Shifo best social entrepreneurs according to Ashoka!

Shifo Co-founder Nargis Rahimi and Shifo Foundation has won Join Our Core which is arranged by the organization Ashoka and Ben & Jerry's. Shifo consists of a team with a background from Karolinska Institutet, KTH and Karolinska University Hospital and have developed MyChild system which they have now been awarded for.

A total of 11 winners were announced at the final taking place in London on Thursday 20th November 2014. Ben & Jerry's "Join Our Core" is organized together with the Ashoka to nominate the most promising social entrepreneurs and support them to reach further. Nargis Rahimi from Shifo Foundation is the Swedish winner and has been awarded for the work on strengthening child health in low resource settings with MyChild System.

MyChild System is an electronic medical records system for child health service delivery and has been especially developed for countries with scarce resources. About MyChild System, Nargis Rahimi says: "MyChild system ensures that children are registered and are followed up until they are fully vaccinated from deadly diseases. In many of the countries where we work children are not registered, which means that there is no way to ensure that children have received the preventive healthcare they are entitled to. A fully vaccinated child is more likely to grow up strong and healthy, get an education and to participate in the development of their country."

Nargis Rahimi grew up in a family of doctors in Tajikistan and is educated within economics and public health: "I have seen how important it is to have a functioning health system. Sweden is at the forefront of developing health with the help of IT and we can learn from a long experience of eHealth initiatives in improving,among others, maternal and child health in Sweden However, our solutions are always developed based on local needs and infrastructure availability."

Shifo works closely with the District Health Authority in Mukono District, Uganda. Together they have implemented MyChild System at 16 health centres. "Currently, we continue working to identify gaps in the chain of health service delivery, develop appropriate interventions to reach every child and monitor the impact. At the same time, we plan to scale up to an additional 200 health centers in the same region. The Swedish Postcode Lottery is first to join the campaign and supports the introduction of MyChild System in 30 health centres in the Wakiso District. "

The winners in Join Our Core receive 10,000 euros each and mentoring from the organisation Ashoka, the world's leading network of social entrepreneurs, as well as its brand exposed on one of Ben & Jerry's ice cream tubs during one year. Shifo Foundation is a young organisation: "This is an amazing opportunity to reach out with the work that we do and have support for the development of our organization so that we can improve child health on a large scale. We have developed a range of tools based on the real needs and are confident that we can make a difference. At the same time, as a start-up organisation we need strong partnerships to scale up MyChild system in the areas with low child health indicators to accelerate the improvement of essential child health services where it is needed the most" says Nargis Rahimi.

About Join Our Core
Join Our Core is inspired by Ben & Jerry's dream - to find young entrepreneurs and community changers who share Ben & Jerry's philosophy that people are just as important as the result. In 2014, the competition expanded with participation from nine to eleven countries - France, Japan, Singapore, the UK, Ireland, Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands.
You can read more about 2014 winner of Join Our Core and their benefits here.

About Ashoka

Ashoka is a global organization that identifies and supports leading social entrepreneurs. Founded by Bill Drayton in 1980, Ashoka is the largest network of social entrepreneurs worldwide, with nearly 3,000 fellows in 80 countries putting their system changing ideas into practice on a global scale. The social entrepreneurs selected as Ashoka Fellows are supported with living stipends, professional support services, and connections to a global network of supporters across the business and social sectors. Ashoka envisions a world of changemakers, where everyone has the support and confidence to solve the societal challenges they see in the world."

Read more about Ashoka here.