office said: “The Mohammed bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity mirrors the United Arab Emirates’ mission of seeking solutions to challenges that improve the lives of citizens around the world. The second edition of the initiative will take that mission further, enabling innovators and entrepreneurs from across the world to turn their ideas into reality and theories into solutions that can solve pressing issues that affect the lives of communities all around the world. We are proud to be able to join forces with leaders of industry, UN agencies and truly inspiring innovators so that together we can contribute towards ensuring greater prosperity for people in communities that need it most.”

SAP, along with other global organisations, Airbus, Honeywell and the Robotics Hub adopted the four themes of Cohort 1 of the Global Maker Challenge. The Mohammed bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity announced the four winning innovations under each challenge at GMIS 2019 in July in Yekaterinburg, Russia. The Rumie Initiative, from Canada, won the ‘Digital Divide and Digital Literacy’ challenge; TruTrade, from Britain, won the ‘Rural Transformation and Zero Hunger’ challenge; GARV, from India, was selected as the winner of the ‘Sustainable Cities’ challenge; and A2P Energy Solution, also from India, took home the ‘Sustainable Energy’ challenge prize.

Cohort 2 of the Global Maker Challenge

Following the success of Cohort 1, Badr Al Olama, Head of the Organising Committee for the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit unveiled Cohort 2 of the Global Maker Challenge, at the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Least Developed Countries that is being held in the United Arab Emirates. Under the themes, Sustainable & Healthy Food for All, Innovation for Inclusive Trade, Innovation for Peace and Justice, and Climate Change, start-ups and makers will battle it out to win up to US$1 million in prize money and mentorship in the much-coveted Global Maker Challenge. 

The announcement was made in the presence of a high-level delegates attending the Ministerial Conference for Least Developed Countries, including H.E. Abdullah Nasser Lootah, Director General of Federal Competitiveness and Statistical Authority (FCSA) from the UAE, Nurul Majid Mahmud HUMAYUN, Minister of Industry from Bangladesh; Alimatou Shadiya ASSOUMAN, Ministre de l'Industrie et du Commerce from Benin; Mr. Leonardo BENCINI, Minister Plenipotentiary, Head of the Unit for Strategy from Italy; Mr. Min Ye PAING HEIN, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Industry from Myanmar; Mr. Christopher B. YALUMA, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry from Zambia.

Badr Al Olama, Head of the Organising Committee for the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit (GMIS), said: “By chartering a path towards inclusive and sustainable industrial development around the world, we can create an ecosystem that thrives on technology, creativity and community. The Mohammed bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity reflects the vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai to maximise and sustain the positive impact of innovation that empowers communities, improves wellbeing and drives progress globally. 

“The first Cohort of the initiative was a tremendous success, unveiling a wealth of truly inspiring innovations from all around the world, setting the bar incredibly high. I am therefore very excited to see how the second Cohort approaches our new set of challenges that tackle key issues such as climate change, sustainable food, inclusive trade, peace and justice. We hope to see their energy and creativity bring new opportunities to those in communities that need it most.”

The Global Maker Challenges for 2019 are:

  1. Sustainable and Healthy Food for All: How can urban populations increase access to healthy and sustainable foods, despite rapid urbanisation? 
  2. Innovation for Inclusive Trade: How can rural communities increase their access to new supply chains and markets in order to create better livelihoods for themselves? 
  3. Innovation for Peace and Justice: How can displaced populations access affordable and quality services that are essential to their safety and wellbeing? 
  4. Climate Change: How can communities move towards a low-carbon circular economy by eliminating waste and utilising existing resources? 

With a view to tackling some of the world’s most pressing issues and support in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the four themes were determined following four challenge design workshops held in Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Jordan and Russia. The workshops brought together over 250 global experts from governments, global organisations and private corporations, as well as start-ups, incubators and academic researchers. 

The Mohammed bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity partnered with ten United Nations (UN) agencies as well as MIT University’s SOLVE initiative to identify the themes and challenges for cohort 2 of the Global Maker Challenge. These UN agencies included: United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), World Food Programme (WFP), and World Tourism Organization  (UNWTO).

The Ministerial Conference of the Least Developed Countries is United Nations Industrial Development Organization’s (UNIDO) flagship event for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) that aims to strategize ways forward for industrialization in LDCs beyond 2020. The Ministerial Conference is being hosted by the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), prior to the eighteenth session of the General Conference of UNIDO, taking place from 3 to 7 November 2019. 

