Since 2020, the initiative has supported Young Leaders worldwide with Samsung Galaxy technology, mentorship, and networking opportunities to amplify their stories and solutions.

Soumya Dabriwal was 21, volunteering as a math teacher in villages in India and Ghana, when she noticed a pattern she couldn’t explain. Girls were absent from class far more often than boys — even siblings from the same household, where the brother would show up while his sister stayed home.

When Soumya asked, no one would answer why. The reality hit her when students warned her not to drink water in the heat because the school had no toilets. It quickly became clear: without basic facilities, girls had no choice but to skip school during their periods.

She began researching and found that around the world, girls lacked health education, support, and resources to stay in school and achieve their dreams. “I was extremely frustrated and disappointed. It felt unfair that biology was restricting girls from attaining their full potential,” Soumya says. “Instead of waiting for someone else to take action, I became obsessed with wanting to solve the problem.”

Tech-Enabled, Women-Led

In 2017, she co-founded Project Baala, which means “young girl” in Hindi, a social enterprise addressing menstrual hygiene and reproductive health access through innovative solutions. The mission is to advance the UN Global Goals for quality education (Goal 4), good health and well-being (Goal 3), gender equality (Goal 5), and decent work and economic growth (Goal 8).

Soumya began leading workshops where girls learned about their bodies and health. But education alone wasn’t enough. Without access to affordable, sustainable feminine hygiene products, girls were still missing school. Since nothing on the market met their needs, Soumya created a prototype using materials she found at home, turning a simple idea into a solution that today reaches millions of girls.

Next, she and her growing team began training local women to deliver health education and feminine hygiene products. Known as Baala Bosses, these women earn an income, often for the first time, while helping support their families and gaining confidence as community leaders.

Technology has played a critical role in Baala’s growth. Social media connects the organization with women and girls around the world, while online training enables Baala Bosses to learn and share knowledge wherever they are. Digital field data helps the team measure its impact and continuously strengthen its programs. “Technology has really helped us scale and reach people we wouldn’t have been able to otherwise,” says Soumya.

Over the past eight years, Baala has trained more than 4,500 Baala Bosses, reached 1.8 million women and girls, engaged more than 10,000 men to help break the stigma around women’s health and distributed 5.1 million reusable period products through more than 260 partnerships with grassroots organizations.

Building a Movement for Women’s Health

Building Baala wasn’t easy. Soumya recalls obstacles at every level, from convincing people to take a young female founder seriously to confronting long-held cultural taboos. Those experiences only reinforced her belief that lasting change had to come from within communities themselves.

Today, Baala Bosses are leading change in their own neighborhoods by educating families, creating opportunities for others and inspiring the next generation. “Women who once kept their faces covered now walk with their hair flying, speaking openly about this topic,” Soumya says. “Some become community leaders. Some become entrepreneurs. Some become health mobilizers. Some become teachers.”

Advancing Women’s Health, Rights, and Opportunities

Soumya, now 30, dreams of continuing to expand Baala’s impact. By 2030, she hopes to reach 10 million women and girls around the world through product innovation, expanded education, and technology-enabled solutions.

To make that vision a reality, her team launched the Baala Action Lab, an online platform that partners with universities to advance women’s health worldwide. The initiative combines academic research with real-world evidence to inform better policies and investments in women’s health.

Soumya says the ultimate measure of success will be the day Baala is no longer needed — when women and girls have the knowledge, opportunities, and support they need to thrive on their own.

Until then, she keeps showing up.

Samsung Electronics today announced the company has reached a significant milestone in its journey to advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), or the Global Goals, with a contribution of more than USD10 million to theUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The funds were generated through theSamsung Global Goals appand will help UNDP promote resilience and accelerate progress around the world.

Established by the United Nations in 2015, the Global Goals provide a shared blueprint of ambitious milestones for a more equitable, just and sustainable world by 2030. The 17 Global Goals promote collaboration and collective action to address inequality, climate change, ecosystem degradation, education and other pressing global challenges. Samsung embarked on delivering innovative solutions in support of the Global Goals and in 2019 by partnering with UNDP to launch the Samsung Global Goals app. The company’s global Galaxy community has since joined the movement by leveraging the app as a simple yet meaningful tool to make a difference in their daily lives.

Taking Collective Action for the Goals

“At Samsung, we know technology plays a crucial role in solving some of the biggest challenges the world is facing right now,” said TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile eXperience Business at Samsung Electronics. “Through our partnership with UNDP and the Samsung Global Goals app, the Galaxy community has been instrumental in advancing the Global Goals. We want to extend our gratitude to our users for making this incredible milestone possible.”

Actions taken on the Samsung Global Goals app support UNDP’s impactful work. This includes meaningfully engaging youth to achieve the SDGs. UNDP implements policies, advances programs, champions youth initiatives in over 100 countries and supports over 900 youth partnerships.

“As we approach the halfway point of the 2030 deadline, this coming year is crucial in our pursuit to advance the Global Goals,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. “While the world has faced recent setbacks, we are energized by the progress made through this partnership. Together with Samsung, we must reinvigorate our combined efforts to achieve the Goals and inspire the next generation to take action with us.”

