First-ever Youth Co:Lab Hong Kong Dialogue Sparks Innovative Conversations in Addressing Social Challenges

A Youth 4.0 initiative to tap youth
entrepreneurship for social innovation

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HONG KONG, CHINA - Media OutReach  - 9
November 2018 - The first-ever Youth Co:Lab Hong Kong Dialogue is unveiled
today, converging over 250 social
entrepreneurs, business professionals and youth leaders, NGO representatives
and academia in the city to discuss social innovation and cross-sector collaboration
in supporting social entrepreneurship leaders with an end to achieving the
United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The first-ever Youth Co:Lab Hong Kong Dialogue is unveiled today at the Chinese University of Hong Kong to discuss social innovation and cross-sector collaboration in supporting social entrepreneurship leaders with an end to achieving United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Officiating guests for the opening ceremony were (from right to left):

Ms. Angel Ng, Chief Executive Officer for Citi Hong Kong and Macau
Professor Rocky Tuan, Vice Chancellor and President, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Mr. Beniam Gebrezghi, Programme Specialist of Youth and Civic Engagement, United Nations Development Programme Bangkok Regional Hub

The three-day Dialogue at CUHK featured a series of sharing sessions, including those involving two awardees from the Forbes 30 Under 30 list who spoke of their own experiences of having a positive impact on the community by achieving United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Hong Kong is the eleventh chapter in
Asia to host the Dialogue, one of the 20 Youth Co:Lab dialogues being held around
the Asia Pacific region this year. Youth Co:Lab, co-led by United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and Citi Foundation, drives a shared agenda for
Asia-Pacific countries to empower youth in accelerating implementation of SDGs
through leadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship.

Officiating at the opening ceremony of
the Hong Kong Dialogue were Professor Rocky S. Tuan, Vice-Chancellor and
President, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK); Ms Angel Ng, Chief
Executive Officer for Citi Hong Kong and Macau and Mr. Beniam Gebrezghi,
Programme Specialist of Youth and Civic Engagement, United Nations Development
Programme Bangkok Regional Hub.

 

“As the centre of knowledge generation,
concentration and dissemination, the higher education sector plays a vital role
in promoting and communicating the importance of sustainable
development.  In January this year, CUHK joined hands with the Hong
Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust to launch the Hong Kong Chapter of the United
Nations’ Sustainable Solutions Network (SDSN Hong Kong) to mobilize
universities, research and knowledge centres, civil society organizations
and businesses to focus on practical solutions for sustainable development,”
said Professor Rocky S. Tuan, Vice-Chancellor and President of
CUHK.  ”I am pleased to announce that SDSN Hong Kong will launch a
youth chapter, SDSN Youth Hong Kong, next month to provide young people with an
opportunity to exchange ideas with different sectors and empower them to turn
their innovative ideas into action to achieve the UN’s SDGs.”

 

“The youth of today are a nation’s
future. The future of cities like Hong Kong is intrinsically tied to the
economic success of young people. At Citi, we are committed to preparing young
people with career readiness skills and opportunities to thrive in today’s
economy,” remarked Angel Ng, Chief Executive Officer for Citi Hong Kong and
Macau.  “We are excited to bring to the
city Hong Kong Dialogue to engage youth social entrepreneurs and people from different
walks of life together in discussing their opportunities as well as the social
challenges that the city is facing and address them together.”

 

“Young entrepreneurs are the engine of
innovation and change, a key partner in ensuring sustainable growth.  We are here to support them.” said Beniam
Gebrezghi, Programme Specialist of Youth and Civic Engagement, United Nations
Development Programme Bangkok Regional Hub. “We would like to accelerate their
growth into full stride, by providing them with the access and resources that
they need, based on their feedback, during dialogues such as this Youth Co:Lab
event. Through trainings, workshops and competitions, we hope this Hong Kong
Dialogue experience will help make the next generation of social entrepreneurship
more diverse and inclusive, leaving no one behind. “

The three-day Youth Co:Lab Hong Kong Dialogue between November 9
and11 at CUHK features a series of sharing sessions with a couple of awardees
of 30 Under 30 by Forbes speaking on their own experiences of how to drive a positive
impact on the community and achieve SDGs.

