ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2022
United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. Over 31,000 young leaders on 2,400+ campuses across 140+ nations applied to join the Class of 2022. 200+ campuses worldwide (just 8%) were selected to host the 3,000+ Millennium Fellows.

UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT RIDDHIN MEKANGADDE SACHIN, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2022.
Christ (Deemed to be University) Central Campus | Bengaluru, India | Advancing SDG 3 & UNAI 3

" "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together"
- African Proverb
The above proverb reminisces the social impact that I can make in my initiative with the learnings from the Millennium Fellowship. I genuinely believe that my experiences and learnings have given me the ability to make social and cultural changes for the betterment of the society. Thus, my passions aligned with the ability to positively impact the society are the main reasons for me to pursue initiatives contributing to the Sustainable development goals. The UN Millennium Fellowship will provide me with the resources and direction to channelise my efforts in the most productive manner. "
Millennium Fellowship Project: Sports for Change
Hi Rahul! I hope you're doing well.
The daunting and uncertain Covid-19 pandemic has not only made an impact on the environment and commencement of our daily activities, but also the way we interact with each other. The greatest change has been on the behaviour and personality of young children who were deprived of the opportunity to participate in classroom learning which as a result has inadvertently done more harm than good. On my recent visits to a few Montessori schools in Bangalore, I observed that children lacked fine and gross motor skills and efficient hand-eye coordination. Several children were unable to interact with their peers and were extremely dependent. Further, many children were withdrawn, underconfident and faced hindrances to communicate with their friends and teachers effectively and efficiently. I also ran across several peers and students in my school that faced mental and health disorders due to the constraints of the pandemic and stringent lockdowns implemented in India.
Thus, by looking at these issues from an exterior perspective, I believe that implementation of sports and engaging activities can solve the common social problems observed. Hence, I have decided to integrate my profound passions of sports on a project "Sports for Change" to largely drive social and cultural change as it promotes equality and positive influences in the society. The project "Sports for Change " has three wings that traverse on different roles and responsibilities to achieve the ulterior goal- Social welfare and equality.
Roles and Activities of each wing:
1. Arogya: [ English translation from Kannada language- "Health"]
The "Arogya" wing aims at integrating sports to solve the immediate consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic on young children in rural and urban areas. The "Arogya" wing will implement fun and engaging sports sessions (different sports such as cricket, hockey, football, athletics, etc. will be played in each session) that will be made available to all individuals at free of cost. Through the values and teachings of different sports, children can overcome the difficulties that they are currently experiencing due to the covid-19 pandemic. This will allow children to channelise their energy into creative activities and help them overcome health and mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, stress, and obesity. Further, through these interactive session’s children will be able to learn important social skills such as leadership, teamwork, fair-play, communication, cooperation, etc that are instrumental for their development through the incorporation of sports. Thus, the "Arogya" wing focusses on the achieving the physical and mental well-being of young children.
2. Shiksha: [ English translation from Hindi language- "Education"]
The wing "Shiksha" acts a platform to identify children's talent and connect them to greater opportunities in the sports industry. Shiksha aims at identifying and shaping future Indian athletes through several disciplines of sport and providing them with the opportunity to achieve their goals and ambitions. The wing "Shiksha" was ideated to contradict the paradoxical situation of why there are such few Indian representatives at the top level of distinct sports despite of a 1.38 billion population? Hence, Shiksha strives to provide quality education, nutrition programme assistance and interactive development sessions through sports, thereby allowing children to dream and pursue their passions. Thus, the initiative will help passionate children to hone their skills in their interested sports by connecting (national sports authorities and associations) and providing them with the right set of resources and direction.
3. Stree: [ English translation from Hindi language- "Women"]
The "Stree" wing emphasis on gender equality and social change through the influence of sports. The wing draws inspiration from eminent women personalities such as Mary Kom (Boxing), Deepika Kumari (Archery), Geeta Phogat (Wrestling) and aims at providing women with the opportunity to pursue sports as career or profession. It focusses on providing access and introductions to women on the various disciplines of sports. Hence, the wing persistently works towards embracing equality within the society through sports. This will in turn allow individuals (especially women in villages) to identify their self-confidence, self-esteem and collaborate towards social and cultural change.
Thus, through this initiative, I aim to tackle and solve various social inequalities and hindrances that exist in the society through the integration of sports, which will contribute towards more positive, effective, and meaningful influences in this world.
About the Millennium Fellow
Riddhin Mekangadde Sachin is a positive and collaborative individual who is currently studying Economics and math at CHRIST (deemed to be) University, Bangalore. He has always had a strong inclination towards sports, Finance and Analytics. He is curious, sincere and loves working in teams. Through his experiences and learnings, he loves to contribute to his immediate environment.








