UAE’s youngest innovators receive accolades

Young people have continued to inspire the world with their innovative ideas to change things which are recognized by organizations worldwide such as the Diana Award, let’s meet the winners from the United Arab Emirates.

Sri Parthiv Kanishk Gutti, a 10- year-old Indian boy currently living in Abu Dhabi has been recognised with the highest accolade a young person can achieve for social action or humanitarian efforts – The Diana Award 2022.

Established in memory of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, the award is given out by the charity of the same name and is supported by both her sons, William, the Duke of Cambridge, and Harry, the Duke of Sussex.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, a virtual award ceremony was held earlier this month where Sri Parthiv received his award and his name entered the Roll of Honour.

Why did Sri Parthiv secure this award?

Sri Parthiv, a student of Diyafah International School, Abu Dhabi, secured this award for his humanitarian efforts to provide education for the underprivileged children through his fundraisers, and for being an eco-warrior to have a sustainable future by collecting more than 2000 kg of plastic, 1500 kg of paper and planted more than 50 plants in India and UAE to save the environment

He proved age is not a barrier by taking his first initiative at the age of 5 by involved with various organizations for his volunteer works and still associated with them. Apart from his environmental initiatives like ”Let Earth Breathe” he has grown his hair for more than two years to raise awareness amongst his peers and families about cancer patients and donated more than 25 wigs as part of their teamwork.

Sri Parthiv is also among the 240 participants who bagged the online Guinness World Records for solving puzzle cubes simultaneously online. 

Sri Parthiv said ” I am thrilled and incredibly grateful to receive this prestigious Diana Award. This award is not an end of the journey but rather a beginning and a motivation to keep up and continue my work! I thank my parents and my teachers who’ve motivated and encouraged me to work towards my goals.”

Tessy Ojo CBE, CEO of The Diana Award, said, “We warmly congratulate our new Diana Award recipients from the UK and across the world who are changemakers for their generation. It is especially poignant as we remember Princess Diana twenty-five years on. We know by receiving this honour they will inspire more young people to get involved in their communities and begin their own journey as active citizens.”  

A young student from Dubai has been honoured with The Diana Award for going above and beyond to create and sustain positive change in society.

Netra Venkatesh, aged 15 has been recognised with the highest accolade a young person can achieve for social action or humanitarian efforts – The Diana Award.

Established in the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, the Award is given out by the charity with the same name and has the support of both her sons, The Duke of Cambridge and The Duke of Sussex.

Netra set up her organisation “SpunkGo” in July 2020, which brings together over 5,000 young girls from over 20 countries. The objective is to use social media for the good of society. Netra is a passionate young entrepreneur who is on a relentless mission to educate and empower girls from developing countries in Asia and Africa. Through “SpunkGo,” she organises free life skill webinars featuring inspiring women speakers, who impart knowledge via these free webinars to young women from around the world. Some of these members come from impoverished backgrounds and for whom this opportunity to learn and network globally provides enormous opportunities for personal growth.

Uditi Sharma is a talented high school student whose creativity makes her stand out in the hacker community. She is one of the few female coders in her community and has forged her own path. Sharma is currently on a mission to help women enter the world of coding continues to push her forward today, and she shows no signs of slowing down.

She started coding in 7th grade, creating apps with the help of free online tutorials.

While Uditi loves computer science, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. During her first hackathon, she saw how male-dominated the space could be. She said, “Since then, I’ve been a part of many more gender-focused hackathons, and I’ve had an incredible time being part of such supportive and uplifting communities!”

What is the Award Nomination Process?
Award recipients have been put forward by adults who know the young people in a professional capacity and recognised their efforts as a positive contribution to society. Through a rigorous nomination process, these nominators had to demonstrate the nominee’s impact in five key areas: Vision, Social Impact, Inspiring Others, Youth Leadership, and Service Journey.

There are 20 Diana Award Judging Panels representing each region or nation both in the UK and internationally. Panels consist of three judges who understand the value of young people, including one young person representative. The panels have an important main purpose: to determine which nominations from each region or nation will receive a Diana Award.

Nominations are judged using the Criteria Guide and Scoring Guide which have been created to measure the quality of youth social action.

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The charity fosters develops and inspires positive change in the lives of young people through four key programmes which includes a mentoring programme for young people at risk, a youth-led anti-bullying ambassadors campaign, a collaborative Changemakers programme that aims to reimagine mental health support for young people from racialised communities and a prestigious award which publicly recognises young changemakers – The Diana Award.