UN SDG Action Campaign

Championing Youth Entrepreneurship in Mozambique with Building Bridges

The Road to Nairobi 2016 Project, with the support of the local World Economic Forum’s Global Shaper Hub, traveled around the greater Maputo area to meet 10 youth entrepreneurs working in a variety of sectors, in order to learn from their challenges and to get a better understanding of their lived experiences. The ventures discovered ranged from a tech startup working on information asymmetry in the labor market, to a design firm which transforms waste into materials for interior design. These individual stories are featured on the Humans of MY World photo-narrative blog.

The path of an entrepreneur in Mozambique can be difficult and trying at times; a few of the entrepreneurs we met noted how the economic climate is having an impact on their businesses. Even so, some young people are choosing entrepreneurship as an alternative to looking for a job, where they are confronted by a youth unemployment rate estimated at around 80%. The young people who are resilient enough to try youth entrepreneurship need support, role models and an enabling environment.

Frederico Peres Da Silva, co-founder of a tech startup in Maputo, recognizes the importance of entrepreneurial role models: “If you are in the [United] States, a CEO understands the value of mentoring a startup. You know why? Because he’s heard of Facebook, he’s heard of Snapchat, he’s heard of WhatsApp. He goes, ‘Oh, what if this is the next Facebook?’ To change that perception in Mozambique you need to have a couple of references in the market. You need to have your champions.”

global-shapers-gbph_-25 — Graca Machel, SDG Advocate speaks at the Mozambican Building Bridges Forum

Young Mozambicans that have taken to the MY World global survey prioritize good education as one of the key areas where they hope to see positive improvement. The youth entrepreneurs we met further discussed the current education system and their experiences with it. However, they are not only focused on education in general, but see the importance of having practical skills and experience in the workplace as the key to success in their entrepreneurial journey.

Lack of technological infrastructure and resources are other challenges to educational access and entrepreneurship in Mozambique. Frederico is using technology to help young unemployed Mozambicans access the job opportunities through their phones.

Where gaps and challenges exist, young people in Mozambique are stepping up to empowering each other and themselves. Marlene de Souza found that young people were unable to communicate and translate their knowledge into action in the workplace. She started a company which offers training to university students on skills such as how to successfully enter the job market and how to communicate with “attitude,” so that these students can bridge the gap between the academic and labor market.

Diogo Lucas started a business to help SMEs access finance and gave them the tools to mature into sustainable businesses. According to Diogo, this is something SMEs really need: “There are opportunities for small businesses but they’re not developing because there is not enough support, there’s not enough money. Bank finance is hard to come by with all these challenges. When I was travelling across the country I realized that it’s not because they have bad businesses. It’s because people don’t have the skills or the ability to access capital that can help them grow and develop.”

Sázia Souza runs a company which offers tech solutions to companies and private individuals. Twice a month, she and her team trains children on how to use computers. When asked about her passion for technology and education, Sázia said: “Mozambique has a problem when it comes to using technology. People are not prepared for the future. Technology is growing too fast. When you go to some schools, they don’t even have computer lessons. Even the teachers don’t know how to use the computers.”

Youth entrepreneurs in Mozambique are working to carve a bright future for themselves. They are working together and with other young people to support skills development while growing a culture of entrepreneurship. To help them on this path, it is important to understand the Mozambican context as well as the lived experiences of rural and urban young Mozambicans in order to empower them for success. The Road to Nairobi team spoke to youth entrepreneurs and asked them what changes they would like to see to support youth entrepreneurship in Mozambique:

Lineu: More young people need to have the courage to start for themselves. I started with nothing and almost 100% of the people didn’t believe in me.
Claudio: When you register a business, you are sent from one place to another. The process will be better when everything is in one place. It should take less time and require fewer documents.
Wilton: Government must create conditions for young entrepreneurs to develop businesses. Especially fiscal policy because currently, police doesn’t differentiate between being a young entrepreneur or an old entrepreneur.
Sides: We need more incubators with people who have been trained to support youth entrepreneurs.

Authors: Samantha Ndiwalana (Project Manager of the Building Bridges Foundation) and Annemarelle van Schayik (Research Manager of the Building Bridges Foundation).

SDGs: A People-powered Agenda – Leave No One Behind

The SDGs Exhibition Launches July 18 at the United Nations!

