‘Miyaheli’ Social Innovation Camp 2022: Three winning ideas emerge for ‘Innovation for People, Planet and Prosperity’

This year’s ‘Miyaheli’ social innovation camp has concluded, with top three winners announced at the closing ceremony held in K. Thulusdhoo.

United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Maldives, together with Ooredoo Maldives and its partners, have run ‘Miyaheli’ since 2016 to empower youth and to encourage social innovation.

The series is funded by the Australian government.

The latest in the series of social innovation camps brought together 11 civil society organizations (CSOs) from across the Maldives. The participants created innovative ideas themed around ‘Innovation for People, Planet and Prosperity’.

Three winning ideas were selected out of proposed 12 ideas, after evaluation by a panel of judges. They are:

• 1st place: ICONS Association
• 2nd place: Blind and Visually Impaired Society Maldives
• 3rd place: Maldives Conservation Society

Winning CSOs will be able to pilot their visions with the support of grant funding for social innovation projects and explore further opportunities to scale their projects.

Speaking at the closing ceremony, Ooredoo Maldives’ Director, Human Resources, Fazna Mansoor noted that it was the first edition of Miyaheli open for CSOs in the Maldives.

“…And we are delighted to extend our support and provide them the platform to build on their ideas to create innovative sustainable solutions for their communities. It was amazing to see so many great ideas that can bring sustainable positive changes to our society. Congratulations to the teams that won and we are excited to see how the projects unfold,” she said.

The 2022 iteration of ‘Miyaheli’ encouraged participants to develop solutions to empower those who need it most through increased opportunities, accessibility, and inclusivity; solutions that focus on better practices for a better planet - focusing on science-based ideas that tackle environmental and social issues and solutions to improve the everyday lives of those living in Maldives through a creative solution or concept which includes concepts that integrate employment and livelihood opportunities.

The platform provided the space for interested CSOs to go beyond the regular activities of the organizations and explore innovative solutions by collaborating and co-creating solutions to address social issues in their immediate communities. Participants worked with mentors to foster innovation, social entrepreneurship, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills and create change from the grassroots up. Their ideas were refined to identify the key social change they would like to bring with consideration for the sustainability of the project and its impact on the community.

Vera Hakim, Deputy Resident Representative at UNDP Maldives, thanked partners for the support, and participants for their solutions, alluding to the contributions of the social innovation camps towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals.

“With the support of our partners, at this year’s Miyaheli we are excited to provide an inclusive space for civil society organizations from across the Maldives to exercise creativity in designing innovative solutions with and for their communities - to create a sustainable partnership and the creation of empathic solutions that can stimulate commitment and interest from those who need it the most,” she said.

‘Miyaheli’ is a social innovation camp that aims to empower young individuals to become change-makers by bringing them together with mentors to come up with innovative solutions to the existing issues in Maldivian society through social entrepreneurship.

Over the past few years, ‘Miyaheli’ has focused on various themes including, 2019 ‘Miyaheli’ focusing on Accessibility and PWDs, the 2020’s virtual ‘Miyaheli’ focusing on responding to the effects of COVID-19, and 2021 focusing on ideas for ‘People, Planet and Prosperity’.

More than 150 youth from across the Maldives have been engaged since 2016.