On September 24, the Social Good Summit invited people all over the world to connect through local meetups, where they addressed the same question: How can new technology and new media create solutions for the biggest problems facing their community?

This year marked the first time the global Social Good Summit brought panel discussions to Africa. Official events were held in Mogadishu, Somalia and Nairobi, Kenya in addition to New York and Beijing. Additionally, smaller meetups were held with the help of other United Nations Development Programme offices in Madagascar, Uganda, and Rwanda.

Mogadishu, Somalia

Livestreams of the official events – especially Mogadishu – proved extremely popular among a global audience. The world was able to see how social media and technology are providing a source of change and empowerment for Somali youth, business, and politics.

Interest surrounding Somalia’s revival is immense. The #sgsmogadishu hashtag has been shared over 1,000 times in the past two days. The UNDP, aware of the global interest in Somalia, created a special Social Good Summit website for Mogadishu, along with a video to show how the violence-torn nation is finding a foothold with technology.

Highlights from the Mogadishu panel include:

“The government can use social media to reach out to people” #SGSMogadishu #SGSglobal @undp @helenclarkundp

— Boaz Paldi (@boazpaldi) September 24, 2012

Great discussion on bridging gap between oral society and text-based tools. Very important. #SGSMogadishu

— Watershed Legal (@watershedlegal) September 24, 2012

Somali new governmentmust have own website Facebook twitter#SGSMogadishu

—Farah Elmi (@farahpost) September 24, 2012

#SGSMogadishu panelist estimates 89k Somali youth use social media. Seems low – but much potential there. #SGSglobal

— Amy(@amyswrite) September 24, 2012

#SGSMogadishuspeaker urges Google to rush before the gold mine is empty – #SGSglobal

— Yasmeen Abdullahi(@suppletoe) September 24, 2012

#SGSMogadishu Online journalism is thriving, majority of #Somali journalists work for websites #SGSglobal

— AlinoorMB™ (@AlinoorMB) September 24, 2012

Omar Osman of Somalia Wireless says private sector needs to support government to increase internet accessibility in #Somalia #sgsmogadishu

— Mohamed Mascud (@MohamedMascud) September 24, 2012

Nairobi, Kenya

Highlights from the event include:

Mpesa is not about technology it is about the ecosystem is has created. #SGSNairobi

— m:lab East Africa (@mlabeastafrica) September 24, 2012

“Social media has expanded the political space for greater citizen involvement” @aeneaschumaun live at #SGSNairobi

— UN Development (@UNDP) September 24, 2012

It is a mobile revolution that entrepreneurs need to lead & take advantage of the ecosystem & people of Africa – @gmeltdown #SGSNairobi

— Terah Edun(@TerahEdun) September 24, 2012

3 Takeaways from #SGSNairobi: Tie problems & solns in tech, the sky is the limit, proper regulation’s important, power of youth #sgsglobal

— Ashoka (@Ashoka) September 24, 2012

Madagascar

Highlights from the meetup include:

Simple, conviviale mais enrichissante a ete l’ambiance du #meetup #SGSglobal #Madagascar hier @pnud_fr. Suite #online twitter.com/nFiankinana/st…

— Nanou Fiankinana (@nFiankinana) September 24, 2012

“ Futur prometteur pr nv #mediaet #internet #Madagascar ac + de renforcement de #capacite sur leur usage pr le dvpt #SGSglobal @pnud_fr”

— Nanou Fiankinana (@nFiankinana) September 24, 2012

Snapshots of the discussions can be found at the SGS Global Conversation tumblr.

Kigali, Rwanda

Highlights from the meetup include:

“ICT is important for the delopment of Rwanda” Auke Lootsma,UNDP Country Director

— UNDP-Rwanda (@UNDP_Rwanda) September 24, 2012

Min of agriculture presenting the new mobile tech which informa Rdans about price status

— UNDP-Rwanda (@UNDP_Rwanda) September 24, 2012

REB representative@the Social Good Summit”Rwanda’s 1st e-learningUniversity opens next yr”

— UNDP-Rwanda (@UNDP_Rwanda) September 24, 2012

Rwanda Education Board: is using social media in education

— UNDP-Rwanda (@UNDP_Rwanda) September 24, 2012

Kampala, Uganda

A recap by UNDP’s Sheila Kulubya can be found at the SGS Global Conversation tumblr.

Highlights from the meetup include:

UYONET’s Emmanuel Kitamirike:”Ordinary citizens should be supported to use mobile technology beyond social purposes”. #SGSglobal #SGSKampala

— UNDP Uganda (@UNDPUganda) September 21, 2012

David L.Tumwesigye @the360network, says social media numbers matter but good content is what will get people talking #SGSglobal. #SGSKampala

— UNDP Uganda (@UNDPUganda) September 21, 2012

Hostalite’s Dickson Mushabe highlighted examples intergrating SMS mobile and website platforms to increase reach. #SGSKampala#SGSglobal.

— UNDP Uganda (@UNDPUganda) September 21, 2012

Egypt

The UNDP produced a two minute video of how social media is changing Egypt to share at global events.