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Duke and UNICEF—who partnered in May 2019 to form the Duke-UNICEF Innovation Accelerator—have announced the Accelerator’s third cohort of six social enterprises.

Building on UNICEF’s 70-year history of innovating for children and Duke’s track record of success in entrepreneurial education, the Innovation Accelerator aims to support social enterprises tackling the most pressing challenges facing children and youth around the world.

The new cohort of social enterprises will join the Innovation Accelerator to develop and scale innovations that are addressing SDG 6 (clean water and sanitation for all) in East Asia and the Pacific and beyond. The innovators’ solutions—which range from clean water filtration systems, to youth-led sanitation projects, to an innovative place-based toilet—all aim to provide local solutions to challenges in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) with a focus on youth engagement and youth leadership.

Water, sanitation, and health are at the core of sustainable development, and the range of services they provide underpin poverty reduction, economic growth, and environmental sustainability. However, in recent decades overexploitation, pollution, and climate change have led to severe water stress in locales around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic continues to pose additional obstacles, impairing access for billions of people to safely managed drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene services—services desperately needed to prevent the virus from spreading. Urgent action is needed to overcome this global WASH crisis, as it affects all countries around the world socially, economically, and environmentally.

“South Asia and the Pacific continue to face pressing challenges surrounding WASH, especially in relation to limited WASH infrastructure and education, both of which are pivotal in leading to the necessary sustained behavioral change at the community level,” said Emily Glazebrook, Program Supervisor for Abundant Water, one of the enterprises selected for the cohort. “Endemic water-borne diseases continue to contribute to the region’s health burdens, and in rural and remote areas these challenges are manifold, impacting all stages and areas of life.”

After a rigorous application process, six social enterprises were selected to receive Accelerator support to increase their impact in East Asia and the Pacific.

As with most entrepreneurs, members of the third cohort have been greatly influenced by their personal challenges and experiences.

Varangtip Satchatippavarn, Founder and CEO for Ira Concepts, described how her struggles shaped her entrepreneurial journey. “I am solving problems that I have experienced firsthand—period poverty whilst at school and at work, allergies from conventional pads, reproductive health issues, and a lack of menstrual hygiene education during my youth. Nobody should have to experience these issues, wherever or whoever they are. Everyone has the right to menstrual hygiene management and education.”

Thomas Philip Da Jose, Managing Director & Co-Founder for Masy Consultants, described the influence of his parents’ emphasis on paying it forward, known in the Philippines as “the Bayanihan Spirit.” He explained, “This has fueled my humanitarian journey to use my education to create meaningful and tangible change, especially for poor communities that account for a significant number of illnesses and deaths attributed to waterborne diseases. I have seen firsthand the suffering brought about by water poverty, with 14 Filipinos dying every single day for the past 10 years due to a lack of innovative WASH interventions. For this reason, I have committed my life to shape a world where everyone has access to clean water and sanitation and can live in health, dignity, and prosperity.”

Through the Innovation Accelerator’s two-year program, the entrepreneurs will have access to a multitude of resources, including UNICEF subject matter experts, mentorship opportunities, Duke University faculty and students, monthly capacity building webinars, and a week-long residency at Duke’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative.

Many of them also look forward to working in a community of like-minded social entrepreneurs. “We would like to learn from other social entrepreneurs to better understand and adjust our current solutions,” Satchatippavarn said. “We hope to find ways in which we can better serve and meet the needs of our customers.”

To learn more about the Duke-UNICEF Innovation Accelerator, visit www.dukeunicef.org

Duke and UNICEF—who partnered in May 2019 to form the Duke-UNICEF Innovation Accelerator—have announced the Accelerator’s third cohort

Michelle Addison MBA ’23, CEO and founder of Allergood, started the company to help food allergy families shop