Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) and the UNDP Accelerator Labs have hosted a virtual event on the sidelines of the 2020 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).
The theme of the conversation was ‘The Fast and the Curious. Local innovations to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals in times of Covid-19’.
“Agility, diversity and tapping into the power of bottom-up solutions will be essential to navigate a course beyond recovery, towards 2030, with the Sustainable Development Goals as our compass,” said Achim Steiner, administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The conversation was about ‘Learning from Local Innovations to Tackle Global Problems’ moderated by Gina Lucarelli, UNDP Accelerator Lab team leader, with the following panelists: Omar Shaath, project specialist, Qatar Smart Programme (Tasmu); Nouf al-Kaabi, development analyst, QFFD; Hamad al-Qahtani, SME Incubation and Acceleration manager and general manager, Qatar Business Incubation Centre; Shoko Noda, resident representative, UNDP India; Dr H Purushotham, chairman and managing director, NRDC, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India; and Sharleen Mabisa Moyo, head of Solutions Mapping, UNDP Zimbabwe.
“QFFD is very proud to be a core investor in the Accelerator Labs network. We strongly believe that more can be done and our commitment to more collaborative action is stronger than ever,” said Ali al-Dabbagh, deputy director-general for Planning at QFFD, in his opening remarks. Al-Dabbagh also called for “young innovators to continue addressing the developmental challenges wreaking havoc in fragile states, LDCs, SIDs and hampering progress towards Agenda 2030”.
The participants discussed how local innovations can contribute to accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals, and especially, in times of Covid-19.
Participants in the virtual event.