Scaling Our Impact

The Samsung Global Goals app is installed on nearly 300 million Galaxy devices worldwide, including smartphones, tablets and smartwatches. Through the app, Samsung raises awareness for the Global Goals while also empowering users to take small actions that amount to big change. The Samsung Global Goals app enables users to donate directly, use wallpapers to increase ad-earnings or generate funding by watching advertisements in the app. To maximize impact, Samsung matches all proceeds through in-app advertisements.¹

Since launching the Samsung Global Goals app in 2019, Samsung has expanded its partnership with UNDP withGeneration17, an initiative that elevates the voices of 14 young leaders making meaningful impacts in their communities around the world. The Generation17 Young Leaders play an essential role in inspiring people to deliver impact for the Global Goals.

Samsung also strives to support the Global Goals through its business operations. The company has aligned its corporate ESG strategy with the Global Goals to identify business priorities and communicate performance according to the Goals. The company is also a signatory of the United Nations Global Compact, an initiative that encourages businesses to adopt sustainable and socially responsible policies.

To learn more about the Global Goals and take action, visit the Samsung Global Goals app here:http://smsng.co/SGG-App.

To view Samsung’s sustainability progress, check out the2022 Sustainability Report.

About UNDP

UNDP is the leading United Nations organization fighting to end the injustice of poverty, inequality, and climate change. Working with our broad network of experts and partners in 170 countries, we help nations to build integrated, lasting solutions for people and planet. www.undp.org

¹ Samsung has pledged to match donations with ad proceeds generated through the Global Goals app; up to USD 5 million annually.

Dear Galaxy Community,

Over the past year, we’ve all been reminded of technology’s vital role in our lives. It has kept us connected in these difficult times and enabled us to work and learn, no matter where we are in the world. But beyond that, it has kept us hopeful. Technology has inspired us and enabled us to do good by serving as a powerful tool capable of bringing communities together to drive positive change.

I would like to spotlight a group of young people who, in the midst of a global pandemic, have truly embodied this spirit of innovation. They’re finding creative ways to harness technology to defy barriers and build a better world at a time when we urgently need to make progress.

In celebration of the United Nations’ 75^th Anniversary, Samsung and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) expanded our partnership to launch Generation17, an initiative to magnify the voices of young leaders who are helping to achieve the Global Goals for Sustainable Development.

Our Generation17 Young Leaders are committed activists, each with the strong will and unwavering determination to build a better future for all by 2030. Spanning Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America, they are already making incredible strides on pressing global challenges.

A Generation Driven by Purpose

Now more than ever, we must elevate the voice of young generations and unlock their collective power to advance the Global Goals. Our future depends on their ingenuity, dedication and optimism. We need their abiding sense of purpose.

Millennials and Gen Z are, by and large, fluent in technology. More than two-thirds of their generation have a smartphone.¹ They’re also natural changemakers. More than 86% believe they can make a difference.² They are passionate activists who truly seek to make positive change in everything they do and are determined to create a better world for all. And because they’ve grown up in a largely borderless, online world, Samsung aims to amplify their spirit of global community. Both generations are visionary, but they need resources that help them realize their aspirations and help society continue to grow and evolve.

That’s why Samsung and the UNDP are supporting the next generation. We’re propelling young people to do good by giving them the technology to create change and the means to make their voices heard. Samsung is proudly using our global reach to help these young leaders tell their stories and advance their missions, while the UNDP is leveraging its issue expertise and grassroots operations to supply young leaders with the necessary skills and resources they need to make a meaningful impact.

After first partnering with the UNDP over two years ago to transform the Galaxy ecosystem into a powerful enabler for collective activism, this marks an important next step in our ongoing journey towards helping the world achieve the Global Goals in less than 10 years.

Taking Action, Together

The journey to achieve the Global Goals is not easy. It requires a committed and coordinated effort across the public and private sectors, as well as groups and individuals. As Generation17 demonstrates, we can all enact big change if we tap our passion and determination together. And the Galaxy community has the opportunity to embrace our purpose and help shape a better future.

Today, we’re welcoming even more young leaders to our Generation17 community, a group that once again shows the power of technology to make these critical connections. From Daniel Calarco’s quest for improved equality in Brazil; Nadine Khaouli’s inspiring crisis response in Lebanon; Yurii Romashko’s use of technology to power data-based decision making; and to Yejin Choi’s AI-based approach to children’s wellbeing in South Korea – it’s only the beginning.

These young innovators are an integral part of the Samsung Galaxy community, and they do not stand alone. Even the smallest everyday actions can add up to exponential good and that’s why we’re grateful to the millions of Galaxy users who are standing with our young leaders. As of January, the Samsung Global Goals app — a platform where Galaxy users can learn about the Goals and work together for greater good — has been installed on over 100 million Galaxy smartphones worldwide.

We’re proud of our shared mission and impactful partnership with the UNDP and we are continuing to explore new ways to evolve our collaboration. We will continue to find ways to support young leaders and identify new opportunities to mobilize our Galaxy community to achieve the Global Goals.

We invite each and every one of you to learn more about the young leaders and join us in our cause by visiting https://generation17.undp.org.

Thank You,

Stephanie Choi

SVP & Head of Marketing of Mobile Communications Business

Samsung Electronics

¹ “Smartphone Ownership Is Growing Rapidly Around the World, but Not Always Equally.” Pew Research Center, Washington, D.C., (2019) https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2019/02/05/in-emerging-economies-smartphone-adoption-has-grown-more-quickly-among-younger-generations/

² “The Millennial Impact Report: 10 Years Looking Back” Case Foundation, Washington D.C., (2018)