Hamzat Lawal, Chief Executive of Connected Development (CODE) and founder of FollowTheMoney has been appointed as a judge for the 2022 United Nations (UN) SDG Action Awards.
Lawal is joining the likes of Jennifer Morgan, State Secretary and Special Envoy for International Climate Action of the German Federal Government; Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator, and 28 other world leaders from across the globe to determine winning initiatives that drive the sustainable development goals from all corners of the world.
The UN SDG Action Awards is a signature initiative of the UN SDG Action Campaign that celebrates transformative approaches and innovative solutions that mobilize, inspire and connect people to drive action towards a more sustainable future on a healthy planet.
For 2022, the campaign is focused on initiatives and individuals who are flipping the script and rethinking what progress and development look like in the world. This year the Awards will also celebrate changemakers that inspire and empower others through their actions.
As a global citizen, mobilizer and activist, Lawal has worked for over a decade developing innovative solutions that solve institutional problems affecting a large number of people. In 2019, his FollowTheMoney initiative emerged winner of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Mobilizer Award.
Speaking on winning the award, Lawal stated that many young people across the world are carrying out remarkable projects that are geared towards nation building but very little is done in communicating the impact to a global audience.
“I am committed to helping passionate and driven youths get the needed recognition for their works,” Lawal said.
Lawal will be joining world leaders, grassroots activists, civil society mobilizers, government representatives, advocates and impact-driven business champions to select initiatives that tackle some of the biggest challenges facing the most vulnerable and marginalized people from around the world.
Some of the other judges include; Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Government of Canada; H.E. Khalifa Jassim Al-Kuwari, Director General Qatar Fund for Development; Ovais Sarmad, Deputy executive secretary, United Nations framework convention on climate change (UNFCCC); Emma Theofelus, Deputy Minister of Information and Communication Technology in the Republic of Namibia; to mention only a few.
The Awards Ceremony will be held in Bonn, Germany. The Ceremony will officially close the Global Week to #Act4SDGs where millions of people are mobilizing to take sustainable action.