Throughout the post-2015 process and following a call to action from the United Nations Secretary-General in 2012, over ten million people shared their hopes and dreams with the UN to help shape the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As we enter the era of Agenda 2030, the challenge now is to show that the SDGs are in fact achievable through partnership and action from everyone everywhere. Will YOU become a part of this movement to build a better world?

INTRODUCTION

The exhibition recounts how millions of ordinary people have ensured the Sustainable Development Goals are a bold and ambitious agenda through the most inclusive and transparent process the UN has ever seen. It also provides some concrete examples of the actions people can take now to help their governments with the implementation of the SDGs by 2030.

We need YOU to help ensure the SDGs become widely known and to ensure that as the Agenda 2030 is implemented, and NO ONE IS LEFT BEHIND.

The exhibition was curated, designed and produced by the UN SDG Action Campaign on behalf of the UN Development Group (UNDG), in partnership with: the Federal Government of Germany, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

It features voluntary input and stories from millions of people around the world through data visualizations, photographs, videos, virtual reality. It also allows interactive ways to share your opinion, make your commitment and explore how to take action on the SDGs.

HOW TO VISIT

The exhibition is open to the general public during official UN visiting hours, 418 July 18 – 7 September 2016,

Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm
Saturday & Sunday from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm
All visitors must exit the building by 5:30pm

The entrance is at 46^th Street and 1^st Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Visitors without an official UN Pass will have to first obtain a guest pass at the screening station on 46th and 1st across the street from the UN. Be sure to bring a photo ID.

If your delegation or mission would like to schedule a special exhibition tour, please kindly contact Alice Chen at alice.chen@undp.org (6096510945)

FEATURED CONTENT

MDGs to SDGs

Learn about the process that led us from the Millennium Development Goals to the Sustainable Development Goals with a special emphasis on peoples’ voices. By using cutting edge technology and data visualizations, the voices of over 10 million people, especially the voices of the most vulnerable populations, are told through the following initiatives:

MY World 2015 Survey – over 10 million people, most of them youth, have told the UN their top six of sixteen priorities for a better world, data that has fed into the post-2015 agenda
World We Want – a knowledge platform hosting documentation, and data visualizations including those from online, national and thematic civil society consultations
Humans of MY World – a photo exhibition telling the stories of MY World voters around the world
Virtual Reality – immerse yourself in the life of some of the world’s most vulnerable using high-tech 3D VR headset

Action to Engagement Arena

The action and engagement arena allows visitors to “get their hands dirty” and take action for furthering the SDGs: right here, right now! These are some of the ways to take action:

MY World Survey2030 – Modeled after the first phase of MY World, this citizen satisfaction survey will monitor Global Goal progress and allow further specialization at a local level
Women’s Economic Empowerment– tell us what you think would help to empower women economically by filling out our survey
Own Your Voice– Virtually “Meet” six young women from around the world who are using their voice to change the world, they are the Youtube Change Ambassadors!
Commitment Corner – How will you help achieve the SDGs by 2030? Make your commitment on our SDGs blackboard and take a selfie, tag us @SDGAction

There’s more, but you’ll have to come see for yourself. Visit the SDGs Exhibition before September 7^th 2016 and see what actions you can take for the SDGs!

Data and Development – A Conversation with Peoples’ Voices Challenge Winner, Popily

Throughout the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the UN Millennium Campaign had the pleasure of hosting the Peoples’ Voices Challenge Award Ceremony at the We the Peoples Hub. The Peoples’ Voices Challenge Awards is a celebration of the work of the hundreds of partners at the United Nations who gave voice to those who don’t often get a say in global conversations.

Data visualization is not normally the first thing you would think of when talking about empowering marginalized communities, but Popily is not your average data analytics firm. Popily is a data science and visualization company that lets everyday, non-technical people figure what is important from their data and share it with anyone, anywhere. The Popily team used the millions of MY World survey results and thousands of Humans of MY World Facebook page posts to generate interactive data visualizations. The public can explore these visualizations on their website, so people can discover the stories in the data that they find most meaningful. We talked to Popily Co-Founder Vidya Spandana about the role data visualization and analytics plays in the Post-2015 Agenda.

Tell us about Popily, some of the things you work on, and your goals as an organization:

Popily is a data visualization and data science company, we let people put in their data and automatically generate thousands of visualizations so that they can walk through a data set instead of being confused by a giant spreadsheet of lots of numbers. [Popily] is really there to democratize data so that people who don’t have a background or experience in science or statistics can actually engage with it in a real way. Imagine being able to walk through a visual representation, instead of just looking at a piece of paper. The more people who can do that, the more empowered they can be to make decisions on what is actually happening.

