UN SDG Action Awards name 2026 winners in Rome

The UN SDG Action Campaign announced the 2026 Heroes of Tomorrow award winners in Rome on Oct. 29, selecting three groups from more than 7,000 entries across 190 countries. The ceremony spotlighted community-led work on women’s rights, girls’ education and land restoration, with a special mention for the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and Girls.

Why it matters: - The awards spotlight community-led solutions to major development problems, including violence against women, girls’ school retention and land degradation. - The winners were chosen from more than 7,000 entries from 190 countries, showing the scale of global interest in SDG-focused action. - The ceremony put a public platform behind local organizers and groups working on the front lines of change.

What happened: - The UN SDG Action Campaign announced the winners of the ninth Heroes of Tomorrow: UN SDG Action Awards at a ceremony in Rome, Italy, on 29 October 2026. - The awards were narrowed to nine finalists across three categories: Resilience, Creativity and Changemaker. - Women’s Justice Initiative won the Resilience Award. - Mothers of Courage won the Creativity Award. - Rokiatou Traoré won the Changemaker Award. - The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and Girls received the Honourable Mention Award.

The details: - Women’s Justice Initiative works with Indigenous women in Guatemala who face high levels of violence, poverty and discrimination linked to language barriers, limited access to information and isolation. - The organization supports Indigenous women and girls to claim their rights, access justice and lead change in their communities. - More than 16,000 Indigenous women and girls have participated so far. - Viviana Patal, legal director of Women’s Justice Initiative, said the award belonged to Maya Kaqchikel women and girls in Guatemala building a more just future. - Mothers of Courage organizes villages across rural India to keep girls in school, expand their choices and prevent early marriage. - More than 1.2 million people have joined the movement and pledged to keep daughters in education and delay marriage. - The group says girls who had dropped out have returned to school and marriages have been postponed. - Khushboo Awasthi, chief curator of the movement, said the award belonged to mothers across India changing their daughters’ destiny. - Rokiatou Traoré uses agroforestry to address land degradation and create economic opportunities in Mali. - Through Herou Alliance, Traoré supports women and smallholder farmers to restore land, strengthen livelihoods and build value chains around moringa and other high-value trees. - Traoré dedicated the award to people working to restore land in Mali. - The UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women and Girls has funded locally led solutions for 30 years. - The fund is the only UN General Assembly-mandated pooled fund dedicated exclusively to ending violence against women and girls. - The ceremony was broadcast worldwide through RAI, Italy’s national broadcaster and official media partner, and UN Web TV. - The program is supported by Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. - The visuals were made available online, and B-roll footage is available upon request. - Media contact: Olcay Tetik, Partnerships Specialist, UN SDG Action Campaign, olcay.tetik@undp.org. - Website: More information

Between the lines: - The award mix shows the campaign is highlighting practical, measurable community work rather than broad advocacy alone. - The presence of government partners from Italy and Germany signals continued institutional support for the campaign’s multilateral framing. - The ceremony’s emphasis on finalists and partner remarks reinforced a message that local action is central to global SDG progress.

What's next: - The UN SDG Action Campaign is likely to continue using the awards to elevate grassroots solutions and expand visibility for the finalists and winners. - The campaign’s media materials and broadcast distribution suggest the group is pushing the winners’ stories beyond the room in Rome. - With the 2026 awards now announced, attention shifts to how the winning initiatives scale their work and sustain momentum.