BANGKOK/ISLAMABAD – The Telenor Youth Forum’s 2018-2019 program concluded today at the dtac headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, where a delegation of 16 young leaders from 8 nations, including Pakistan, pitched their four services to Telenor Group and dtac leadership and experts from Plan International, UNICEF and the Nobel Peace Centre. Out of the four teams, AgriMatch was declared the winning team and received USD 15,000 in funding to implement their proposed service, with an aim to reduce inequalities in accordance with the UN Sustainable Development Goal #10.
Following six months of intense development work and remote collaboration spread across four nations, AgriMatch has won Telenor Youth Forum for their mobile service to equalise the agricultural supply chain and empower farmers currently in a vicious cycle of debt and poverty. The team’s challenge was to design a digital solution to optimize or increase sustainability of food production, ultimately contributing towards reduced inequalities in global health.
Farmers and middlemen will soon be able find, contact and rate each other through the AgriMatch mobile platform, if the winning Telenor Youth Forum team has their way. AgriMatch aims to pilot their service in Myanmar where more than 70 percent of the population relies on agriculture as their primary source of income, according to a 2019 Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report.
Pakistan’s TYF representatives included two very talented girls, Asma Akbar Ladak from Karachi and Maieda Janjua from Islamabad. Asma’s team Paanigar pitched a solution to solve the water crisis in Pakistan through enhanced access to clean drinking water by providing a one stop solution for all water related problems. Maieda’s group Team Walrus, designed a mental health ed-tech platform to raise awareness, create understanding and build resilience in teenagers.
“I congratulate AgriMatch on winning and bringing an innovative solution to reduce inequalities in global health. At Telenor, we are always on the lookout for better and more creative ways to empower the society and bridge gaps in equality. Using our core competencies that include information and communications technology, we promote development of creative solutions that truly impact lives across the globe. I am sure it has been an amazing journey for all young delegates and it delights me that we share the passion of shaping a better future for our younger generations,” said Irfan Wahab Khan, Head of Emerging Asia Cluster and CEO Telenor Pakistan.
The Telenor Youth Forum kicked off during the Nobel Peace Prize week in Oslo in December 2018, where the 16 delegates were split into four teams, each with a health-related challenge to solve. From that point onwards, the delegates worked to develop their ideas, conduct user research, and prototype their services, leading them to the Bangkok finale. The teams also showcased their services in a digital exhibition which was attended by Telenor Group management and representatives from the Nobel Peace Center.
The Telenor Youth Forum is a global platform built upon the idea of bright minds working together to reduce inequalities. In collaboration with the Nobel Peace Center, the forum brings together young leaders from around the world to develop digital solutions that empower societies. Out of more than 5,000 applicants, 16 accomplished delegates aged 20-28 were selected to represent their countries in the 2018-2019 program.