The Mohammed bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity combines the Global Maker Challenge, an online open-innovation platform designed to promote and accelerate global prosperity through product innovation; and the Global Prosperity Award, a prestigious global accolade that recognises and rewards corporate social responsibility that advances resilience, community, harmony and dignity across the world, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.

END

Note to Editors:
Photo Caption:

Image 1 – Badr Al-Olama, Head of the Organising Committee for the Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit announces Cohort 2 of the Global Maker Challenge at the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Least Developed Countries in Abu Dhabi

Image 2 - SAP receiving award for the Global Prosperity Award at a special ceremony held in New York alongside the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), in collaboration with the UAE Consulate in New York.

Press Contact: 
Reethu Thachil
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M Three Marcomms LLC
Press Office for:
Global Manufacturing & Industrialisation Summit
Mohammed Bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity
reethu@m3media.com

About the Mohammed bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity:
A gift from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and Ruler of Dubai, to the world – The Mohammed bin Rashid (MBR) Initiative for Global Prosperity is an ambitious and impactful worldwide extension of the UAE’s own transformational vision, built on four core values: resilience, community, harmony, and dignity. It combines the MBR Global Maker Challenge – an online open-innovation platform for ‘makers’ and innovators to solve specific real-world challenges, and the MBR Global Prosperity Award – a prestigious global accolade that recognizes and rewards social innovation brought by manufacturing for the betterment of humanity. The initiative brings together companies, startups and entrepreneurs, governments and NGOs to create an ecosystem designed to enable new businesses to be built, new jobs to be created, and new solutions to be unlocked in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

For more news on Mohammed bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity, visit: https://makingprosperity.com/news-updates

About the Global Maker Challenge Cohort 2 Challenges:

Sustainable and Healthy Food for All: How can urban populations increase access to healthy and sustainable foods, despite rapid urbanization?

The rapid pace of urbanization has dramatically shifted how we approach food systems globally. In 1900, only two percent of the world’s population lived in urban areas. Today, it is over half of the global population, and over the next 30 years, that proportion is expected to increase to about two thirds. While cities offer great potential for economic, cultural, and societal development, cities in particular face a host of challenges in sustainably feeding their communities, including lengthy supply chains, inadequate infrastructure and waste management systems, and less opportunities for households to produce their own food.

By 2050, global food systems will need to sustainably and nutritiously feed nearly 10 billion people, and 80 percent of the world’s food will be consumed within urban areas. The challenge to ensure that everyone in the world can feed themselves has become intertwined with concerns around which foods we are consuming, where we are eating them, and how they are grown, processed, and delivered. Further, as food systems contribute to the increasing incidences of non-communicable and food-borne diseases and represent one of the world’s largest employers and primary drivers of climate change, these issues have far-reaching consequences on people’s nutrition and health, the potential to create viable jobs and livelihoods, and the future sustainability of our planet.

With food systems evolving in response to the rapid changes in our population, cities are positioned to significantly influence how and what we eat. The Global Maker Challenge on Sustainable and Healthy Food for All aims to find and support innovative solutions that will promote urban access to healthy and sustainable food for all. To do so, the Mohammed bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity is seeking applications from innovators and makers around the world that will:

 Supporting links:
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/454961511210702794/pdf/Food-Systems-for-an-Urbanizing-World.pdf

Innovation for Inclusive Trade: How can rural communities increase their access to new supply chains and markets in order to create better livelihoods for themselves?

Open trade and market access have proven to be key drivers of economic growth and poverty reduction in countries at every level of development. The ability to trade globally has fostered more openness, stability, and transparency, which in turn has enabled unprecedented economic growth worldwide and contributed to uplifting hundreds of millions out of extreme poverty. Countries that engage in international trade typically grow faster and provide more opportunities to their people than countries that do not trade openly. Further, by offering consumers access to more affordable goods and services, open trade also helps improve the livelihoods of lower-income communities.

Yet, for the millions of people living in rural areas – where extreme poverty and food insecurity are concentrated – significant barriers exist that prevent them from reaping the full benefits of open trade, including poor and unreliable access to infrastructure and public services, high costs for goods, services, and transport, lower population densities, and poor connectivity. These issues are especially prevalent in countries affected by violence and conflict, which can directly hinder the ability to trade and raise the price of basic goods and services. Further, women in these contexts are disproportionately affected by poverty and face greater risks and barriers that limit their ability to benefit from the opportunities brought by trade.

