Initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the SDGs
Goalkeepers is an initiative launched by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2017[1][2] to bring together leaders from around the world to accelerate progress toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).[3][4] The initiative also provides reports and data flow charts over SDGs progress since 1990.[5][6]
Bill and Melinda Gates, founders of the Gates Foundation
Tahmeed Ahmed: Scientist and physician with research focus on Gastroenterology, Public Health Nutrition, and Global Health[10]
Ladidi Kuluwa Bako-Aiyegbusi, Director/Head, Nutrition Department, Nigerian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare[10]
Beza Beshah Haile, executive director, HOPE-Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus
Lilian dos Santos Rahal, National Secretary for Food and Nutrition Security, Ministry of Social Development and Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger, Brazil[10]
Bhavani Shankar, Professor of Food Systems, Nutrition and Sustainability, University of Sheffield[10]
Jemimah Njuki, Chief, Economic Empowerment at UN Women[10]
Zahra Hoodbhoy, Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Pakistan[10]
Nancy Krebs, Professor of Pediatrics, Nutrition, University of Colorado School of Medicine[10]
The fifth in-person Goalkeepers event took place on September 19-20, 2023, in New York City during UNGA week. Featured speakers and performers included:
The 2021 Goalkeepers conference could not take place physically, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but had to be held virtually. The winner of the Global Goalkeeper award was:
The 2020 Goalkeepers conference could not take place physically, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but had to be held virtually. The winner of the Global Goalkeeper award was:
John Nkengasong, Director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention for being a "relentless proponent of global collaboration and evidence-based public health practices, and a champion for minimizing the social and economic consequences of COVID-19 across the African continent"[19][20]
The Global Goals awards went to:
Bonita Sharma, co-founder and CEO of Social Changemakers and Innovators (SOCHAI) – a youth-led non-profit organization in Nepal[19]
Hauwa Ojeifo, founder of She Writes Woman, a women-led movement giving mental health a voice in Nigeria[19]
The MASH Project Foundation, a youth led social enterprise based in India that develops and implements support systems for people who work for social causes through partnerships.[21]
Prime Minister Modi got the Global Goalkeepers award 2019
Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, for successfully implementing the Swachh Bharat Mission, a cleanliness and sanitation project, including 110 million family and public toilets for poor and middle income families, reducing the Indian open defecation rate from 50% to almost 0% in 3 years.[25] He personally makes cleaning initiatives - plogging along the roads and beaches - leading by example to promote mass fitness and cleanliness.[26][27]
Ahead of the ceremony, human rights groups and three Nobel Peace Prize winners – Shirin Ebadi, Tawakkol Karman and Mairead Maguire – criticized in a letter to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation the decision to bestow an award upon Modi, stating that under his leadership, “India has descended into dangerous and deadly chaos that has consistently undermined human rights, democracy.’’[28][27][29]