In August 2017, iVoice made a public call to youth around the island to submit their innovative ideas that address a social issue in their community. Over 100 innovative ideas were submitted that ranged from solid waste management to improving reproductive health education in schools, to awareness sessions on gender-based violence. Twenty ideas were shortlisted for the final round.
The final stage of the competition was an overnight two-day residency workshop in Colombo, which took place commemorating the International Day of Peace. At the residency, the 20 shortlisted participants from around the island came together and were provided the opportunity to further develop their ideas into feasible project plans that can be implemented within a three-month period. As they modeled their ideas on display exhibits, they had the opportunity to engage with the UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. Una McCauley, other professionals from the UN, as well as a visiting youth group from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) – College East, Singapore.
On the last day of the workshop, the participants presented their ideas to a judging panel comprising of Ms. Ritsu Nacken – UNFPA Representative, Prof. Wanigasundera – Chairman of SDJF, Mr. Jayan Abeywickrama – UNFPA Programme Analyst, and Mr. Senel Wanniarachchi – Co-Founder of Hashtag Generation. The ten winners were awarded Rs. 100,000/- each as seed capital to deliver their presented ideas and to actively drive social change.
Following are the ten winners of the Rs. 100,000 seed money to implement their innovative ideas.
(from left to right)
Sivalingam Vimalraj, 26 years, Jaffna
Having witnessed many children in Jaffna stay home from school or drop out at an early age, Vimalraj was eager to make a change. His idea is to carry out a survey to find the reasons preventing children from getting an education. Using the findings from his survey, he plans to create a short film and share it with relevant stakeholders to drive positive social change in his community and ensure more children get a basic primary and secondary education.
Sujith Samarasinghe, 21 years, Kalutara
Sujith wants to reduce the deaths and injuries caused due to motorbike accidents in Sri Lanka. His idea is to create a video which will create awareness and educate young people on the safety measures and precautions needed to safely ride motorbikes. Sujith will also share this video via social media platforms, in schools, and with other audiences.
Damith Chandana, 21 years, Kandy
As a young male, Damith has realized that sexual harassment in public transport is a serious issue that affects women, men, children, and their society. To address this issue, his idea is to create an awareness video to bring about positive behavioural change.
Lakmee Nilanka de Silva, 26 years, Matara
Lakmee’s idea is to promote inclusive education among students, teachers, and parents by producing an entertaining programme titled ‘Yalu Mamage Katandara’ (Uncle’s Friendly Stories). She plans to share this programme widely on social media to create awareness on the importance of quality, inclusive education.
Chamal Malintha Gunasinghe, 18 years, Kalutara
Chamal comes from a rural village in Sri Lanka where it is difficult to effectively share important social messages and information among villagers. He has developed an LED signage model, which can be used to communicate messages with the people in his community with less environmental waste. His idea is to use these LED boards to drive social change.
Dinithi Prathiba Kaluarachchi, 23 years, Ratnapura
As a student of Ruhunu University, Dinithi experienced first-hand the negative consequences of misappropriate Facebook use among her peers. She wants to create awareness among students the students at her university about the proper use of Facebook and how to be responsible, safe, and private online.
Piyahasie Dias, 19 years, Colombo
Having seen her father struggle with a hearing disability, Piyahasie was adamant to make a difference for others living with the same conditions. With her ability to communicate in sign language, her idea is to create a sign language grammar book for hearing impaired students.
Rifak Ahmed, 26 years, Galle
As a student of chemical engineering, Rifak learned about sustainable energy and saw the potential of producing bio gas from kitchen waste. His idea is to introduce a small bio gas unit in urban areas, so that waste can be re-used in an effective manner.
Arzath Areef, 25 years, Ampara
Waste management is a serious issue in Sainthamaruthu, in the East of Sri Lanka. The municipal council does not have sufficient resources to ensure proper waste management. Arzath’s idea is to create a citizen mobile app to assist in ensuring better solid waste management by tracking the locations of waste and the movements of the waste management trucks.