For us data is a way to see the world in an observational way with some kind of reality to it, and so for more people to have the ability to access that the better we think so that we can make collective decisions together. That aligns perfectly with the work that the [UN Millennium Campaign] is doing with MY World.

What was it that made [Popily] decide that [The MY World Survey] would be a perfect pilot project for you guys to work on?

When [CEO Jonathan Morgan] brought [MY World] on for us we were really excited because the idea of actually getting information and data about peoples lives around the world really humanizes the whole date concept and really brings our tool to life. We would actually really like to step back and let the data and the voice of the people shine and this was the best opportunity to do that.

What does this mean for Popily to win [Most Innovative Visualization] right now?

It’s extremely exciting for us, we launched officially about two or three months ago so it’s very new for us and to be able to announce partnership with the United Nations, to explore people’s data that actually has meaning has us over the moon. This is an opportunity that we’ve really been able to leverage and open up new opportunities around democratizing data. What were are more excited about is to bring data in the hands of regular people and whatever tools they need to be able to explore it.

What are some of the ways that people can actually use Popily?

Sure! You would just go to Popily.com and then there you can sign up to either upload your own data sets and explore it or there are loads of public data sets – including the MY World data set – that you can explore yourselves.

What are some of the finding you saw in the [MY World] data?

There were so many things that were really exciting. Just getting to actually look at what is in there has been sort of like a treasure that you can open up and see. One of the things that was really interesting is how education is such a priority across gender, age, and country… I also thought that is was interesting how in certain countries the younger generation… its better to reach them via paper balloting as opposed to any kind of web or mobile tools, and I would have never expected that.

What do you have planned for the future?

There’s a lot actually! We’ve been partnering with companies and organizations, especially governments and city governments, to be able to explore data that citizens would care about. So helping organizers put the data in a shape that they can make some decision on and then put it back out in the hands of regular people is really fun and is exactly what we got to do.

Public Consultations: Belarus' MY World Campaign

2014 has come to an end and we are glad to look back at the work we have been doing and share some results.

The UN team in Belarus had a chance to seize the opportunity and combine two important processes into one: the MY World 2015 global survey and associated public consultations, which became significant for the preparation of the country strategic document: National Strategy for Sustainable Socio-Economic Development of Belarus till 2030.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muk7WKn1Y8U&w=560&h=315]

How It All Started

The Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Belarus requested assistance with the development of the National Strategy and with conducting public consultations as a part of the process. After a number of meetings, we came to the conclusion that we actually already have a great means for asking people what is important for them – the MY World 2015 global survey. Since the National Strategy document consists of certain development priorities, which coincide a lot with the priorities in the survey, it was a great solution!

Continue reading “Public Consultations: Belarus' MY World Campaign”

The Future of Citizen Engagement – A New Report on Citizen Voice

Wednesday 17 December, New York

Last week, the Occidental College Task Force on Citizen Accountability launched a report of their research findings entitled The Future of Citizen Engagement: Recommendations for Implementing Effective Feedback Initiatives. This research team, commissioned by the UN Millennium Campaign, assessed a variety of citizen feedback initiatives around the world which focus on incorporating citizen voice into local and national policy and/or service delivery. Among the case studies were UNICEF’s U Report in Uganda, and the MY World local spin-off survey, MY Municipality in Macedonia. For a full documentation of the initiatives which the team encountered through their research, see this interactive map.

The research assessed which characteristics make an initiative most effective in a variety of local contexts and across a span of diverse actors. From these findings, the report details a set of nine recommendations for implementing strong and effective citizen feedback initiatives:

Government buy-in and support is essential to ensure that citizen feedback is translated into change
All partners must receive value from the initiative
Existing civil society networks and partnerships are essential for effective outreach
The timing of a citizen feedback initiative launch impacts its success
An option of anonymity will allow for more candid citizen feedback
Technology must be easy-to-use, accessible and functional
Outreach must use many mediums of communication, including both tech and non-tech platforms
Initiatives must find ways to include marginalized populations
Target communities must be informed of their rights and responsibilities

This research is extremely relevant for the future of the MY World survey. Thus far, MY World has allowed over 7 million people to have their say concerning the next international development agenda. The hope for the future is that people everywhere are equipped with comprehensive tools which allow them to have their say in local and national policy processes as well.

These recommendations will serve the UN Millennium Campaign and its partners as they decides how the MY World model can fit into a local or national context.

