Indonesia
Economic Development, Environment
Bank Pohon
Over half of Indonesia’s tropical forest is considered to be “degraded” as a result of commercial timber practices and conversion to agriculture coupled with inefficient reforestation programs. Paris Sembiring, a paddy-cab driver turned nursery entrepreneur, has created a business model that empowers and provides economic incentives for people to get involved in seedling development to drive a more in support of the reforestation movement in...
Thailand
Economic Development
Huay Pla Lod Agricultural Cooperative, Ltd.
By creating a supply chain system for agroforestry products completely owned and operated by Thailand’s highland ethnic communities, Jakkapong Mongkhonkeeree is enabling highlanders to be recognized as guardians of the forest and to maintain their cultural heritage as forest inhabitants.
India
Human Rights
Javed Abidi is working to make legislative rights and economic opportunities a reality for the disabled in India. He is organizing disability groups across thematic, geographic, and language barriers to set up an informed national lobby. Simultaneously, he is establishing partnerships with business and the government to create equitable employment of the disabled.
India
Economic Development
Irfan Alam is making rickshaw operators and their families “full economic citizens” by building channels for essential services such as banking, individual access to credit and health, and making the rickshaw a “mobile small shop” for the sale of various products and services. Seeing rickshaw operators as significant contributors to the growth of the Indian economy, Irfan believes it is imperative that they actively participate in the economy...
India
Learning/Education
Sunanda Mane is bridging the gap between education imparted in secondary schools and real-life skills required in rural India. By introducing trained local entrepreneurs into schools, Sunanda creates an environment where students are able to develop entrepreneurial skills. As a result of her work in over sixty government-aided schools in rural Maharashtra over the last four years, absenteeism and dropout rates have significantly decreased.
India
Learning/Education
Kaivalya Education Foundation
The 2009 Right to Education Act makes free elementary education the right of every child between the ages of 6 to 14 years in India. This is a historic milestone for the country and implementation of this Act on the ground is a focal point of concern. Aditya Natraj envisages a major shift in education leadership, where the government school principal is perceived as a lever to affect large-scale change in a failing system.
Sri Lanka
Economic Development
Ruhuna Business Incubator
Professor K.D.N. Weerasinghe or “Weera” has invented several innovative applications to rejuvenate Sri Lanka’s declining cinnamon industry. Weera’s inventions including a cinnamon peeling device, a processing bench, scrapers, and a poly cam, and are collectively creating a technological revolution across Sri Lanka. Some of the social benefits include increasing worker efficiency; improving work and sanitary conditions; eliminating caste...
India
Economic Development
Through interventions based on modern technology in Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and Orissa, India, Rikin Gandhi is focusing on the efficiency of information dissemination and application and creating new knowledge networks for agriculture extension services. Rikin’s method entails replacing the old architecture of agriculture extension services with a new one; and the community is involved in the creation, dissemination,...
India
Learning/Education
Bastu Rege is working with the informal labor force in the stone quarries of Maharashtra, a population estimated to be 3.5 to 5 million “identity-less” migrants who have been denied fundamental rights for decades. Bastu has set up a system of schools for the children of these workers called “Pashan Shala” i.e. quarry schools designed to serve this hard-to-reach group. The education model has grown from 119 children in 1997 to 92 schools in...
India
Environment, Health
Over a span of four decades Bindeshwar Pathak has advanced his vision for a safe, just, and dignified India through the introduction of dramatically improved sanitation. His project, Sulabh International, is improving India’s sanitation, weakening the caste system, and helping those in the “untouchable” caste move into safer, more dignified jobs. Bindeshwar’s systems are supported by municipal and user fees.
Indonesia
Health
Luh “Sari” Putu Upadisari, a medical doctor, is improving the sexual and reproductive health of low-income women by ensuring they receive good quality health and educational services in the “public traditional market” in Indonesia.
Indonesia
Environment
In a forest wetland of international importance in West Kalimantan, where the inhabitants had resorted to working for the unsustainable timber market to make a living, Valentinus Heri has facilitated a thriving forest honey business to boost the local economy while protecting the forests. He has connected harvesters from eight remote areas and helped create a platform for communities to participate in Indonesia’s ongoing debate about how to...
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