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KUALA LUMPUR – Young Malaysian Mogesh Sababathy has been named in the top 20 finalists for this year’s Commonwealth Youth Awards.
According to the Commonwealth website, 23-year-old Mogesh is among the inventors, activists and entrepreneurs from 18 countries who have been shortlisted.
Mogesh’s project focuses on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of “Life Underwater”.
He is a co-founder of the Ocean Hope Project, a youth-led group that aims to increase visibility of ocean issues and environmental conservation through youth leadership training and campaigns.
“The group has also carried out educational community projects to reduce litter and unsustainable fishing practices, and an ocean literacy webinar series on waste management, which has reached more than 10,000 people in 15 countries,” he said. .
The awards recognize outstanding young people from the Commonwealth whose projects are transforming lives in their communities and helping achieve the SDGs. Last year more than 1,000 entries were received from 43 Commonwealth countries.
Mogesh, who hails from Kinrara, Puchong, Selangor, said he received the news by email yesterday from the Commonwealth secretariat “and I was totally speechless.”
He thanked the faculty and staff of the Universiti Malaysia Terengganu for providing the platform to develop and make the Ocean Hope Project a reality.
Mogesh has just finished his BA in Marine Biology and works as a research assistant at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia.
This year’s youth awards will feature five regional champions selected from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe and Canada, and the Pacific. Of these five regional winners, one will become the Commonwealth Youth of the Year.
The ceremony will take place on March 10.
The 20 finalists will each receive a trophy, a certificate and £ 1,000 (RM5,500) to expand the impact of their projects. Each regional winner will receive £ 3,000 and the Commonwealth overall winner will take home a total of £ 5,000.
