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Global innovation summit in Helsinki seeks solutions to benefit children

Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Publication date 6.11.2015 15.59
Press release 242/2015

Start Up to Scale Up: Global Innovations for Children and Youth Summit, organised by UNICEF and the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, begins this coming Monday. The Summit brings some of the world's top experts to Helsinki for two days. The aim of the event is to develop solutions benefiting the world’s most disadvantaged children.

The event addresses topical development challenges. Although children have the right to health, protection and education, rights are not realised for millions of children. At the same time, development cooperation is in transition: new thinking and collaboration are needed. How can we promote innovations rising from the grassroots level? What kind of partnerships and funding models are needed to scale good solutions to serve the children of the world?

This Summit gathers 500 accomplished leaders representing the business community, donors, universities, governments, agencies and organisations to Finlandia Hall in Helsinki. The themes include, for example, the future of jobs, refugees, access to information, learning, emergencies, renewable energy, and creativity and play.

The speakers at the Summit include, among others: Caspar Aarlit Jensen, LEGO Foundation; Magnus Magnusson, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Pål Brekke, Norwegian Space Centre; Peter Vesterbacka, Rovio Entertainment, His Highness Prince Fahad Al Saud, creative and technology sectors media pioneer and founder of NA3M; Kate Courteau, Y Combinator nonprofits; Kamran Elahian, Global Catalyst Partners; Rui Ma, 500 Startups; Yoka Brandt, Deputy Executive Director, UNICEF; and Christopher Fabian, Co-lead at UNICEF Innovation Unit.

“Helsinki is a natural site for an international innovation event. Finland is repeatedly listed as one of the world’s most innovative economies. We also strive to make increasing use of innovations to accelerate development, as part of Finland’s development cooperation. Partnerships play a key role in this,” says Lenita Toivakka, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, who will also speak at the Summit.

“At this event we want to challenge key players in different fields to discover hidden opportunities for new kinds of partnerships. Through innovative cooperation we can accelerate development for the benefit of the world’s most disadvantaged children,” says Marja-Riitta Ketola, Executive Director of UNICEF Finland.

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and Finnish National Committee for UNICEF work together to develop partnerships and development cooperation. An example is the UniWASH project financed by Finland and led by Finnish National Committee for UNICEF, where Aalto University and the University of Helsinki work together with Makerere University, BIOLAN and Ugandan SMEs. The project devises sustainable and innovative water and sanitation solutions for schoolchildren in Uganda.

The Start Up to Scale Up Summit participants will also obtain practical experience of an important Finnish innovation: a Finnish school lunch will be served at Finlandia Hall.

The innovation event is organised by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and UNICEF in cooperation with the startup and technology conference Slush.

Inquiries:

Jussi Kivipuro, Director of Communications, Finnish National Committee for UNICEF, tel. +358 40 772 3407, [email protected]
Minna Suihkonen, Communication Officer, Finnish National Committee for UNICEF, tel. +358 40 5511 055, [email protected]
Marjaana Ettala, Desk Officer, Unit for UN Development Affairs, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 295 351 683, [email protected] (cooperation between Finland and UNICEF)
Juha Kirstilä, Special Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development, tel. +358 40 552 8200, [email protected]
Kirsi Pere, Communication Officer, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, tel. +358 50 462 6313, [email protected]

Follow the event on Twitter: #uinnovate
Some of the addresses given at the event will be streamed live at http://summit.unicef.fi

 
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