World Economic Forum awarded Cedar Seed Foundation founder and first Youth Global Leader with a Disability awardee in 2017, Lois Auta with Global Goodwill Champion award.
The award was presented during the 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum held in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland from 20 to 24 January, 2020
Lois who was one of the contestants for the post of House of Assembly under the umbrella body of All Progressive Congress (APC) in AMAC/Bwari constituency, Abuja in 2019 represented Nigeria and Africa at the recently concluded annual event.
In a statement sent to INN, Lois said “I was a speaker at the Disability Inclusion session where I addressed the need for creating an enabling environment for 1.3 billion persons with disabilities in the world, 84 million Africans with disabilities and 29.3 million Nigerians with disabilities in education, health, agriculture, employment, environment, transport, arts, elections, ICT, infrastructures and policies”
The first event in Davos was on gender equality organised by Mercer.
The elated Lois who expressed joy over the international connections she received through the forum said “This was where I got the world attention when I spoke about the rights of women and girls with disabilities. They listened to me while I was talking, after the event many of them came to me and dropped their business cards for partnership opportunities.”
“I was also given an award as a global goodwill champion” Lois added.
The event witnessed the presence of world leaders like Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Eric Jing of Alipay, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva etc.
Wikimedia Igbo and Digital Media Development Initiative co-founder, Blossom Ozurumba praising Lois Auta wrote on social media saying “She intentionally curates her happiness and effortlessly lights up her surroundings. The energy and vibe she brings with her will always resonate, positively.”
“I am glad that I know you, girl and I applaud you greatly.”
More photos from the forum
