Expo 2020 Dubai highlights five societal innovations that address COVID-19 challenges
Expo 2020 Dubai has chosen five new projects to join its global best practices program, following a recent call by the program to submit proposals to meet the challenges of "Covid-19".
New projects included a wearable device that issues an alert to maintain social distancing, and a Jordanian program that helps vulnerable communities build online businesses during the lockdown imposed by the pandemic.
In this way, carefully selected initiatives are added to the current 45 projects that adopt best practices, whose simple, effective and locally implemented solutions contribute to addressing a set of the largest global challenges, including those contained in the sustainable development agenda, which includes 17 global goals designed to achieve peace and prosperity for people and the planet. Earth.
The new additions come as the United Nations celebrates the International Day of Creativity and Innovation, which falls on April 21, to honor human ingenuity and the creative economy, and their primary role in helping societies throughout the epidemic.
Reem bint Ibrahim Al Hashemi, Minister of State for International Cooperation, Director-General of Expo 2020 Dubai, and Chair of the National Committee for Sustainable Development Goals, said: “The consequences of major global challenges have made it clear that in order to build a better future, we must work hand in hand, as a single global community.
The expansion of the Global Best Practices Program embodies Expo's goal of bringing the world together - in line with our motto 'Connecting Minds, Creating the Future' - to drive positive change and support projects from around the world that societies need now. ”
She added, "These projects provide tangible, reality-changing solutions to the challenges posed by the current pandemic, and we are proud to present them at Expo 2020 Dubai, as it is a unique global platform and an influential incubator for new ideas."
New projects include the "Safe Distance", a wearable device from the Belgian company Lobos, that uses sound, optical and vibration alarms to warn in the event of exceeding the social distancing distance, and the UAE-based Project Maggi, which has created the "Maggie Packet," an invention. Safe, low-tech and cost-effective, produced by People of Determination in Ghana, to support safe hand-washing practices in rural communities.
The additions also include the "Stat Home" project, which works directly with vulnerable communities in Jordan, especially women who work from their homes in light of the lockdown measures during the epidemic. The project developed a vocational training program to graduate certified "makers" who produce clothes and handcrafted goods for Sold through the project's sister e-commerce platform, Mexi, to date, Mexi has an accredited network of more than 500 "makers" who process various orders from their homes - helping them enter the workforce, grow their businesses online, and provide additional income for their families.
“International Expo fairs are distinguished as platforms for the review and sharing of inspiring projects that lead to real improvements in the lives of people around the world,” said BIE Secretary-General Dimitri Kirkensitz.
The International Bureau of Exhibitions enthusiastically supports this version of the "Expo 2020 Dubai" best international practices program, which comes at the right time to overcome the consequences of "Covid-19", and brings together a series of innovative, comprehensive and transformative solutions that face the new challenges posed by the pandemic. By exchanging effective solutions for the benefit of people and the planet, we can meet and overcome these challenges together. “During the call for virus-related project proposals, starting in September 2020, Expo received contributions from 318 projects in 78 countries, covering five focus areas, namely digitization; education and skills development; health and wellness; water, sanitation and hygiene; and protection of livelihoods.
The entries were assessed by a jury consisting of Cisco, Expo 2020's partner for digital networks in the first official partner category, the Dubai-based global charity, Dubai Cares, and UN-Habitat, the United Nations program for human settlements and sustainable urban development.
Subsequently, the highest-rated entries were reviewed and approved by the International Bureau of Exhibitions and the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.
The Global Best Practices Program was launched in 2018 under the theme "Small steps, big leaps: Simple solutions for sustainable impact", a commitment mandated by the International Bureau of Exhibitions in 2010 that all international expos exhibit concrete solutions that can be simulated, adapted and scaled to create global impact. Akbar, highlighting the World Expo's role as an influential platform to inspire change and advance human progress.
Expo 2020 will be held from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, as it invites visitors from all over the world to contribute to making a new world, while exploring innovations that will change our reality and make a positive and meaningful impact on people and our planet together.
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