UN Belarus marks International Day of Disabilities by collecting MY World votes

(English below)

Originally posted on UN in Belarus— Written by Dasha Mironova, photos by Carolina Poliakova

10805750_818484064881420_1624596379249182631_n

3 снежань 2014

Вчера, в Международный день инвалидов, команда ООН побывала в гостях в маленьком, но таком интересном мире – в Белорусском обществе глухих. Мы пришли поговорить с людьми, которых обычно не слышат, об их приоритетах и проблемах, которые их волнуют. Мы пришли рассказать о глобальном опросе ООН МОЙ Мир 2015 и попробовать сделать так, чтобы этих таких разных и удивительных людей услышали.

Белорусское общество глухих – это организация, которая объединяет людей с нарушением слуха, место, где они собираются вместе, общаются, узнают о том, что происходит вокруг, делятся переживаниями и просто проводят время вместе. Это, в первую очередь, очень активные люди, которые тоже являются частью общества.

На встрече было поднято множество важных и не всегда заметных обычным людям проблем. Пришедшие поделились с нами тем, как тяжело быть глухим при недостаточно высоко развитой безбарьерной среде: когда не всегда понятно, на какой станции метро выходить, потому что нет электронного табло, когда не можешь смотреть новости, интересные передачи и фильмы, потому что нет перевода на язык жестов или субтитров, когда не можешь объяснить доктору, что тебя беспокоит, и многие другие вещи, о которых здоровые люди, не сталкивающиеся с этой проблемой, могут и вовсе не знать.

“Я очень люблю смотреть биатлон, но я не слышу, когда объявляют результаты, а таблица с ними слишком быстро сменяется рекламой. Ведь это так просто – задержать ее на пару секунд”, -поделился с нами один из участников.

Вчера члены Белорусского общества глухих проголосовали за свой мир и свою Беларусь! Присоединяйтесь и вы, чтобы вместе сделать этот мир лучше!

10492193_818484024881424_8819436108120037651_n

3 December 2014

Yesterday, on the International Day of People with Disabilities, the UN team has visited a small but incredibly interesting world – Belarusian Society of the Deaf. We came to talk to those who are often not heard about their priorities and problems they face. We came to tell about the ongoing UN global survey MY World 2015 and to try to make these wonderful people heard.Belarusian Society of the Deaf is an organization that unites people with hearing disorder. It’s a place where they gather to talk, to learn what is going on in the world around them, to share their thoughts and worries and just spend time together. It is, first of all, a group of active people who are also a part of our society.

During the meeting, a number of important and not always known for ordinary people issues have been raised. People have shared how hard it is to be deaf in the environment that is not yet barrier-free: when it’s not always clear what station it is in the subway as there is no electronic display, when you can’t watch news, interesting TV-programmes or movies because there’s no sign language translation or subtitles, when you can’t tell the doctor what is wrong with you, and many other things that healthy people might not even know about.

10420369_818483888214771_6622477200621948767_n

10698613_818483944881432_8265761755099625823_n

“I love watching biathlon, but I can’t hear the results of the race and the table with them always disappears so fast followed by adds. It’s not so hard to let it stay a few seconds longer”, – mentioned one of the participants.

Yesterday members of the Belarusian Society of the Deaf voted for their world and their Belarus! Join and have your say at the United Nations to change the world together!

www.myworld2015.org

#MYWorld2015 #PublicConsultations #Belarus #UN #disability

MY World 2015 Launches in Jalisco, Mexico

November 11, 2014

The MY World 2015 global survey is bringing the voices of residents from Jalisco, Mexico to the United Nations by asking them what issues make the most difference in their lives.

On 23 September, the UN Millennium Campaign and Corporativa de Fundaciones, A.C. signed a memorandum of agreement to roll out MY World in the State of Jalisco, Mexico. This week Corporativa de Fundaciones, A.C., held a press briefing where the following partners signed an annex agreeing to take part in the campaign: the Undersecretary of Planning and Evaluation from the Government of Jalisco, COPARMEX Jalisco, Instituto Jalicense de la Juventud, Federación de Estudiantes Universitarias, Colegio de Estudiantes Cientificos y Tecnológicos del Estado de Jalisco, Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara, Universidad Jesuita de Guadalajara and the Unión de Sociedades de Alumnos del ITESO.