Nalinda Priyanjith Silva, 26 years, Colombo
Nalinda has created a mosquito trap made using locally sourced raw materials. His idea is to reduce the number of deaths caused by mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue, by training more youth on how to produce these mosquito traps.
iVoice Idea Competition
iVoice is an online platform that encourages youth to discuss social issues and to drive innovative solutions. The platform features stories relating to social issues in Sri Lanka, which are submitted by iVoice contributors and the general public.
The objective of the iVoice Idea Competition is to encourage youth to play a participatory role in solving social issues. After reading a story featured on iVoice, youth can submit their ‘idea’ to help to address the social issue that is highlighted in the story. The ten best ideas will receive seed capital of Rs. 100,000/- each, and mentoring, to support in implementing their ideas.
The majority of articles featured on iVoice relate to a social issue. These stories have a ‘Submit Your Idea’ button at the end of the article, inviting youth to share their innovative ideas on how to address these social issues.
Submitted ideas must be innovative and unique. The ideas must also be practical and implementable by 31 December 2017.
The deadline for submitting an idea is 3 September 2017.
To submit an idea, the following details must be provided through the online form:
Note: Participants can submit any number of ideas; however, only one idea per article is permitted.
Ideas will be evaluated through a competitive process.
03 Sept 2017: Closing of submissions at 23:59 on 3 September 2017
06 Sept 2017: Shortlisting of 20 ideas
13 Sept 2017: Shortlisted applicants to present their ideas in further detail to the judging panel
21 Sept 2017: The ten winning ideas will be announced at the Award Ceremony at which Rs. 100,000/- seed capital will be granted to each of the winning applicants
Evaluation criteria includes creativity of the proposed idea to address the given social issue, and feasibility of implementation within the stipulated budget and timeframe.
The number of votes received per idea will not be a deciding factor.
The judging panel’s decision will be final.
iVoice Idea Competition
iVoice is an online platform that encourages youth to discuss social issues and to drive innovative solutions. The platform features stories relating to social issues in Sri Lanka, which are submitted by iVoice contributors and the general public.
The objective of the iVoice Idea Competition is to encourage youth to play a participatory role in solving social issues. After reading a story featured on iVoice, youth can submit their ‘idea’ to help to address the social issue that is highlighted in the story. The ten best ideas will receive seed capital of Rs. 100,000/- each, and mentoring, to support in implementing their ideas.
The majority of articles featured on iVoice relate to a social issue. These stories have a ‘Submit Your Idea’ button at the end of the article, inviting youth to share their innovative ideas on how to address these social issues.
Submitted ideas must be innovative and unique. The ideas must also be practical and implementable by 31 December 2017.
The deadline for submitting an idea is 3 September 2017.
To submit an idea, the following details must be provided through the online form:
Note: Participants can submit any number of ideas; however, only one idea per article is permitted.
Ideas will be evaluated through a competitive process.
03 Sept 2017: Closing of submissions at 23:59 on 3 September 2017
06 Sept 2017: Shortlisting of 20 ideas
13 Sept 2017: Shortlisted applicants to present their ideas in further detail to the judging panel
21 Sept 2017: The ten winning ideas will be announced at the Award Ceremony at which Rs. 100,000/- seed capital will be granted to each of the winning applicants
Evaluation criteria includes creativity of the proposed idea to address the given social issue, and feasibility of implementation within the stipulated budget and timeframe.
The number of votes received per idea will not be a deciding factor.
The judging panel’s decision will be final.
I agree to the following:
- My story is my own work and does not contain plagiarized material or violate any copyright infringements
- My work is subjected to an editorial committee review that may add, remove, or amend my story, if necessary, to enhance its value
- The editorial committee has the right to decide whether or not my story is published
- My story can be shared or reposted on any other platform that iVoice has partnered or affiliated with at any given instance. However, my identity will be protected
- By agreeing to ‘Allow Ideas submission from iVoice community’, I allow anyone to submit an Idea or solution to my story
- Ideas submitted under my story belong solely to the individual submitting the idea and I will not be held accountable to its content.
- I have carefully read and understood the iVoice Guidelines