Both
awardees of 30 Under 30 by Forbes, Bonnie Chiu, Founder of Lensational and
Scott Stiles, Co-Founder and CEO of Fair Employment Foundation shared at the
panel discussion how young social innovators achieve SDGs and bring a positive
impact to the society through social innovation.

An
awardee of 30 Under 30 for Europe in 2017, Chiu set up Lensational in Hong
Kong, which has now empowered marginalized women in 22 countries by providing
them with a camera, training and a platform to sell their works.  An awardee for Asia for 2018, Stiles
successfully improves the working opportunities of migrant workers from the
Philippines by waiving their job placement fees which often resulted them in
indebtedness.  Stiles has kept some 2,000
Filipino workers employed in Hong Kong from almost three million dollars in
recruitment debt.

A
highlight of the event is a panel discussion on the first day on how cross-sector
partnership between the business community and social entrepreneurs support
social enterprises in the city. Teen Future Association and Outblaze as well as
HEYCOINS and HKT Payment Limited spoke of their partnership. 

Teen
Future Association, a professional game testing social enterprise, supports
Outblaze, a developer and provider of digital media products and services, in testing
their games. The ongoing co-operation between Teen Future and Outblaze has turned
out to be a win-win success as Outblaze receives quality testing service from
Teen Future on game testing while young people at Teen Future learn new skills,
acquire a sense of responsibility and employment opportunities.

The inaugural Youth Co:Lab Hong Kong Dialogue is part of the Youth
4.0 program, which was launched in Hong Kong in September this year, featuring
a strategic partnership between Youth Co:Lab and Hong Kong Social Enterprise
Challenge (HKSEC). The former is a partnership between the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the Citi Foundation while the latter is
organized by The Center for Entrepreneurship of CUHK and sponsored by the Home
Affairs Bureau of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
(HKSAR). Youth 4.0 is also supported by its sustainability partner — SDSN Hong
Kong, co-hosted by CUHK and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. The Youth
4.0 aims to promote youth development on social entrepreneurship and to
increase awareness of the UN’s SDGs amongst young people in Hong Kong.

On the second and third day of the
event, this year’s Hong Kong Social Enterprise Challenge participants will join
a series of training workshops on Social Innovation and Sustainability. Over
400 challengers are eligible to join the session, where they will learn how to
craft a creative entrepreneurial approach with innovative design thinking to
addressing social issues and come up with social venture plans to achieve
sustainability.

United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

UNDP works in about 170
countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and
the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. We help countries to develop policies,
leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build
resilience in order to sustain development results. This is a critical time for
the world. At UNDP, we see this period as a huge opportunity to advance the
global sustainable development agenda. In September 2015, world leaders adopted
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to end poverty, protect the planet
and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. We support countries’
efforts to achieve the new Sustainable Development Goals, or Global Goals,
which will guide global development priorities through 2030. UNDP focuses on
helping countries build and share solutions in three main areas: Sustainable
development; Democratic governance and peacebuilding; and Climate and disaster
resilience. In all our activities, we encourage the protection of human rights
and the empowerment of women, minorities and the poorest and most vulnerable.

 

Citi
Foundation

The Citi Foundation works to promote
economic progress and improve the lives of people in low-income communities
around the world. We invest in efforts that increase financial inclusion,
catalyze job opportunities for youth, and reimagine approaches to building
economically vibrant cities. The Citi Foundation’s “More than
Philanthropy” approach leverages the enormous expertise of Citi and its
people to fulfill our mission and drive thought leadership and innovation. For
more information, visit www.citifoundation.com

 

Hong
Kong Social Enterprise Challenge (HKSEC)

The Hong Kong Social
Enterprise Challenge a social venture startup competition organized by the
Center for Entrepreneurship of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, has been at
the frontier in educating students and the general public about social
enterprises in Hong Kong since 2007. Through a structured competition model,
HKSEC encourages students to employ a creative entrepreneurial approach to
solve real world social issues.

 

The Hong
Kong Chapter of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network
(SDSN Hong Kong)

The Chinese
University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust
join hands to co-host the Hong Kong chapter of the SDSN. Under the umbrella of
the global SDSN, SDSN Hong Kong seeks to mobilize expertise, information and
resources from academic, philanthropy, government, business and nonprofits to
address the most pressing environmental, social and economic issues in Hong
Kong and advance sustainable development. More details of SDSN Hong Kong can be
found at: http://sdsn-hk.org/en/