In order to fully harness the potential of trade to advance the livelihoods of the 1 billion people who still live off of $1.25 per day, innovative solutions are needed to address the constraints that limit rural communities from achieving greater economic gains. The Global Maker Challenge on Innovation for Inclusive Trade aims to find and support solutions that will enable inclusive trade in rural communities. To do so, the Mohammed bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity is seeking applications from innovators and makers around the world that will:

Supporting links:
https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/wto_wbjointpublication_e.pdf
https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/booksp_e/worldbankandwto15_e.pdf
http://www.oecd.org/trade/understanding-the-global-trading-system/why-open-markets-matter/

Innovation for Peace and Justice: How can refugees and displaced populations access affordable and quality services that are essential to their safety and wellbeing?

The world is currently seeing the highest levels of forced displacement on record. There are now almost 71 million people who have been forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, or human rights violations - including nearly 26 million refugees, half of whom are under the age of 18. Worldwide, one person is forcibly displaced every two seconds. To ensure that this rapidly increasing number of people are able to lead healthy and productive lives for themselves, equitable access to services such as legal protection programs, healthcare, and education is key.

Refugees and forcibly displaced populations face a host of challenges throughout their migratory journey. Many forcibly displaced people, especially those that leave their home countries entirely, have to navigate complex legal systems with limited access to legal assistance and representation. Millions of those forcibly displaced end up living in places containing poor water and sanitation infrastructure, and are subsequently vulnerable to significant health risks like communicable diseases and malnutrition. Further, of the 7.4 million school-age refugee children globally, more than half are not in school - with 63 percent enrolled in primary school, 24 percent in secondary school, and only 3 percent in higher education.

Globally, one in every 108 people is either an asylum-seeker, a refugee, or internally displaced. In our increasingly interconnected world, forced displacement cannot be treated as a short-term humanitarian issue, nor can it be addressed by just one country or sector. The Global Maker Challenge on Innovation for Peace and Justice aims to find and support innovative solutions that will connect refugees and forcibly displaced populations with enduring and effective legal, healthcare, and education services. To do so, the Mohammed bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity welcomes applications from innovators and makers around the world that will:

Supporting links:
https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/figures-at-a-glance.html
https://www.who.int/environmental_health_emergencies/displaced_people/en/
https://www.apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policy-database/2014/07/29/10/34/the-health-of-refugees-and-displaced-persons-a-public-health-priority
https://www.outbreakobservatory.org/outbreakthursday-1/1/4/2018/displaced-populations-and-the-threat-of-disease
https://www.unhcr.org/steppingup/
https://www.unrefugees.org/refugee-facts/statistics/

Climate Change: How can communities move towards a low-carbon circular economy by eliminating waste and utilizing existing resources?

 The transition from a linear to circular economy – in which products and materials are designed to be recycled, repaired, and reused rather than thrown away, and waste from one industrial process becomes input into another – has become widely accepted by businesses and policymakers alike as a new model for resilient growth. In a world where we currently generate over 2 billion tons of solid waste annually and 8 million tons of plastic enter the oceans, the shift towards a circular economy offers great potential for countries to generate new jobs, reduce pollution and litter, and contribute to climate adaptation and mitigation.

 At the same time, though developing countries and emerging markets are the current centres of production and increasing centres of consumption, minimal attention has been afforded to the role they can and must play in the shift towards a global circular economy. Given that current estimates place 1 billion new consumers in the developing world by 2025, it is essential that our focus on the circular economy is inclusive. Without the implementation of a successful circular economy model in emerging markets, we will not see the necessary shift in consumption and production patterns worldwide.

Innovation can be a powerful force driving our transition towards an inclusive, circular economy. This Global Maker Challenge on Climate Change aims to find and support solutions from startups and entrepreneurs around the world that will empower communities, especially those in developing countries, to eliminate waste and use existing resources through low-carbon, circular approaches. To do so, the Mohammed bin Rashid Initiative for Global Prosperity is seeking applications from innovators and makers around the world that will:

 Supporting links:
https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/publications/research/2019-05-22-Circular%20Economy.pdf

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