###1. About the Zayed Sustainable Development Award
The Zayed Sustainability Award is a global pioneer award in the United Arab Emirates that recognizes and rewards small and medium-sized enterprises, non-profit organizations and high schools around the world that provide influential, innovative and inspiring sustainable development solutions.
The Zayed Sustainable Development Award was created in 2008 and is a tribute to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the late father of the country of the United Arab Emirates. This year, the Zayed Sustainable Development Award will celebrate its 15th anniversary of its global humanitarian impact. The award has been awarded to 106 recipients and has improved the lives of more than 378 million people in 150 countries around the world.
###2. Bonus classification and standards
The total prize money is US$3 million and is evenly distributed among the five major award categories: health, food, energy, water resources, and global high school.
(The "Global High School" category is designed to reward six middle schools in six major regions of the world, including the Americas, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, Europe and Central Asia, South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, with each middle school receiving bonuses of up to $100,000.)
###3. The evaluation of awards in each category is based on three major criteria
**(1) Innovative **
Innovation refers to a novel solution or modification of an existing solution to solve a challenge or need to create value and have a positive impact. The solution can be a certain technology, a certain service, or a certain business model.
Participating organizations must demonstrate their solution:
- Has unique value
- Disruptive or transformative
- Technically and commercially feasible
- Adopted by the market
** Note: This award will not be awarded to any start-up, invention, prototype or solution that has not yet demonstrated its practical impact. **
***(2) Influence ***
Impact refers to the ability to have a positive impact on solving social, economic, technological and/or environmental challenges; and proven to improve human well-being and thereby make the world a better place.
Participating organizations must demonstrate their solution:
- Has had a positive impact on improving the quality of human life
- Ability to address potential social, economic, technological and environmental challenges
- Have good governance capabilities by hiring technical staff and formulating fair and reasonable policies
- A detailed plan has been developed to explain how the prize money will be used to further increase influence
***(3) Inspiration spirit ***
Sheikh Zayed, the founding father of the United Arab Emirates, set an example and attached great importance to social and economic development to meet the needs of current and future people. This award continues the spirit of Sheikh Zayed and continues to inspire the world.
Participating organizations must demonstrate their solution:
- Reflects Sheikh Zayed's core values, which are focused on sustainability and human development: this is crucial to his own approach and actions
- Ability to inspire others to participate in promoting sustainability and human development
- Ability to further promote sustainable development actions in the wider community by stimulating behavioral change
###4. Award categories
***(1) Health ***
This award category is for organizations whose sustainability solutions are innovative, influential and inspiring in the field of health. These options include but are not limited to:
- Ensure access to basic and affordable medical services
- Improve maternal and neonatal health services
- Control epidemics (AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis, etc.)
- Prevention and treatment of water-borne diseases, infectious and non-infectious diseases
- Reduce diseases caused by pollution and harmful chemicals
Participating organizations need to demonstrate a clear vision and long-term plan, and encourage more people to learn and follow suit to promote sustainability and human development by further implementing their solutions and expanding their impact.
Organizations eligible for the award include ** small and medium-sized enterprises and non-profit organizations **.
***(2) Food ***
This award category is for organizations in the food sector whose sustainable development solutions are innovative, influential and inspiring. These options include but are not limited to:
- eradicating hunger and malnutrition
- Increase productivity in agriculture or other food processing
- Ensuring sustainable development of the food system
- Promote sustainable food production
Participating organizations need to demonstrate a clear vision and long-term plan, and encourage more people to learn and follow suit to promote sustainable and human development by further implementing their solutions and expanding their impact.
Organizations eligible for the award include ** small and medium-sized enterprises and non-profit organizations **.
***(3) Energy ***
This award category is for organizations whose sustainable development solutions are innovative, influential and inspiring in the energy sector. These options include but are not limited to:
- Ensure access to affordable and reliable clean energy
- Increase production of clean energy
- Improve energy efficiency and improve energy facilities
- Introduce clean energy technology innovation
Participating organizations need to demonstrate a clear vision and long-term plan, and encourage more people to learn and follow suit to promote sustainable and human development by further implementing their solutions and expanding their impact.
Organizations eligible for the award include small and medium-sized enterprises and non-profit organizations.
***(4) Water resources ***
This award category is for organizations whose sustainable development solutions are innovative, influential and inspiring in the field of water resources. These options include but are not limited to:
- Ensure access to safe and affordable drinking water
- Ensure access to sanitation and hygiene resources
- improve water use efficiency
Participating organizations need to demonstrate a clear vision and long-term plan, and encourage more people to learn and follow suit to promote sustainable and human development by further implementing their solutions and expanding their impact.
Organizations eligible for the award include ** small and medium-sized enterprises and non-profit organizations **.
***(5) Global High Schools ***
This award category is for high schools in six regions around the world that launch innovative, influential and motivational sustainable development projects in the fields of health, food, energy or water resources. These projects can focus on one area (such as water) or a combination of multiple areas (such as energy, water, food and health).
This award is designed to encourage students to develop and implement their sustainable development concepts rather than administrative projects or educational reforms for schools.
Awards in this category are not awarded based on past achievements of a project. Instead, it allows award-winning high school students to implement their sustainability projects in schools.
Participating student projects need to have innovative methods to solve sustainable development challenges and inspire students to take more active action in the field of sustainable development.