Singapore National Committee for UN Women and MasterCard Launch Second Edition of Project Inspire: 5 Minutes to Change the World

Digitally-led CSR initiative inspires youth changemakers to empower women and girls in Asia/Pacific, Middle East and Africa through entrepreneurship

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Ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, 2012, the Singapore National Committee for UN Women, MasterCard and academic partner INSEAD, are once again joining hands to launch Project Inspire: 5 Minutes to Change the World.

As with last year’s iteration, this year-long digital and social media driven initiative aims to inspire young people across the world to take action to empower disadvantaged women and girls in Asia/Pacific, the Middle East or Africa.

Project Inspire presents 18-35 year olds with a 5-minute platform to pitch their inspired idea to the world and win a USD 25,000 grant. The grant must show creativity and sustainable impact in the lives of women and girls across Asia, Pacific, the Middle East or Africa. To qualify for the USD 25,000 Women’s Empowerment grant, the project must meet the following requirements:

The program must enable disadvantaged women and girls to attain sustained livelihood through entrepreneurship.
Beneficiaries must be women or girls in Asia/Pacific, Middle East or Africa
Must be an existing women’s empowerment program
Submissions can take form as 5-minute pitch video or 1-page written proposal
Participants can be men or women from anywhere in the world

Feeling Inspired?

Call for submissions opens on 8-March 2012 in celebration of International Women’s Day. Bookmark www.5MinutesToChangeTheWorld.org where you can submit your entry for a chance to win the USD 25,000 Women’s Empowerment Grant.

Note to the Editor:

If you are planning any stories around International Women’s Day and would like to speak to the team behind Project Inspire, we would be happy to arrange for interviews with Trina Liang-Lin, President, Singapore National Committee for UN Women and Georgette Tan, group head, Communications, Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa, MasterCard Worldwide.

Additionally, MasterCard also released its annual MasterCard Index of Women’s Advancement (MIWA) today, February 29, 2012 (see attached infographic). If you are keen on leveraging results from the Index, we would be happy to share these with you. Contact the team at [email protected].

About Project Inspire 2011

Last year, Project Inspire 2011 saw over 450 video and written submissions from teams representing over 50 countries. During the Grand Finals, 10 shortlisted finalists presented to a live judging panel of business leaders, social entrepreneurship experts and established NGO officers for a final pitch for the grand prize grant.

The competition was eventually won by The Hapinoy Program (see attached photo), which is working to help women micro-entrepreneurs in Southern Luzon, Philippines. The Hapinoy team is using the US$25,000 Women’s Empowerment grant to amplify the reach and impact of its micro-entrepreneurship program that is supporting women small business owners across the Philippines.

Core Facts

Project Inspire presents 18-35 year olds with a 5-minute platform to pitch their inspired idea to the world and win a USD 25,000 grant.
Call for submissions opens on 8-March 2012 in celebration of International Women’s Day. Visit www.5MinutesToChangeTheWorld.org to submit your entry for a chance to win the USD 25,000 grant.
To qualify for the USD 25,000 Women's Empowerment grant, the project must meet the following requirements: a) The program must enable disadvantaged women and girls to attain sustained livelihood through entrepreneurship. b) Beneficiaries must be women or girls in Asia/Pacific, Middle East or Africa c) Must be an existing women's empowerment program

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We are delighted to launch the second edition of Project Inspire: 5 Minutes to Change the World. Last year we created this project hoping to inspire a handful of young people. The response from creative and dynamic youth from around the world was impressive. This year we hope to spark action from even more youth who truly want to make a difference in the lives of women and girls.

For Project Inspire 2012, we’re looking for a winning project that will enable women and girls to achieve sustainable livelihoods through entrepreneurship. It’s about creating a lifetime of change, and we are excited to see what ideas get submitted over the coming weeks and months.

Georgette Tan, Group Head, Communications, Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa, MasterCard Worldwide

The economic empowerment of women is key towards achieving gender equality. It is an area which the Singapore National Committee for UN Women has placed great importance in the past decade. With the focus of Project Inspire 2012 on social entrepreneurship, we look forward to innovative ideas from young changemakers around the globe that could amplify our work and mission in the region.

We are excited to be able to continue our partnership with MasterCard to launch the second edition of Project Inspire: 5 Minutes to Change the World. We hope more youth will make use of this great platform to share their ideas to change the lives of underprivileged women and girls.

Trina Liang-Lin, President, Singapore National Committee for UN Women

Winning the first Project Inspire Competition was an incredible boost. Project Inspire has not only allowed us to reach more women in the Philippine countryside, but the win has also helped us forge new partnerships and find new supporters that contribute to the vitality and sustainability of the program.

The Hapinoy Program has always espoused that true empowerment is best realized with enterprise. This integrated approach towards community development is the reason for the transformative difference that the program brings. We are extremely excited to see and meet other groups and individuals that share the same approach of integrating enterprise and empowerment.

Paolo “Bam” Benigno Aquino IV, The Hapinoy Program Project Inspire 2011 Women’s Empowerment USD 25,000 Grant Winner

I'm honored and delighted to be part of this project once again this year, having been hugely impressed not only by the quality of the entries I saw last year, but also by the sheer energy and enthusiasm shown by the participants.

Patrick Turner, Affiliate Professor of Entrepreneurship, INSEAD