Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation Inc. in the UN Solutions Summit

Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation Inc. (AIDFI) CEO Auke Idzenga gave a ‘lightning talk’ at the Solutions Summit at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, USA.

Solutions Summit is an annual catalytic gathering at the United Nations Headquarters in New York during the UN General Assembly high-level week, which is held in September. This initiative lifts up and advances the work of exceptional teams already developing innovative solutions that address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This year’s Solutions Summit took place from September 19 to 21. Each day in the UN SDG  Media Zone, there was a live broadcast event space at the UN focused on the SDGs. This special event highlighted projects advancing objectives of one or more of the 17 SDGs, and involved in-person accelerator sessions and social media interaction with the selected solution-makers. The first Solutions Summit in 2015 immediately followed the adoption of the SDGs by all UN Member States. The summit showed that people already have extraordinary solutions in progress to our most complex challenges.

A total of 11 Solution Makers for the Solutions Summit 2017 were selected from around 800 entries from all over the world. The solutions had to relate to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). Solutions selected were:

During the Solutions Summit, the group of selected global innovators gave a ‘lightning talk’ of 4 minutes and had a 5 minutes feedback time outlining their breakthrough efforts. They did this before an audience of senior policymakers who have the means to pave solid regulatory foundations, investors who care deeply about long-term change and impact, industry leaders who are able to deploy quickly and at scale, fellow entrepreneurs who can share wisdom on starting up, and members of the general public, including youth, who will bring additional creative insight. The gathering served as a catalyst to convene resources and talent around solution-makers.

The solution of AIDFI was its Hydraulic Ram Pump Technology, which actually hits several crosscutting SDG’s, spread throughout the Philippines and has already been replicated in Afghanistan, Nepal, Colombia, and now Mexico. Proud moment for Bacolodnons!