The United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) in conjunction with government, private sector and global partners recently launched a challenge which targets African youths, inspiring them to create solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic.
UNICEF reports that the Initiative which commenced on May 13th will be coming to an end on June 13th for Nigerians and June 30th for Ethiopians, hence youths are enjoined to actively find innovative ways to fight COVID-19 while engaging these young people with opportunities that comes with the current and future challenges of the pandemic.
The COVID-19 Design Challenge was first launched in Nigeria, now Ethiopia, and is expanding now to other countries in Africa. UNICEF and UNDP are working together on this, with the sole aim of democratizing access to reliable information and capitalize on youth networks to drive awareness of COVID-19, give the youths a voice in finding ways to prevent and mitigate the longer-term impacts of COVID-19 on Nigerian society, and develop youth skills that will enhance their future employability. In addition, while sourcing innovative ideas from Nigerian youth, the challenge also seeks to build their design thinking skills.
Interested youth can access the COVID-19 Design Challenge website here HERE. Participants who complete the challenge will receive a certificate of participation. Participants in Nigeria, will also be able to redeem awards like mentorships, job matching, technical skills, training and capacity-building, provided by partners such as CC Hub, Lagos Innovates, Jobberman, Ventures Platform, and Saed Connect, among others.
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children, visit www.unicef.org
