The Yidan Prize Foundation, the global philanthropic foundation behind the world’s highest education accolade, hosted its 2024 Awards Ceremony in Hong Kong today. The Ceremony celebrated the 2024 Yidan Prize laureates who are committed to ensuring quality education for all, including in the most challenging contexts, but also to nurturing future generations with the skills they need to thrive in an uncertain future.
The Hon John KC LEE, the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), congratulated the Yidan Prize laureates in a video message. He said, “the Yidan Prize represents a profound commitment to the transformative power of education. The bright minds and dedication of the laureates throughout the years have helped to reshape the future of education, paving the way for a better future for our students.” The Hon KK Chan, the Chief Secretary for Administration of HKSAR, attended the Ceremony and presented gold medals to the 2024 laureates. The Ceremony gathered government officials, Consul Generals, and international leaders in education, public policy, and philanthropy.
The 2024 Yidan Prize for Education Research was awarded to Professor Wolfgang Lutz for his statistical research on the long-term benefits of near-term investments in education. A statistician and demographer, Wolfgang pioneered assessments of education’s impact on sustainable development goals including gender equity and climate resilience. His work highlights the multiplier effect of quality education for a healthier and more prosperous future.
The 2024 Yidan Prize for Education Development was awarded to War Child Alliance’s Professor Mark Jordans, Marwa Zahr, and Luke Stannard for advancing foundational literacy and numeracy skills of children through the ‘Can’t Wait to Learn’ intervention. Co-created with local partners, educators, and children, ‘Can’t Wait to Learn’ uses technology to develop educational games in line with national curricula. It has widened access for over 205,000 children in conflict-affected and resource-constrained settings across eight countries.
Dr Charles CHEN Yidan, Founder of the Yidan Prize, extended his congratulations to the laureates and emphasized the need to embrace change. “The world is changing faster than we ever imagined — and education must transform to keep up. The Yidan Prize is indeed made for a changing world. We don’t limit ourselves to a theme. We offer flexible funding and harness the power of the collective. So that together, we can not only endure change, but encourage it, as driven by our mission,” Dr Chen said.
Each prize is comprised of HK$30 million (approximately US$3.8 million), half of which (HK$ 15 million) is an unrestricted project fund to support laureates to scale up their work. To date, the Yidan Prize Foundation has awarded a total of HK$480 million (approximately US$ 61.6 million) to recognize changemakers and support their work in over 50 countries.
More details on the 2024 Yidan Prize laureates can be found here.
For high-resolution photos and videos of the Ceremony, please click here.
