Since launching Generation17 in 2020, Samsung and UNDP have supported Young Leaders from across Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North America, addressing critical issues that span all 17 Global Goals. The partnership has provided these Young Leaders with the latest Samsung Galaxy technology, along with networking and mentorship opportunities, to amplify their stories and advance their work. The newest cohort, focused on advancing solutions in marine conservation, environmental sustainability, gender equality and quality education, reflects Samsung’s continued commitment to a more equitable future for all.

“As we accelerate efforts to achieve the Global Goals, we are proud to welcome the next cohort of Young Leaders to Generation17,” said Stephanie Choi, EVP & Head of Marketing, Mobile eXperience Business, Samsung Electronics. “Their passion, creativity and commitment to addressing global challenges embody the spirit of innovation that fuels meaningful change. We look forward to seeing how these five new Young Leaders will leverage technology for good to inspire action, mobilize communities and create lasting impact for a more sustainable and equitable world.”

Five Global Changemakers

The newest Generation17 Young Leaders were selected from hundreds of applicants and bring new areas of expertise to the initiative, expanding the reach of Generation17. As members of the Generation17 community, they will leverage technology and global platforms to advocate for the issues that matter most to them.

Brigitta Gunawan (Indonesia) – An ocean-climate advocate who has engaged with over 15,000 people in 100+ locations with environmental education and marine conservation opportunities through her organizations 30×30 Indonesia and Diverseas.

“At 17, it struck me that we were nothing but a small speck in a big world that remains largely unexplored—that if we continued as bystanders, we would see this fragile ecosystem cripple within our lifetime—so there I was, ready to co-create a future where people and planet prosper.”

José Francisco Ochoa (Ecuador) – A biologist and co-founder of Academia del Océano, an edtech platform promoting marine conservation, digital tools and sustainability in Spanish-speaking communities, equipping thousands with the tools to protect marine ecosystems.

“The ocean sustains life, yet many don’t realize how deeply connected we are to it. We must embrace innovation, education and collective action to protect our blue planet before it’s too late.”

Renata Koch Alvarenga (Brazil) – Founder and Executive Director of EmpoderaClima, a youth-led organization advocating for climate justice by addressing the disproportionate impact of climate change on women and promoting girls’ climate action.

“Climate disasters are exacerbating gender inequality, but through the Global Goals, we can raise awareness of the need for women’s leadership in climate decision-making and ensure no one is left behind.”

Rahaf Abu Mayyaleh (Jordan) – A climate activist, sustainable technology advocate and founder of IBTKRGO, which develops eco-friendly educational kits using recyclable materials, including e-waste, to empower youth with digital skills.

“Green technology is key to a sustainable future, and young innovators have the power to lead this transformation. Through IBTKRGO, I strive to bridge the gap between technology and sustainability, ensuring solutions that serve both people and the planet.”

Soumya Dabriwal (India) — Co-founder of Project Baala, a social enterprise addressing menstrual hygiene and reproductive health access through innovative solutions, including the sustainable distribution of reusable sanitary products and educational initiatives to de-stigmatize women’s health while generating employment for women.

“Access to Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) is a fundamental human right. Through collective advocacy and innovation, we can break barriers, challenge stigmas, and build a world where everyone has the freedom and resources to make informed choices about their own bodies and futures.”

Elevating Youth Voices for Global Action

Since the launch of Generation17 in 2020, Samsung and UNDP have partnered to empower Young Leaders—helping them amplify their stories and accelerate their efforts to drive meaningful change in communities across the world. Additionally, the initiative provides opportunities for Young Leaders to showcase their impact on a global scale.

In the coming months, these Young Leaders will attend various major global events, where they will engage with policymakers, innovators and fellow changemakers. Through these platforms, they will contribute to international conversations on sustainable development and drive tangible progress toward the Global Goals, ensuring that youth voices play a crucial role in shaping a more sustainable future.

