We are excited to welcome you to the opening ceremony of our 12th Social Business Day! This year’s opening will be a session full of hope and optimism from lifelong advocates of social change. These leaders will be setting the tone for the 5-day long celebration of Social Business. The theme of the event, Building a New Civilization — Before The Current Civilization Destroys Us, will be shared in detail and the speakers will share a few words about it with us. With such a severe threat to humankind, it is imperative for us to act now, and act together to combat the consequences of global warming, wealth concentration and unemployment caused by artificial intelligence. This session is designed to encourage, enlighten, and inspire us to take up this opportunity to create momentum and expedite the process of redesigning the fundamental concepts and institutions on which human lives are organised on this planet as we aim to create a new history.

Speakers:

Professor Muhammad Yunus

Chairman
Yunus Centre

Thomas Bach

President
International Olympic Committee (IOC)

Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty

Chairman
Narayana Hrudayalaya Limited

Hans Reitz

Co-Founder
Grameen Creative Lab

Saskia Bruysten

Co-Founder & CEO
Yunus Social Business (YSB)

Professor Ranga Zinyemba

Vice Chancellor
Catholic University of Zimbabwe

Dr Mouhamad Mpezamihigo

Vice Chancellor
Kampala International University

Jody Williams

Nobel Peace Laureate 1997

José Ramos-Horta

Nobel Peace Laureate 1996

Lamiya Morshed

Executive Director
Yunus Centre

Professor Waswa Balunywa

Principal
Makerere University Business School, (MUBS)

Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of of ESCAP
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

Dr. Jane Goodall

Founder
Jane Goodall Institute

Three of the greatest threats facing contemporary civilization are environmental degradation, wealth concentration, and massive unemployment. As a result of these threats, we urgently need to build a new track and a state-of-the-art train to help us move forward. And it can be done. We have a chance now to go in any direction forward and build a new world for ourselves, a world of 3Zeros: zero net carbon emissions, that will allow us to inherently reduce the effects of global warming. It is possible and we know how to do that. It is the same for our goals of zero unemployment and zero concentration of wealth as well. We know the kind of world we want to live in, so let’s do that! If we decide and make our goals clear, we can take the first step during this time and move in a different direction. The decision we have to make right now is that we do not want to go back. However, there is no choice in reality for us to go back despite  people thinking they can still go back. If you want to survive, you have to make the world safer for our children, the future generation.  Join us as we discuss the 3ZERO Club, an initiative dedicated to achieving Professor Yunus’s vision of a world of three zeros—zero net carbon emissions, zero wealth concentration for ending poverty, and zero unemployment by unleashing entrepreneurship in all.

Speakers:

James Chau

International Broadcaster and Host
The China Current

Professor Muhammad Yunus

Chairman
Yunus Centre

Vicente Fox Quesada

Centro Fox

Marina Silva

Former Minister of Environment of Brazil and Senator, Political and Environmental Leader

Lily Cole

Actress, Activist

Luciano Gurgel

Interpreter

In a sustainable civilisation, education should be prioritized and accessible to all, especially to those who are denied this opportunity to learn more about their passions due to their socioeconomic status. Yet, we are far away from reaching the point where we can agree that social business has reached a mainstream level. Even now, educational systems around the world continue with their traditional methods with little focus on teaching students how to become architects of a better future. Social business is a tangible concept that students, instructors and academics of all kinds of educational backgrounds should know about. Our experience shows that young people, in particular, are highly receptive to social business, often feeling grateful for receiving an alternative to traditional career paths. Behind all educational teachings, there is something very fundamental, which has to be implanted in the various educational methods: What is the purpose of all life? Once you discover your own purpose, then everything else falls in place.  How has your educational background shaped your way of thinking? What would you like to have learned from your teachers? What do you consider the most relevant skills for our future world?  Join us in discussing how the Yunus Social Business Centres across the world, now with 98 locations, can act as hubs for providing educational tools and academic support to local communities.

