Commonwealth Innovation Awards 2023 winners

Meet the 2023 winners of the Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Innovation for Sustainable Development Awards

Fifteen individuals and groups have been recognised for making a significant impact on communities, countries and regions of the Commonwealth, by creating innovative solutions to pressing development challenges. Read more

The Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Innovation for Sustainable Development Awards aim to recognise and celebrate the contribution that innovators in the public, private and voluntary sectors across the Commonwealth are making to progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The 2023 winners of the Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Innovation for Sustainable Development Awards were announced on 27 November in Nairobi during the inaugural Commonwealth Edition of Kenya Innovation Week 2023.

You can meet all of the 2023 winners below.

Innovation: Signvrse

Category: Improve the well-being of Commonwealth PEOPLE

Country: Kenya

Region: Africa

Elly Savatia is a 23-year-old social entrepreneur, Founder & CEO of Signvrse, an assistive technology startup leveraging AI and automated 3D technology to interpret text and speech, creating lifelike sign-language avatars with real-time precision. Signvrse’s central mission is to promote inclusivity, allowing deaf individuals to confidently participate in diverse settings, including education, healthcare, public interactions and employment.

Innovation: First Alert

Category: Improve the well-being of Commonwealth PEOPLE

Country: Jamaica

Region: Caribbean

Aldain Reid is a socially minded tech entrepreneur and the founder of First Responders Technology Ltd, a Kingston, Jamaica-based technology firm that designs and develops web and mobile software solutions aimed at solving real-world problems. One of his innovations, the First Alert Emergency app, received a Jamaica National Innovation Award for Health and Safety in 2018.

Innovation: The Starving Artist

Category: Improve the well-being of Commonwealth PEOPLE

Country: Europe

Region: United Kingdom

Dr Ally Zlatar, an artist, scholar and activist who founded The Starving Artist initiative, promoting advocacy and systemic reform through creative voices. She established The Starving Artist Scholarship Fund, aiding access to inpatient treatment for mental health illnesses. Zlatar’s ‘This Body of Mine’ campaign explores migrant experiences, supporting individuals and artists globally. Recognised for her humanitarian efforts, she is a recipient of prestigious awards.

Innovation: Planet 3R

Category: Protect the PLANET and the natural environment in the Commonwealth

Country: Nigeria

Region: Africa

Environmental safety inspired Adejoke Lasisi to start Planet 3R, an organisation working to convert plastic and textile wastes into eco-friendly products using the 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) approach. Through Planet 3R, Adejoke and her team have been able to collect and process over 980,352kg of recyclable waste from the street, empowering 264 youths and women.

Innovation: Sea Women of Melanesia

Category: Protect the PLANET and the natural environment in the Commonwealth

Country: Papua New Guinea

Region: Pacific

Sea Women of Melanesia is an all-female marine conservation organisation working to save the priceless reefs of the Coral Triangle biodiversity hotspot, and to empower women in Papua New Guinea with the training, skills, equipment and resources they need to take an active role in marine conservation. Director Naomi Longa is receiving the award on behalf of Sea Women of Melanesia.

Innovation: WePlanetInc

Category: Protect the PLANET and the natural environment in the Commonwealth

Country: Dominica

Region: Caribbean

Christianna Paul is an award-winning social entrepreneur and the Founder and Chief Operations Officer of WePlanet Inc., which creates innovative solutions to encourage all sectors to be more environmentally conscious. This includes the creation of a mobile application that optimises Progressive Web Application technology to motivate, educate and encourage everyone, including businesses in the private sector, to implement eco-friendly strategies and choices.

Innovation: E-Mentor

Category: Improve PROSPERITY in the Commonwealth

Country: Cameroon

Region: Africa

Abongdoh Maluyane Titus is the founder of e-Mentor, a VR platform enabling internally displaced students in conflict-affected areas to regain access to education. His goal is to impact one million students in West and Central Africa by 2030. Titus is a One Young World Ambassador and believes in the power of young people to drive impactful innovation.

