Zubair Qureshi
Islamabad
Stimulus, Pakistan’s partner for ClimateLaunchpad global competition hosted an online regional final round of the competition with support from Engro Foundation.
With participation from 14 countries across Eastern Europe, Middle East & Central Asia, the event attracted 200+ participants who logged in to attend the event virtually, across the region.
According to a press statement issued on Thursday ClimateLaunchpad is the world’s largest green business ideas competition with the mission to unlock the world’s clean-tech potential that addresses climate change.
Pakistan is participating for the second time in the ClimateLaunchpad programme along with 57 countries.
A total of 41 teams participated in the Regional Final round including 3 teams from Pakistan from which two teams, O’Naps and Aabshar have been shortlisted for the semi-final round on September 30, 2020. O’naps aims to provide safe and environmentally friendly menstrual hygiene solutions to reduce the health risks of women, while Aabsharhas developed a water optimizer that saves water up to 98% by simply installing as an add-on to taps.
The event began with a welcome address from MNA Shandana Gulzar Khan. She spoke about the need for innovation and young people to take a lead in solving the local challenges faced by their countries.
As Chairperson of Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians, Gulzar extended her support through the network for any facilitation required by teams in the different countries.
Hosting the event, Hira Wajahat, National Lead ClimateLaunchpad Pakistan said, “The response to ClimateLaunchpad in Pakistan has been phenomenal.
Not only do we receive amazing applications from across Pakistan, we have also been recognized as the country having more than 50% participation from women in clean-tech and climate entrepreneurship for the second year in a row.