Izah Azahari
A cohort from the 28th Executive Development Programme for Senior Governments Officers (EDP SGO) recently launched a community project dubbed the Golden Ribbon Challenge online via Instagram.
The Golden Ribbon Challenge is a social welfare movement which serves to create awareness among members of the public on the need to take the first step and continuously act on kindness to those in need, especially senior citizens.
The challenge is hoped to gather support from members of the public to complement existing efforts by both government and non-government agencies in assisting those in need, in line with the second goal of the Brunei Vision 2035 to raise the quality of life in the country.
The challenge may be activated by any individual or group of individuals by identifying and locating a senior citizen aged 60 and above, with the following criteria: family elder, elderly in need, elderly living on their own, and elderly association.
The challenge options are to go on an outing with the elderly in your family, spend quality time; befriend the elderly and get to know/ bond with them; give in-kind support or charitable contribution to those in need; or do 30 burpees/sit-ups within 60 seconds, and give a shout-out by using the tags to show support for this challenge.
The challenge takes place from October 7 to 21, after which three winners will be selected.
Announcements will be made in November.
The Golden Ribbon Challenge was inspired during the study visit by the 28th EDP SGO cohort to government and non-government agencies that provide assistance to those in need.
The visit gave impactful insights on the need for a whole-of-nation approach in working together to ensure holistic and sustainable support in addressing social issues and challenges.
The most valuable insight was the shared responsibility and pivotal role that can be played by ordinary individuals or groups of people to achieve extraordinary feats, especially in making a difference in the lives of those in need.
The 28th EDP SGO is a three-month capacity building programme under the Public Service Department (JPA). This year, in partnership with Universiti Teknologi Brunei (UTB), it carries the theme ‘Public Sector Innovation’.
For more details on the Golden Ribbon Challenge, visit https://goldenribbonchallengebn.wordpress.com, GoldenRibbonChallengBN on Instagram and GoldenRibbonChallengBN on Facebook.