Innovation: Kehkashan Bashu

Category: Improve PROSPERITY in the Commonwealth

Country: Kiribati

Region: Pacific

Kehkashan Basu, M.S.M. is the Founder-President of social innovation enterprise Green Hope Foundation, which works at a grassroots level globally to localise the SDGs by harnessing clean energy for social good. She is the recipient of Canada’s Meritorious Service Medal, a Forbes 30 Under 30, UN Human Rights Champion, and one of Canada’s Top 25 Women of Influence.

Innovation: Earthland Global: Climate-Resilient Infrastructure for SIDS and Climate Vulnerable Regions

Category: Improve PROSPERITY in the Commonwealth

Country: Barbados

Region: Caribbean

Danielle Corsagí, a leading renewable energy and climate resilience engineer, spearheads Earthland Global in pioneering climate-resilient infrastructure. As Chief Sustainability Officer, her SIDS-focused strategy birthed CARI, an AI-integrated system for real-time stress testing. Missioned to fortify SIDS, Earthland Global continually integrates advancements, benefiting 65 million people and placing them at the forefront of pioneering climate-resilient solutions for enduring infrastructure strength.

Innovation: Badilico

Category: Promote PEACE and justice in the Commonwealth

Country: Kenya

Region: Africa

Ngatia Muhoya is a young entrepreneur whose passion lies at the intersection of good governance, technology and youth empowerment. He innovated Badilico, a groundbreaking meta-verse town hall experience that connects youth with decision-makers. In Badilico, users create avatars to engage in gamified political role-play, fostering a deeper understanding of governance processes. It uniquely combines gaming, data collection and direct interaction with leaders.

Innovation: Gender Responsive Policing

Category: Promote PEACE and justice in the Commonwealth

Country: Pakistan

Region: Asia

Dr Khan is a police veteran with 20 years of diverse experience in law enforcement and public policy. He served as District Police Officer for Kurram Tribal District, where he has established the first ever women reporting centre in the tribal areas of Pakistan, on a self-help basis. He was also actively engaged to train 24,000 former Tribal Levies into regular police. The tribal communities consider him the founder of new policing regime and pioneer of gender-responsive policing.

Innovation: Disability Inclusion Advocacy

Category: Promote PEACE and justice in the Commonwealth

Country: India

Region: Asia

Puneet Singh Singhal is a disability inclusion advocate and an accessibility enthusiast. He is the founder of ‘ssstart’, working towards eradicating stigmas and taboos associated with disabilities and creating awareness of disability inclusion. He works towards normalising speech and communication disabilities and promoting acceptance, and is passionate about creating safe spaces for young people with disabilities by harnessing the power of storytelling and the arts.

Innovation: Milkar

Category: Promote PARTNERSHIPS for development in the Commonwealth

Country: Pakistan

Region: Asia

Syed Kashf Ahmed, also known as ShahofLahore, is the founding Project Director of Milkar.com and is revolutionising volunteerism in Pakistan. His platform connects thousands of volunteers with non-governmental organisations for impactful projects in education, health and environmental sustainability. By partnering with government and academia he embeds volunteerism in curricula, transforming Pakistan’s youth into proactive agents for social change and development.

Innovation: Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia

Category: Promote PARTNERSHIPS for development in the Commonwealth

Country: Malaysia

Region: Asia

Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia (YIM) is the leading agency for social and grassroots innovation in Malaysia. It is mandated by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation in Malaysia to discover, nurture and channel innovation development funds towards initiatives that have the potential for international commercialisation. YIM drives innovation and creativity among children, youth, women, disabled people and rural communities. Manager Amerridzal Bidin is receiving the award on behalf of Yayasan Inovasi Malaysia.

Innovation: Pacific Tourism Organisation

Category: Promote PARTNERSHIPS for development in the Commonwealth

Country: Fiji

Region: Pacific

The Pacific Tourism Organisation is an intergovernmental organisation for the tourism sector in the South Pacific that markets, promotes and develops tourism in the Pacific in overseas markets. Its members include Samoa, Kiribati, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Papua New Guinea, Nauru, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tokelau and Niue. CEO Chris Cocker, a proud Pacific Islander, and passionate advocate of sustainable tourism development in the region, is receiving the award on behalf of the Pacific Tourism Organisation.