This year, Generation17 alum Tamara Gondo took the stage at Samsung’s Galaxy Tech Forum, highlighting the company’s commitment to sustainability and the power of collaboration with like-minded partners to tackle worldwide challenges. She also shared how the initiative has helped scale her organization’s impact since she joined in 2022.

“Young people are the future of global development, and with fewer than five years left to achieve the Global Goals, the time to act is now,” said Achim Steiner, Administrator of UNDP. “Through our long-standing partnership with Samsung, we are empowering youth to advance solutions that address climate and human rights challenges and to inspire a new generation to join the fight for a more sustainable and just future.”

Generation17 reflects the shared commitment of Samsung and UNDP to harness technology for positive impact. Their collaboration began in 2019 with the launch of the Samsung Global Goals App—a mobile platform that educates users about the Goals while enabling them to contribute through everyday use of their Galaxy devices. As detailed in Samsung’s Global Goals Report, as of September 2024, the app has been installed on nearly 300 million Samsung Galaxy devices worldwide—including smartphones, tablets and smartwatches—and has helped generate more than $20 million USD to support UNDP’s global environmental and social initiatives.

To learn more, please visit: www.samsung.com.my.

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

About Generation17
Generation17 is an initiative from Samsung and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that elevates the voices of Young Leaders who are changing the world and contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or ‘Global Goals.’ Samsung and UNDP are providing mentorship, technology and networking opportunities for the Young Leaders as they advance their work. Learn more at www.undp.org/generation17.

When I started my career at Samsung 25 years ago, I was a young engineer with a passion for technology and all it could do. Over the years, the capacity of mobile innovation has exceeded even my ambitious expectations. It has brought us conveniences and capabilities that make our lives better, but it has also given us the opportunity to be better. The ability to connect without proximity empowers us to break down barriers and work together to make progress. And with humanity facing some of its most complex challenges yet, we need to collaborate and innovate solutions more than ever before. That’s why I believe mobile technology has a vital role to play in helping us protect our planet.

Samsung has always challenged what’s possible with technology. And now, we are taking our next step towards putting sustainability at the center of our innovations. From eco-conscious materials to global partnerships, we are exploring every opportunity to help power the world with mobile technology that serves as a tool for positive change.

Innovation With Impact

We’ve been on a journey for years at Samsung, marrying sustainability and innovation by using recycled materials in our smartphones, wearables and accessories. In addition to our on-going effort to use more eco-conscious materials including recycled PCM (post-consumer materials), the new Galaxy smartphones and tablets that were unveiled at our latest Unpacked used select components containing 20% recycled ocean-bound plastic from discarded fishing nets.

We focused our innovation efforts on a pervasive and especially hazardous type of plastic waste that is harming marine life and our natural ecosystems – discarded fishing nets. Every year, 640,000 tons of fishing nets are abandoned in and around our oceans. With help from like-minded partners, we found a way to repurpose them into a new, high-performance material that can be incorporated into critical components of the Galaxy S22 series. From now on, more and more Galaxy devices will play a small part in reducing plastic waste in our oceans.

I know we still have a long way to go. And at Mobile World Congress 2022, we will share our next wave of innovations that incorporate recycled ocean-bound plastics.

Using Technology as a Force for Good

At Samsung, we believe in making mobile technology that has positive environmental impact and putting the power of our Galaxy ecosystem into the hands of passionate change makers.

I’ve seen this firsthand with our growing Generation17 initiative, which Samsung leads in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme. Generation17 empowers young activists to take on pressing issues like climate change, education, and more, so the world can make headway towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, also known as the Global Goals, by 2030. And with the recent addition of six new Young Leaders, the program now spans countries in Africa, Asia & The Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America and the Middle East and supports work across all 17 Global Goals.

That’s how mobile innovation fuels transformation. It amplifies simple actions and individual voices and brings them together to amount to big, global change.

We Need Collective Action

I am in awe of the impactful ways people are helping to change the world with Galaxy, and I promise our work does not end here. Samsung will continue developing innovative technology that bridges barriers, connects communities and addresses the climate crisis.

