ITU AI for Good Impact Awards 2026 Finalists Announced — WFP HungerMap, India Smallholder AI, Global South Literacy and Anti-Trafficking Tools Among Honorees

The International Telecommunication Union announced the finalists for the AI for Good Impact Awards 2026 on June 3, drawing from 300 applications across 65 countries — the largest ever cohort. Nine finalist organizations were recognized across three categories for deploying AI with documented real-world humanitarian outcomes. Notable finalists include: the World Food Programme's HungerMap Live 2.0, which combines climate, conflict, economic, and food security data streams to forecast hunger trends across 50+ countries with anticipatory action capability; Sokoine University of Agriculture (Tanzania) for AquaShield, an AI-powered aquaculture training platform supporting sustainable fish farming for smallholder coastal communities; Dvara E-Registry (India) for KhetScore and Doordrishti, AI alternative credit scoring and satellite-based climate finance tools giving unbanked smallholder farmers access to agricultural loans and weather insurance; Rising Hope Girls Educational Foundation for ReadBuddy, a personalized AI reading platform with integrated teacher tools targeting girls' literacy in underserved Global South communities; and Ramona AI (Latin America) for AI systems that detect trafficking risks in job advertisements and identify hiring bias before they reach vulnerable workers. The awards ceremony is scheduled for July 7-10 at the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva (Palexpo).