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Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20

Winners of the WSIS Prizes, recognizing innovative technological approaches to support sustainable development, were announced on 28 May 2024 at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+20 Forum High-Level Event 2024 in Geneva, Switzerland. Overall, projects from 18 countries were presented with WSIS Prizes top honours, showcasing leading efforts to bridge the digital divide, foster digital inclusion, and drive socio-economic progress on a global scale. “This year's WSIS Prizes demonstrate the innovation and energy that exist to find technological solutions to some of the globe's biggest challenges," said ITU Secretary-General Doreen Bogdan-Martin. “These are the creative contributions that the world needs in our effort to advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals." Smartpur, Nokia’s flagship CSR initiative, is a digital village ecosystem project aimed at integrating technology into the daily lives of communities living in remote villages across India. Smartpur is executed in partnership with Save the Children India and Digital Empowerment Foundation. The project intends to empower and support local entrepreneurs through digital technology. Entrepreneurs are provided with facilities to make services across the pillars of Livelihood, Health, Education, Financial Inclusion, and Governance accessible at the village level through Smartpur centers. Beneficiaries of the project leverage digital tools to access livelihood opportunities and skill-based training programs, telemedicine services, education in technology and computer literacy, financial services such as banking, and government schemes and services. The project was first implemented in 2017 with 10 Smartpur centers established in the state of Haryana. The number of centers has since grown to 350 in 2023, established in 10 states across India. Between 2017 and 2022, 40 centers have been exited sustainably. These centers continue to provide the intended services to rural communities and generate a livelihood for the entrepreneurs. The project has created large-scale social impact – it reached over million beneficiaries. Between April 2022 and March 2023 alone, the project reached over 835,100 beneficiaries. Approximately 480,000 people were supported with access and awareness on social protection schemes and services; over 26,900 people sought digital literacy training, career counselling camps and academic support; more than 297,500 people accessed financial literacy services such as conducting digital financial transactions, opening and operating banks accounts, and financial literacy; over 17,500 received telemedicine services and attended health awareness camps, and over 9,600 people were linked with livelihood opportunities, received vocational training, and trained on life skills. Project website https://smartpur.in/the-project/

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Housing is a human right, or so says the International Declaration of Human Rights. But could we organize our economies with that in mind? Across the country, communities have land and properties and

Housing is a human right, or so says the International Declaration of Human Rights. But could we organize our economies with that in mind? Across the country, communities have land and properties and people who need homes. What’s stopping us bringing them together in a way that increases community wealth and wellbeing for everyone? That’s the question we explore in this episode of our special series on community wealth building, produced in collaboration with the radio and tv show, Laura Flanders & Friends. Featuring Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Writer; Saoirse Gowan, Policy Associate with the Democracy Collaborative; Noni D. Session, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative. This episode is part 1 of a 4-part series exploring how communities are working to transform their local economies by harnessing their assets, anchoring capital and resources locally to directly invest in that place and its people – from land to money and finance. Explore the full series here. (https://bioneers.org/CWBSeries) Resources Democracy Collaborative (https://democracycollaborative.org/) East Bay Permanent Real Estate Cooperative (https://ebprec.org/) Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership (https://uncpress.org/book/9781469663883/race-for-profit/) Our Economic Future: Achieving a More Equitable Society by Radically Rethinking Our Guiding Economic Ideas (https://bioneers.org/bioneers-reader-our-economic-future/) | Bioneers Reader Guest Host Laura Flanders is the host and executive producer of Laura Flanders & Friends (https://lauraflanders.org/) , which airs on PBS stations nationwide. She is an Izzy-Award winning independent journalist, a New York Times bestselling author and the recipient of the Pat Mitchell Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Media Center. Credits This series is co-produced by Bioneers and Laura Flanders & Friends Laura Flanders & Friends Producers: Laura Flanders and Abigail Handel Production Assistance: Jeannie Hopper and David Neumann Bioneers Executive Producer: Kenny Ausubel Senior Producer: Stephanie Welch Producer: Teo Grossman Host and Consulting Producer: Neil Harvey Program Engineer and Music Supervisor: Emily Harris

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82 views  Sep 12, 2024

On September 12, WECAN held a virtual launch event for the report, "The Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry in North America and Complicit

82 views  Sep 12, 2024

On September 12, WECAN held a virtual launch event for the report, "The Gendered and Racial Impacts of the Fossil Fuel Industry in North America and Complicit Financial Institutions (Fourth Edition).” 

From rising cancer rates to escalating violence, the report details the numerous disproportionate health and safety risks and impacts women in all their diversity are experiencing due to fossil fuel extraction, which is also perpetuating Indigenous and human rights violations. The report highlights regional case studies from Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income communities in North America, as well as the corresponding financial institutions that are contributing to these egregious harms. The report outlines recommendations for the banks to move toward accountability and a just transition. 

During the online event, we heard from frontline women leaders, health experts, and advocates who are demanding accountability from financial institutions to take action for the health of our communities, ecosystems, and the climate. Speakers included: 

Roishetta Sibley Ozane M.S., Founder of Vessel Project of Louisiana and Gulf Fossil Finance Coordinator, Louisiana

Rene Ann Goodrich (Bad River Ojibwe), Native Lives Matter Coalition and Wisconsin Department of Justice Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) Task Force Member, Wisconsin

Sharon Lavigne, Founder of RISE St. James, and 2021 Goldman Prize Winner, Louisiana

Patricia Garcia-Nelson (Oraricha Tribes of Mexico and the Chichimeca), Colorado Fossil Fuel Just Transition Advocate for Green Latinos, Northern Colorado

Casey Camp Horinek (Ponca Nation), Environmental Ambassador for the Ponca Nation, and Board Member and Project Coordinator for WECAN, Oklahoma

Antonia Juhasz, Investigative Journalist, author, lecturer, Washington, DC

Dr. Nneoma Nwachuku Ojiaku, MD, MPH Obstetrician-Gynecologist, Climate Health Now

Osprey Orielle Lake, Report Co-author, and Founder and Executive Director of Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN)

Many thanks to the amazing speakers!

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