Nearly 400 dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers, mostly students and youth, are currently being trained to carry out the survey. The Jalisco campaign will run from now until May 2015 and aims to reach at least 200,000 Jalisco residents using both online voting and paper ballots. By engaging students at universities across Jalisco, and young people through the State’s Youth Council as well as IMJUVE (the Youth Institute of Mexico) the campaign aims to extend across at least 80% of the state’s territory.

The results of the survey will not only contribute to the new sustainable development agenda at the UN, but according to David Gómez Álvarez, the Jalisco Undersecretary of Planning, these citizen priorities will also become incorporated in the State Development Plan in 2015.

Follow MY World Jalisco on Twitter and Facebook

See the disaggregated results of the MY World Jalisco survey

Video (en español):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvPqxYPpwck

Notas de prensa (en español):

Mobilizing the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development

Blog by Caya Johnson, MY World Global Youth Advocate

“Data are the lifeblood of decision-making and the raw material for accountability.
Without high-quality data providing the right information on the right things at the right
time; designing, monitoring and evaluating effective policies becomes almost impossible.”

– A World that Counts – Mobilising the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development a report by the IEAG on the Data Revolution, November 2014

In the period leading up to the adoption on the 2015 global sustainable development agenda, a revolution has been emerging at the UN – a data revolution for sustainable development.

In their report published in May 2013, the High Level Panel of Eminent Persons on the Post-2015 Development Agenda called for a Data Revolution for Sustainable Development to improve the quality of information for both people and governments, for purposes including a higher standard of accountability and decision-making. The High Level Panel stressed the need for disaggregated data, specifically by gender, income, disability and other categories in order to ensure inclusivity underpins the post 2015 agenda.

In August 2014, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon appointed an Independent Expert Advisory Group on the Data Revolution tasked with providing expert recommendations on how data can be used to maximum effect in the development work of the UN.

Last Thursday the group launched their report entitled A World that Counts – Mobilising the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development. The report specifically recommends a global consensus on principles and standards, the sharing of technology and innovation for the common good, the dedication of new resources for data capacity development, the establishment of a UN-led Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, and the establishment of a ‘SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) Data Lab’.

The report also features the MY World Survey as an important advance in the Data Revolution for Sustainable Development– the survey has provided decision makers at the UN with disaggregated data on the priorities of people around the world. This open-source data platform has allowed for people’s voices to contribute to the informed decision-making process surrounding the new sustainable development agenda.

MY World 2015 Disaggregated Data

Want to join the global conversation on the Data Revolution?

Go to the Data Revolution We Want consultation on World We Want 2015 and share your ideas on the data revolution for sustainable development!

New Partner Toolkits Available

Want to become a partner and learn how to get more involved in MY World 2015 and the World We Want 2015? Download our partner toolkit today!

Quiere ud. ser aliado y aprender como involucrarse en MI Mundo 2015 y The World We Want 2015? Descarga nuestro Guía para Socios hoy!

Souhaitez vous devenir un partenaire et apprendre à s’impliquer davantage dans My World 2015 et The World We Want 2015? Téléchargez notre toolkit dès aujourd’hui!

你想成为联合国《我的世界2015》全球调查和《我想要的2015年世界》正式合作伙伴吗？那就马上下载我们的合作伙伴指南吧！

Many thanks to the following individuals for their assistance in developing and translating the toolkits and associated graphics: Natalie Gardner, Christina Samson, Alice Chen, Kristin Gutekunst, Emmanuel Fontalvo, Divine Ntiokam, Nya DJjowa Audrey, Ngnepi Sandra, Papa Tiecoro Dembele, YouThink

International Youth Day in the Philippines

By the Balayan Social Action Office of the University of St. La Salle and the Sagay City Government.

International Youth Day 2014 brought together more then 150 youth leaders and activists at the University of St. La Salle for discussions on the post-2015 development agenda, the My World Survey and gender equality.

The day started with a message of inspiration by Jilt van Schayik, the Dutch Youth Delegate to the United Nations. “Leave your footprint behind, be part of the solution and act as leader of today, not for the future only” were among the messages he shared.

The forum then continued with a discussion on the post-2015 development agenda in which youth leaders from different backgrounds shared their ideas, solutions and best practices for the world of tomorrow. The main priorities and areas of concern were: education, healthcare and job opportunities. This is in line with the outcome of the MY World Survey in the Philippines were those priorities rank the top three.

Take away from International Youth Day in the Philippines: young Filipino’s want to shape their own future, and with them 1.8 billion youngsters around the world.

Facebook: UN Youth Delegates
Data visualisations: Worldwewant2015.org/trends