The RISE World Summit 2021 has concluded addressing issues of environment and climate change amidst Global Keynote speakers and dignitaries. A unique 36-hour Virtual Relay Conference organized by RISE Infinity Foundation and Idobro Impact Solutions from 28th-29th January 2021, the Summit witnessed an overwhelming participation of over 1,120 attendees from across 55 countries and 8 time zones.
The Opening Plenary was graced by esteemed dignitaries who released RISE values – Responsible, Inclusive, Sustainable, Eco-friendly. Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque, UNICEF Representative to India, emphasized the need to look responsibly at issues of environment and climate change and how they affect our lives. “This forum today brings together all elements of civil society. We need all stakeholders to come together to nurture shared values to achieve our goals and work towards global commitments. There’s a need for a strong evaluation committee dovetailed with the sense of responsibility and accountability”, she said.
Among others were Prof. K. Vijay Raghavan – India’s Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India; Vidya Shah, Chairperson and CEO of the EdelGive Foundation along with Ambassador Gideon Behar, Special Envoy for Climate Change and Sustainability at the Israeli Foreign Ministry, and Former Ambassador to Senegal and West Africa who in his speech mentioned, “Sustainability means zero hunger and zero poverty and access to education, water and health for all. But if we don’t employ a holistic approach, we as humans will have to face a difficult future. We need to be good to one another and good towards nature as well.” There was a special message by Cherie Blair- Former UK First Lady, a leading lawyer, writer, and committed campaigner for women’s rights on the critical work done in partnership with Idobro for women entrepreneurship and the need to scale such initiatives.
Amitabh Kant, CEO, National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog, in a Valedictory message during the closing plenary on the 29th Jan, 2021, praised the partnerships between civil society organizations arising during the COVID-19 pandemic. “The pandemic has severely slackened the pace of SDGs across the world. It has also brutally demonstrated, in one fell sweep, how relentlessly integrated the world is and how intertwined different actors, stakeholders and responders are. Thus, we have seen outstanding growth of partnership among a very large number of diverse agencies and stakeholders. So, a multi-layer world Summit like this seeking breakthrough interactions has been planted on very fertile ground.”
Furthermore, a special address was delivered by Bishow Parajuli, Representative and Country Director –United Nations World Food Programme; and a Keynote address was given by Philip Kotler, Author, Consultant, and Professor, the S. C. Johnson & Son Distinguished Professor – The Kellogg School of Management.
Also announced were The Nutrition Awards, in partnership with Glenmark Foundation and Knowledge Partners – World Food Programme (WFP), to recognize non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and others who undertook exceptional efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic. Satish Agnihotri Head (CTARA) –IIT -Bombay, Dr. R. Hemalatha Director, ICMR-NIN, Hyderabad; Neeraj Jain, Country Director–PATH, Vedeika Shekhar, Associate-NITI Aayog were the Grand Jury members who presented the awards to the winners.
Additionally, the RISE Ownership Awards were presented by Walter Vieira – Former Chairman, International Council of Management Consulting Institutes to the Initiatives and Prof. N. Vinod Chandra Menon – Founder Member, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Government of India – MILKAR and Migrant Travel Support Network – who have worked relentlessly towards the relief efforts during the pandemic. The RISE Global Citizen Award was presented to Yosef Abramowitz CEO of Energiya Global Capital with projects across Africa and Israel.
The unique and comprehensive 36-hour global-relay-programme was in partnership with knowledge partners including The Lewis Institute and Babson Social Innovation Lab, USA, Country Partners – Swedish Consulate in Mumbai and the Japan Consulate in Mumbai, Programme partners – Krushak Mitra Agro, SEED, Swedish Institute, NTT and over 60 visionary partners from across the globe. The interactive formats of Roundtables, Workshops, Chat Tables, Earth Tours and Cultural Programmes were met with an overwhelming audience from across several time zones with participants cutting across all age groups and expertise brought in their insightful perspectives and innovative ideas to the table. Tejas Sangwan, a 5th-grade student from India who participated in a Bio-Mimicry Workshop, spoke enthusiastically about how we can use self-sustaining practices in our day-to-day lives, and the 18-year-old Sandhya Saroj – Prime Minister of Young Advocates for Social Harmony (YASH) stressed the realistic challenges slum kids are facing today and the need for positive changes on the ground through her association with the UNICEF.
Karon Shaiva, Convenor of the RISE World Summit, Managing Trustee at RISE Infinity Foundation and Chief Impact Officer at Idobro Impact Solutions, said: “Through this summit, we envisaged a platform to create shared values that would drive people and organisations to action because together, we multiply impact. We aim to facilitate our participants with opportunities to connect and collaborate with the ecosystem and the stakeholders. Our Partners, the Steering Council, Board, Core committee, Working groups and teams have together made this important objective possible. We got outstanding participation from over 750 organizations, which led to organic exchanges and impact-driven discussions between several thought leaders. We hope to build upon these breakthrough interactions for collaborations and find ways to translate our deliberations into action. This is just the beginning.”
