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Nigerian Alabi-Michael, others emerge finalists for UNEP Earth prize

By Chinedum Uwaegbulam
21 August 2017   |   4:01 am
Twenty-eight year old Nigerian, Abigail Alabi-Michael has been selected as one of the regional finalist for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Young Champions of the Earth prize...

Abigail Alabi-Michael

Twenty-eight year old Nigerian, Abigail Alabi-Michael has been selected as one of the regional finalist for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Young Champions of the Earth prize – a global competition aiming to identify, support and celebrate outstanding individuals between the ages of 18 and 30 with big ideas to protect or restore the environment.

Alabi-Michael, a graduate of Environmental Science and Resource Management submitted a proposal known as Health Accord, a health micro-insurance programme, which uses trash as monetary asset in enabling poor slum residents without medical insurance to pay for health coverage, medications and other clinical services earned her a place in the Africa finalists.

With Health Accord, the communities, especially women and pay for healthcare services using trash as an insurance fund. It also empowers the community to enhance environmental sustainability and the local sanitation by shifting from conventional methods to innovative solid waste disposal solution.

Six Young Champions of the Earth are selected every year, one from each global region (Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, and West Asia). These winners receive $15,000 in seed funding, intensive training, and tailored mentorship to help them bring their big environmental ideas to life.

From over 600 applicants, 30 regional finalists—all with emphatic track records of environmental commitment—were selected for having the most innovative, scalable and potentially impactful ideas. Vote for the finalists are now being cast online. The finalist from each region that pulls the highest vote emerges winner. Alabi-Michael is competing with other young change-makers from Zambia, Cameroon, Somalia and Burkina Faso.

Their proposals range from the deployment of solar-powered irrigation pumps to boost agricultural productivity and foster peace in conflict zones, to the creation of floating eco-villages to help vulnerable communities adapt to rising sea-levels: and from sustainability advocacy through music and radio to the provision of healthcare services in return for recyclable trash.

“The future of our planet depends on our ability to innovate. And when it comes to environmental solutions, we’re only at the beginning of what I’m convinced will be a major economic revolution,” said Erik Solheim, head of UN Environment.

He said: “These regional finalists are examples of the passion, drive and creativity that will underpin the coming change. These young innovators need to be empowered so that they can fulfill their potential and shape the future.”

The CEO of Covestro—a world-leading materials science company, which sponsors the Young Champions of the Earth, Patrick Thomas, remarked, “So much thought has gone into addressing the critical environmental concerns which clearly strike a chord with our regional finalists. I’m confident that many of these wonderful ideas will become reality and go a long way in making the world a brighter place not just for us, but for many generations to come.”

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