FALLING WALLS LAB

FNF Myanmar unveils participant for Falling Walls Lab in Berlin

The Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF Myanmar), in cooperation with its local partners, hosted the eighth Falling Walls Lab in Myanmar at Melia Hotel, Yangon, on August 31st 2024. Falling Walls Lab Myanmar is an annual event where innovators and great minds connect and compete to supply impactful ideas to resolve contemporary issues. 12 carefully selected participants took part to compete for the first place at the Myanmar Lab. Each individual was provided 3 minutes to explain their idea in three slides and 5 minutes to answer juries’ questions. It was not an easy journey to create this simple presentation. Nonetheless, one participant grasped the hearts of all juries and emerged as the winner to represent Myanmar Lab in Berlin.

Hsu Pyae Sone received her award and a ticket to Berlin, funded and supported by FNF Myanmar, to take part in Falling Walls Global Lab in Germany. “Networking with talented views and people around the world is my dream,” she anticipated on her trip to the Global Lab in Germany in November.

Her winning idea, “Breaking the Wall of Reproductive Health Gaps”, is her undergraduate work at Thammasat University to provide teenage girls with reproductive health education, especially in conservative societies. Hsu pointed, in her presentation, cultural taboos and lack of awareness on reproductive health in the society as keys in tackling menstrual problems, unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion and sexually transmitted diseases. Hsu introduced her AI platform called “Big Sisters” where teenage girls could track down their menstrual cycles, learn about the changes on their physical bodies and relevant causes as well as consult with professions online for their problems when necessary. This would support young girls, who are afraid to talk about sexual and reproductive health to strangers or in public, with professional help and consultation. As a social entrepreneur student with her expertise on UI/ UX Design, it is no doubt that Hsu Pyae Sone will create “Big Sisters” as a colorful and user-friendly application to attract teenage girls to refer and consult their secrets on reproductive health as a close contact. She has already collaborated with Community Partners International to prototype her application and bring it to the right audience.

Falling Walls Lab Myanmar 2024 also unveils various issues important for Myanmar and the globe. The first runner-up for the competition, Biak Lian Thang originally from Chin State, is a working professional and educator on climate action where he and his group of friends created a simple, fun and effective board game for the players to learn about how to tackle climate change through a gamification approach.

The second runner-up, Htin Shar, also brings his AI platform to help migrants in Thailand to receive information about Thailand and migration related news in their mother languages.

Many other topics that are of impactful towards the society were also pitched. This includes addressing urban food scarcity, decreased attention span, investment barriers, health care service barriers, and so forth. Their video presentations can be watched here.

FNF Myanmar has prepared these participants for the final lab as well as provided them with networking opportunities to mingle with Falling Walls Lab alumni, business owners and juries before the final lab day. 12 participants were trained and prepared on a four-day workshop where they learnt about innovation, idea transformation, presentation and pitching.

A night before the final lab day, these participants met with former participants of Falling Walls Lab, business owners, juries and other FNF alumni so that the participants could connect and consult with those who have already transformed their ideas into realities as well as those who have experience with Falling Walls Lab in Myanmar.

Falling Walls Lab Myanmar 2024 is held and financed by FNF Myanmar in a promotional cooperation with SME Hub Asia, Impact Hub, Thate Pan Solutions and Scholar Institute.