Doha, September 01 (QNA) - The Social Development Center (Nama), one of the centers operating under the umbrella of the Qatar Foundation for Social Work, has launched the third edition of its Social Entrepreneurship Award, reaffirming its commitment to supporting innovative ideas and projects that address community challenges and create lasting social impact.

The award targets young people, entrepreneurs and owners of social enterprise ideas and projects, with two main categories: Best Social Entrepreneurship Idea and Best Existing Social Enterprise Project.

It also includes a Social Entrepreneurship Competition for secondary schools, aimed at fostering initiative, innovation and social responsibility among students.

The Best Social Entrepreneurship Idea carries a prize of QAR 100,000, while the Best Existing Social Enterprise Project is awarded QAR 200,000. The secondary school competition offers total prizes of QAR 60,000, distributed among the winning boys' and girls' categories.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Nama Executive Director Ghanem Salah Al Ali said the award is one of the center's key tools for empowering individuals and entrepreneurs to develop practical solutions based on community needs.

He noted that the first two editions demonstrated the strong potential and promising ideas capable of delivering tangible value to society.

Al Ali said the third edition introduces an intensive training program for shortlisted participants to help refine and systematically develop their ideas, from gaining a deeper understanding of social challenges to designing solutions that are more practical, sustainable and measurable in impact.

He also praised the award's partners for their valuable support, stressing that these partnerships are essential to expanding the award's impact and helping entrepreneurs develop innovative solutions to community needs.

Nama launched the award's first edition in 2024, with the Families of People with Autism Platform winning the Best Existing Project category and the Central Canteen Project winning the Best Project Idea category.

The second edition expanded to include a competition for secondary schools, attracting 31 schools. Entries are assessed based on criteria including clarity of the social challenge, relevance of the proposed solution, expected impact, feasibility, sustainability, scalability and measurable results.

As part of its collaboration with the award's partners, Nama has identified and studied a number of community challenges, providing social entrepreneurs with opportunities to develop practical and sustainable solutions that address them and create tangible impact.

The award reflects Nama's commitment to advancing social entrepreneurship and encouraging innovative, sustainable projects that contribute to addressing community challenges and supporting Qatar's social development.

Applications for the third edition can be submitted through Nama's official website, with updates available through its social media platforms. (QNA)