Speakers:

Dr. Faiz Shah

Founding president
Yunus Thailand

Baroness Valerie AMOS

Former UN Under-Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

Benedicte Faivre-Tavignot

Associate Professor of Strategy
HEC

Sharifah Sofia

Trustee
Albukhary Foundation

Dr. Abdul Hannan Chowdhury

Dean and Professor of School of Business and Economics (SBE),
North South University

Professor Pamela Gillies CBE

Principal and Vice-Chancellor
Glasgow Caledonian University

Professor Achyuta Samanta

Founder
KIIT

Today, 16 per cent of the global population is youth – representing one of the most effective groups to combat the global challenges. Their active engagement in sustainable development efforts is central to achieving sustainable, inclusive and stable societies and averting the worst threats and challenges to sustainable development, including the impacts of climate change, unemployment, poverty, gender inequality, conflict, and migration. We have recently seen many young people with entrepreneurial and problem-solving mindsets trying to solve some of those challenges, but their inspiring actions are often unheard of or shared with other young people. Therefore, it's essential to create common platforms at local, national and global levels to inspire and enable those youth to ideate, create and lead with the entrepreneurial spirit to solve the most pressing social and environmental issues of our time. The 3ZERO Club initiative is a platform that approaches the idea of networking and connectivity among youths so that they can take collective action around the world and solve the three significant issues that today's world is facing.

Join us in discussing the role of youth entrepreneurship and 3ZERO Clubs to build a new civilisation that will be built on an economy based primarily on zero personal profit to solve the problems of the people and the planet.

Speakers:

Shazeeb M Khairul Islam

Founder
YY Ventures

Kiko Kislansky

Founder
Cazulo - Corporate Transformation

Nurjahan Begum

Advisor to Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus
Yunus Centre

Tatiana Glad

Executive Director
Impact Hub Network

Edward Ndopu

UN SDG Advocate, Founder
Beyond Zero

Alex Wang

Founder and Secretary-General
Youthink Center in China

Soprano Monica Yunus

Co-Founder
Sing for Hope

The current civilization, which is based on profit maximization, has set the world out on a timer. Our daily actions and activities are leading us to the tipping point of the Planetary Limits, resulting in an environmental crisis that endangers the existence of our own civilization.

This year, at the 12th Social Business Day event, Yunus Environment Hub’s panel will present the latest figures on the current environmental crisis and discuss how can we decouple economic growth without environmental degradation under the lens of a circular economy? We will also present current social business solutions that are tackling plastic pollution and deforestation in Amazonia.

Speakers:

Christina Jäger

Co-founder & Managing Director
Yunus Environment Hub

Maria Antonia Santos

Project Director
Fundación Compaz

Dr. Marian Chertow

Director of the Center for Industrial Ecology
Yale University

Prince Agbata

CEO
Coliba

Iyyappan Janakiraman

Yunus Environment Hub

Maria Antonia Santos

Project Director
Fundación Compaz

Manuela Rodriguez

Yunus Environment Hub

Katerin Carrillo

Yunus Environment Hub

Sohel Ahmed

Managing Director
Grameen Shakti

Building an inclusive digital civilization with the lessons of the past

Speakers:

Maria Ida Palmieri

Managing Partner
The Grameen Creative Lab

Alaap Tatwawadi

Global Strategy and Growth Lead
Google-Next Billion Users

Vanessa Arelle

Founder & CEO
TZ Systems

Diana Mandewo

Communications Director
VaxiGlobal

In the age of COVID, the fatal consequences of healthcare inequality, lack of collective action against disease prevention, and ineffective resource distribution have spiked in severity. Governments have many opportunities to encourage, prioritize, and open up space for social businesses to undertake major redesigning responsibilities. At the same time, Governments should not expect social businesses to show up everywhere at the time and size they are needed. Governments must launch their programmes, such as taking care of the destitutes and the unemployed through traditional welfare programmes, offering healthcare, reviving all essential services, and providing support to all types of businesses, where social business options are slow to come forward.  The citizens’ role to take care of their families and pay taxes is taken for granted; it is the responsibility of the Government (and to a limited extent of the non-profit sector) to take care of all collective problems, such as climate, jobs, healthcare, education, water, and so on alongside them.  Join us in discussing how equitable health care for a new civilization can be realized with the value of human life and dignity, no matter an individual’s background, at its core.

