Catalyst For Change: Small Steps, Big Impact

Hult Prize at IOE, Pulchowk Campus has successfully organised a Panel Discussion programme on 29th Dec 2023, Friday. If you missed participating in the panel discussion of The Hult Prize, which showed the path of innovation and the social impact that entrepreneurs can create, we have included detailed information about the program. That program was held last Friday with joint efforts of the Hult Prize at IOE, Pulchok Campus and Kathmandu Valley Leo Club, Pulchowk.

The program, held on the campus premises, started with a motivational speech by the campus director, Aditya Pandey. He started the program by highlighting the theme of this year's Hult Prize, 'Unlimited!'. Prominent social workers and entrepreneurs of the country were welcomed as guests for enthusiastic discussions. Ms Brinda Bhattacharya representing Astitwa Nepal, Ms Anukriti Kunwar from Feminist Future Nepal, Ms Rajya Lakshmi Shakya from FNCCI and Mr Sudip Ghimire from NYEF were invited as guests. After their brief introduction, the discussion started.

First, Ms Brinda Bhattacharya gave a brief introduction to the establishment of Astitwa Nepal and this organization. She distinguished between acid attack and acid attack violence and told about the support provided by that organization to the people affected by acid attack. She explained how the program called 'Samavesh' run by Astitta Nepal has been providing services to all classes of people in the society. There is a lack of public awareness even today about how to treat physical burns caused by fire, electricity, acid etc. in society. Unfortunately, some people have lost their lives because of this. Keeping this situation in mind, Astitwa Nepal has been spreading public awareness. Astitwa Nepal covers topics such as general health training, gender equality, rehabilitation for abused children, development of sensitivity about homosexuality, etc. Even in today's twenty-first century, concepts such as equality, mental health, and inclusion are only limited to the pages of books, Brinda gave a message to the audience that the change should start from themselves and today.

Feminist Future is a digital organization that addresses the gender discrimination rooted in Nepali society and the contradictions surrounding it. Ms Anukriti discussed the true meaning of feminism, requesting the audience not to have the wrong mentality in society. She said on the stage that there are many types of feminism and that Dalit feminism has received special interest in the environment of Nepal. It was also discussed how the programs of FFN are being implemented to meet the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. She said that our society is weak in terms of gender and reproductive health education. Even though such sensitive subjects have been included in the curriculum since secondary education, the bitter truth has been brought forward that it has become a social ostracism. FFN's efforts to break these barriers are noteworthy. Not only limited to this, FFN has also been spreading awareness in society about consent, physical rights, and LGBT rights.

FNCCI is a renowned organization in itself for business and industry. Business plays a major role in the country today. But young people with new ideas are migrating abroad. Ms Rajya Lakshmi Shakya expressed the belief that the youth of the country would not have faced such a terrible situation if employment opportunities had been created. For this effort, FNCCI has conducted a program to employ in the country in collaboration with the Government of Nepal. Not only tourism and agriculture but local trade and small industries have been encouraged. FNCCI is continuing its efforts to keep young manpower in the country by addressing the problems that have arisen in the business sector after the covid-19. Rajya Lakshmi inspired the audience to do something in the country by saying that the youth are the wealth of the country and the duty of building the country is also on the youth. Stating that the country is not run by remittances, it is run by new technology, new ideas, zeal and energy, she encouraged the youth to sweat in their own country.

Representing NYEF, Mr Sudip Ghimire said that the organization, like the Hult Prize, has been integrated with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and is making the society entrepreneurial. After the war, it was very difficult to create an environment for business in Nepal. From that time till today, NYEF has played an important role in business start-ups. Sudeep explained that there is a similarity with the Hult Prize as this organization has a global reach.

The topics discussed in the panel discussion immensely represented the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) that the Hult Prize deems to be achieved. The speakers were intent on talking about such obscure as well as obvious problems that our country has been facing in the current years. The program was made more interesting by the presence of an enthusiastic and interactive audience. The audience's queries were also addressed by the guest. The sponsors of Hult Prize, Protozoa Host, Tasked and National Commercial Bank also played an intensive role in making the program grand.