The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, former United Nations(UN) Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the UN Women, with the 2021 Global Goalkeeper Award.
- As a part of its annual Goalkeepers campaign, the foundation also announced the winners of the 3 additional Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards.
- These awards were instituted by the Foundation to recognise the efforts taken by the people to help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals(SDG).
2021 Global Goalkeeper Award:
The 2021 Global Goalkeeper Award has been awarded to Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka to recognise her global leadership on gender equality and her efforts to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on women and girls across the globe.
Efforts of Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka:
i.Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka undertook various works to strengthen the partnership with the governments, male allies and media with an aim to advance the SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
ii.She played a major role in helping to spearhead and deliver the General Equality forum in July 2021, which assisted in mobilising around 40 billion USD in commitments to support the transformative change for women and girls across the globe.
Winners of 2021 Goalkeepers Global Goals Awards:
i.Progress Award 2021- Jenifer Colpas(Colombia)
ii.Changemaker Award 2021 – Fairooz Faizah Beether(Bangladesh)
iii.Campaign Award 2021- Satta Sheriff(Liberia)
- These awards recognize their contribution in supporting the global goals in their local communities.
Jenifer Colpas:
Jenifer Colpas is the co-Founder and Executive Director of Tierra Grata, a social enterprise that develops low-cost, easy-to-install solutions providing access to clean energy, safe water, and sanitation to rural communities in Colombia.
Fairooz Faizah Beether:
Fairooz Faizah Beether is the co-founder of the Moner School, an anonymous online platform in the field of mental health, that educates the importance of mental health among youth through training, workshops and online mental health first aid service in Bangladesh.
Satta Sheriff:
Satta Sheriff is the founder and executive director of Action for Justice and Human Rights (AJHR), a non governmental organisation that advocates human rights on the issues of gender based violence and child marriage in Liberia.
About Bill & Melinda Gates foundation:
Co-chair and Trustee– Bill Gates & Melinda French Gates
Headquarters– Seattle, Washington, United States