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UNDP’s SDG Challenge helps empower persons with disabilities in Vietnam
Linh Pham 08:33, 2019/07/04
SDG Challenge is expected to facilitate Vietnam`s 6.2 million persons with disabilities and those beyond the country.
The United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has launched SDG Challenge 2019 competition to find out innovative solutions for increasing accessibility for persons with disabilities (PwD). 
 
SDG Challenge 2019. Photo: Linh Pham
SDG Challenge 2019. Photo: Linh Pham
Through the SDG Challenge, UNDP aims to “make the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) a reality by promoting a new way of doing business to ensure we are ‘leaving no one behind,” Resident Representative of UNDP Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen said at the launching ceremony in Hanoi on July 3.

SDG Challenge is expected to create opportunities to use technological advances to reduce inequalities in the context that many people among the most marginalized communities might be left behind in the transition to Industrial Revolution 4.0.
 
Caitlin Wiesen, Resident Representative, UNDP Vietnam at the launching ceremony in Hanoi on July 3. Photo: Hanoitimes
Caitlin Wiesen, Resident Representative, UNDP Vietnam at the launching ceremony in Hanoi on July 3. Photo: Linh Pham
For that reason, UNDP believes that innovation can be used to improve the lives of the most vulnerable groups and these groups are included in the innovation process, Caitlin Wiesen said. 

She explained that one of the most pressing challenges for PwD and older persons is accessibility as it is not only a right of PwD, but also a means of ensuring that they are able to exercise all their rights and are empowered to participate fully in society.

In Vietnam, with more than six million or almost 8% of the population considered to be with disabilities, information about accessibility needs to be more widely available. 

SDG Challenge 2019, which is part of the IMPACT TECHFEST’s activities, is co-organized by UNDP and the Ministry of Science of Technology (MOST)'s National Startup Support Center (NSSC).
 
Pham Hong Quat, director general of National Agency for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Development (NATEC). Photo: Hanoitimes
Dr. Pham Hong Quat, director general of National Agency for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Development (NATEC), at the event. Photo: Linh Pham
Dr. Pham Hong Quat, director general of the MOST’s National Agency for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Development (NATEC), said the competition helps promote creativeness among PwD and those working for PwD to empower the communities and inspire others to engage in more inclusive activities.  

SDG Challenge is an initiative of Vietnam with an aim to explore innovative solutions for not just any certain individual of the marginalized population but is also expected to develop beyond Vietnam’s border to ASEAN member states, the expert said.

Dr. Quat emphasized the broader meaning of the competition is that innovative solutions would facilitate PwD’s engagement in the community in which they feel comfortable and confident to awaken the liveliest emotions in every individual, enable them to arouse their inside power. 

Why SDG Challenge?

Vietnam’s startup scene continues to grow strongly with almost 3,000, making the country the third largest startup ecosystem in Southeast Asia and attracting interest and investments from around the world. 

While there are thousands of startups supporting the country’s dynamic economic growth, UNDP Vietnam wishes to encourage startups to focus on supporting the country’s sustainable development, including addressing growing disparities among different groups.  

That’s why UNDP and the NSSC have partnered together to launch the SDG Challenge 2019 to find and incubate impact startups which provide innovative solutions to support accessibility for PwD, and further advance the achievement of the SDGs.

SDG Challenge was first launched in 2017, attracting dozens of contestants.  

“Through the SDG Challenge, we not only want to create opportunities for entrepreneurs and PwD to explore innovation solutions together, but also aim to use this initiative to raise awareness of the challenges and barriers faced by PwD,” said Caitlin Wiesen.
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