Speakers:

Dr. Cam Donaldson

Yunus Chair & Distinguished Professor of Health Economics
Yunus Centre for Social Business & Health, Glasgow Caledonian University

Professor Adeeba Kamarulzaman

Adjunct Associate Professor
Yale University

Dr Vanessa Kerry

Founder
Seed Global Health

Jean Bernou

President and Founder
JEAN BERNOU CONSULTING

Mitsuru Izumo

President
Euglena Co.,Ltd.

AKM Moinuddin Chowdhury

Managing Director
Grameen Kalyan

Plenary 7: Fighting Unemployment through Social Business in Africa

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Plenary 8: Building a Poverty Free Africa

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Plenary 9: Business for New Civilization - How Social Procurement can transform global value chains to be inclusive, resilient and sustainable

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Plenary 10: Cross-Country Collaboration for Fighting Climate Change

Speakers:

Dr David Olufemi Awolala

The system of traditional financial institutions, or the bank with which we are familiar with, is predicated on the supposition that anyone seeking a loan should demonstrate evidence of their prior good fortune: proof of income, a high credit score, etc. In the case of rural villagers, that is often impossible—not because they don’t work hard, but because they haven’t been given the opportunity to demonstrate their capability. Amidst it  all, the coronavirus has stopped the engine of allowing these people to demonstrate their potential. It does not distinguish whether you are a profit-making company or a social business. Regardless of what business you are in, the business engine in general has stopped. We have to ensure that the world we create is a world that holds justice as a fundamental pillar . We have to take a chance to allow social business to be on the center stage now. We have enormous experience with social businesses, and we have seen how it works. We have seen the strength in it, and the very robust parts that can be built on. To speed up the entry of social businesses, Governments around the world can create Social Business Venture Capital Funds, centrally and locally, and encourage private sectors, foundations, financial institutions, investment funds, to create Social Business. Venture Capital Funds, who encourage traditional companies to become social businesses themselves or take in social business partners, corporates and all businesses may be encouraged to have their own social businesses or create joint venture social businesses with social business partners. Join us in discussing the necessity of reforming financial institutions in order to build a future where any entrepreneur can receive the help they need to make these instituitions for a new civilization a reality.

Speakers:

Jean-Luc Perron

Abdul Hai Khan

Plenary 13: Sports, Technology and Social Business

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Plenary 13: YSBC Activity Updates

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Plenary 15: Building a Robust Academic Curriculum for a New Civilization

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We are at a point where we are not only combating the aftermath of a global pandemic, but inequality and injustice displayed in the social and physical  infrastructure of every country.  A 3ZERO world —zero net carbon emissions, zero wealth concentration for ending poverty, and zero unemployment by unleashing entrepreneurship in all— can only be created and maintained only if one addresses the need to become a 3ZERO person. A leader that prioritizes and understands the needs of the world around, the need for carbon emission, zero wealth concentration and zero unemployment. The 3ZERO person is an individual who wishes to be the architect of their own future, utilizing the vital instruments, such as that of social business, to bring about the change that they are envisioning. It is about the core belief that the youth of today will be the leaders of tomorrow. And now is our chance to ensure that we are global citizens who take care of all the issues that torment us. Join us in discussing how the need to become a 3ZERO person so that we are able to create, sustain and develop a world of 3ZERO so that our future generations do not have to deal with the consequences of our actions.

Speakers:

Daniel Ayebare

Report Back from Country Forums

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Closing Ceremony

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