Luminous Teen is an impact initiative to ensure a certain degree of financial independence for young people ages 10-24 and bridge the gap between learning and earning by creating decent jobs and fostering workplace skills, with a vision to help eliminate Child Labor by 2025. This idea presents a collaborative, holistic and sustainable approach to the Sustainable Development Goals.
According to the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimation, approximately 5 million children in Bangladesh are full-time workers. UNICEF says, "Roughly 160 million children were subjected to child labor at the beginning of 2020, with 9 million additional children at risk due to the impact of COVID-19. This accounts for nearly 1 in 10 children worldwide."
Target 8.7 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals calls for an end to child labor in all its forms by 2025. In the 2017 World Report on Child Labour, ILO has identified six policy areas to respond to child labor, focusing on education and social protection for children while ensuring decent work opportunities for adults in their families. However, ILO explicitly says on their website that simply maintaining the current rate of progress would leave 121 million children still engaged in child labor by the critical target year of 2025. It is a clear indication that we are missing a powerful armor in our battle against child labor.
Increasing economic inequality and lack of fruitful empowerment still prevail in Bangladeshi communities. The big number of Child Laborers signify that finance lies at the root of a vicious cycle of vulnerabilities in or outside the families. Again, due to the lack of proper incentives, teenagers are missing the tremendous opportunity of growth through hands-on learning of the real world systems. This results in the uprising of mental health hazard cases around the country and the globe as well, especially during the pandemic uncertainty.
Luminous Teen is intended to popularize self-paced Youth Employment and ensure a certain degree of Financial Independence for youth through paid work opportunities, multifaceted business initiatives, corporate connections & internships. We are in the process of building a Global Marketplace for Youth (age 15 to 24) that will ensure their economic empowerment and initial thrust of future career advancement. The marketplace model is divided into three sections:
Digital Platform is a digital marketplace intended to create/accelerate earning opportunities for skilled youth and youth entrepreneurs (or small business owners).
Innovation Hub is where aspiring youth can collaborate, use necessary tools, receive instruction and innovate! It will maintain its uniqueness by showing quick response to the respective economy and societal demands.
Localized Agencies are places for local youth to provide marketable services to the neighborhood. They will promote resource exchange among local institutions and democratize them to help prevent harmful activities that cause degradation of youth's values.
This idea presents a collaborative, holistic and sustainable approach to three of the Sustainable Development Goals -
Let’s Have a Look to Our Wonderful Journey
Qualified for SDG Impact Accelerator Program - 2021 for Financial Incubation Bangladesh
Finalist of #Beapirate Challenge - 2021 of Moonshot Pirates
Partnership Category Winner at Hack for Earth Hackathon in Expo 2020 Dubai, among 1370 teams from 121 countries
2nd Runners Up in Nextgen Entrepreneurs Stay Together (NEST) business incubation hub 1.0
Participated in a 6 months long accelerator program under world class mentorship
Luminous Teen was shortlisted among the top 20 startups in Bangladesh at #Startkoro season 02
World Series of Innovation - details - Luminous Teen is a part of NFTE’s World Series of Innovation Hall of Fame as it became the Champion of the Citi Foundation Inclusive Growth Challenge in 2021-2022 at New York.
Luminous Teen received funding from Global Youth Mobilization.
“Luminous Teen is the winner in the Partnership Category in Hack for Earth 2021, representing one of the most urgent Sustainable Development Goals that has a potential impact on all of the other 16 SDG’s. Out of hundreds of competing solutions the Jury chose Luminous Teen as the most innovative and promising of them all - this says a great deal. I am certain Luminous Teen has the potential to scale and deliver real value, and the foundation will support this ambitious solution in every way possible."
A Team Full of Passion and Spirit to Bring a Change
Starting from right here in Bangladesh. The birthplace of Microcredit; and home to the largest NGO in the world.
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Developed bySowrav Hasan