Samsung is ready to do more. We will take real action, hold ourselves accountable and share our journey – from our successes to our challenges and lessons learned. We will act with our industry peers, with developers, with the Galaxy community, with everyone, to strengthen technology as a force for good.

“We continue to be inspired by young, innovative visionaries who prove that technology can be a force for good,” said Stephanie Choi, EVP & CMO of the MX Business at Samsung Electronics. “I am honored to welcome these six advocates into the Generation17 community. They embody the type of leadership that our world needs to build more sustainable societies, and I am excited to see how they inspire more people to learn about the 17 Global Goals and join our collective mission to achieve a brighter future.”

With the six advocates, grassroots organizers and entrepreneurs, Generation17 expands to all corners of the world, spanning countries in Africa, Asia, CIS & Europe, North America, Latin America and the Middle East. Their work will raise awareness of global solutions to the urgent issues facing humanity in 2022 and in years to come, as they advance digital innovation, empower refugee women through education and job trainings, coach the elderly about physical and mental health and more:

• AY Young (United States): Musician who produces albums and concerts that share engaging ways to tackle the global energy poverty issue.
• Kristian Kampmann (Denmark): Leader of UNLEASH, an innovation lab that sparks creative and inclusive solutions for the Global Goals.
• Nora Altwaijri (Saudi Arabia): Software engineer who educates people on the Global Goals and connects them to impactful resources through digital platforms.
• Oğuz Ergen (Turkey): Activist who rallies NGOs, academia and government together to address the climate crisis and protect the coastal Aegean region.
• Tamara Dewi Gondo Soerijo (Indonesia): Social enterprise founder who empowers refugee women by providing upskilling opportunities and access to market.
• Thuy Anh Ngo (Vietnam): Entrepreneur who launched a mobile app that equips the elderly with physical and mental health advice and activities.

“2022 is a critical year in our pursuit to achieve the Global Goals, as the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed decades of progress in global human development,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. “Despite this somber reality, I am confident that the strength and perseverance of the young generation will help us build back better from the crisis and propel positive change on education, inclusion and climate. These six young leaders and the entire Generation17 community remind us that we need to step up our efforts to achieve the Global Goals and protect our collective futures.”

An Initiative Driven By and For Young People

Since its launch, Generation17 has been spearheaded by and in support of young people. Samsung and UNDP continuously engage with the Young Leaders to determine their biggest needs and discover support systems to help scale and advance their work. Together, the two entities provide the latest Galaxy technology, amplify their stories on global platforms, facilitate peer networking and best-practice sharing, offer mentorship opportunities and invite them to global agenda-setting stages like the UN ECOSOC Youth Forum.

In 2022 and beyond, Samsung and UNDP are committed to exploring new ways to partner with the Young Leaders. This includes convening the first-ever “Generation17 Youth Dialogues,” an event to rally Global Goals advocates from all over the world for knowledge sharing on how people can best navigate the Global Goals and achieve a more sustainable future.

The 14 Young Leaders will connect people to solutions that actively contribute to the Global Goals, including the Samsung Global Goals app. Launched in 2019 by Samsung and UNDP, the app provides learning opportunities on the Global Goals and shares easy and meaningful ways to make a difference. The app is currently installed on nearly 200 million Galaxy devices and has generated more than US$4 million in donations to educate the Galaxy community about the world’s most pressing challenges and strengthen UNDP’s work in supporting countries to implement integrated solutions for the Global Goals.

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

Generation17 merges the power of Samsung Galaxy smartphone technology with UNDP’s platform to galvanize an entire generation of young people to achieve the 17 Global Goals in less than ten years. The initiative will elevate the stories and share the impactful work of young leaders who are already making considerable strides in support of the Global Goals.

“We are excited to better connect these inspiring advocates to their peers, enable their generation to take bold action on the Goals, and make their voices heard loud and clear with the latest Galaxy technology and our shared vision,” said Dr. TM Roh, President and Head of Mobile Communications Business, Samsung Electronics. “With a purpose as grand as the Global Goals, we strongly believe a collaborative, rallying effort will be imperative in sparking meaningful change.”

The 2020 Cohort of Generation17 Young Leaders

Millennials and Gen Z wield incredible influence in catalyzing change as tech savvy global citizens in an unprecedently borderless world, with their unwavering and relentless optimism leading the charge on climate change and racial justice and influencing policymakers and businesses to chart a more sustainable course for our collective future. Generation17 is our answer to their call-to-action.

“Young people are advancing the Global Goals through their work as innovators, entrepreneurs and advocates, and we must properly engage them today for the success of our global agenda tomorrow,” said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner. “They harness incredible power in advocating for positive, systemic change, and we must support them in their roles as torchbearers of the Global Goals. This initiative complements other initiatives across the UN system, strengthening the foundations for a UN that delivers with and for young people through the UN Youth Strategy: Youth2030.”

UNDP and Samsung will provide mentorship, networking opportunities, and Galaxy devices to help broaden the reach of each of the young leaders’ voices and strengthen their organizations and businesses. They will also use the Samsung Global Goals app, which is preinstalled on the latest Galaxy smartphones, to show users how they can make a difference across the 17 Global Goals in their daily lives. Through educational content, the app aims to increase awareness of the Goals and has so far raised $1M in donations¹ for UNDP.

¹ The Samsung Galaxy Community Raised $1M to Support the Global Goals

In order to provide simple ways for Galaxy users to come together to support the Global Goals, Samsung and the UNDP launched an education and donation-based app, Samsung Global Goals. The app provides Galaxy users with the ability to learn more about the Global Goals and take part in small actions to help address the issues that matter most to them.

To provide the best user experience possible, along with more ways to get involved, Samsung is bringing a range of updates to the Samsung Global Goals app this January.

More Ways to Join in and Give Back

The Samsung Global Goals app offers a range of ways for users to support and give back to the Global Goals. By engaging with advertisements in the app, users are able to donate 100% of an ad’s revenue to the Global Goals. Samsung also recently announced that it will match all proceeds generated through the in-app advertisements to help maximize donations and make an impact, meaning that effectively 200% of ad revenue from the app will be donated to the UNDP by Samsung¹.

The app also allows users to donate directly in support of the Global Goals to the UNDP. With the latest app updates, users will be able to use both Samsung Pay and Google Pay² native payment mechanisms when donating. This will allow users to directly donate to the UNDP and the Goal of their choice by simply clicking and then confirming using biometric authentication – making it easier than ever to make a difference and donation to the #Global Goals campaign.

Samsung is also making it easier for users to opt into features that help generate more ad earnings, even when their phone is charging. Users can currently opt into the ‘Charge Screen ads’ feature in the Donate tab of the app, which will show ads on the device’s lock screen when it is plugged in to charge. As part of the update, the app will now prompt new users with a pop-up message providing information on this feature once their device has been plugged in to charge. This feature can be easily toggled off and on anytime in the Donate tab.

Additionally, users will be able to enjoy a wider range of lock screen options in the app’s Global Goals Lockscreen Wallpapers section, which can easily be managed in the app’s Settings page. The new wallpapers now support a wider selection of inspirational quotes, dynamic visuals, and graphic styles, making easier to stay engaged and inspired to contribute.

The update also brings several other UX upgrades to the Samsung Global Goals app. App notification messages have been streamlined for improved usability, each Goals’ Facts and Figures information is now more clearly linked to each Goal and users can more easily see which version of the app they are running. Galaxy users in Korea will also now be able to learn about the K-SDGs, or Korean Sustainable Development Goals, in the Samsung Global Goals app thanks to a collaboration with Korea’s Ministry of Environment.

The Samsung Global Goals app is available for download through the Galaxy Store and Google Play. To learn more about the Samsung Global Goals, visit here.

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

² Donations through Samsung Pay or Google Pay will be available in 5 markets following the current update, including the U.S., Singapore, Australia, the U.K., and Canada. This feature will be available in more regions in the future.