The quest towards discovering creative ideas to resolve pressing issues that affect the children and the youth in Ghana took a turn in the right direction when the Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge 2019/2020 was launched in November 2019. The challenge required the innovative minds of young people across Ghana to design solutions to improve education, employment and civic engagement. This challenge was facilitated by the Ashesi Design Lab and implemented by UNICEF, UNDP and Plan International, and also supported by the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service and Ecobank.
Fifteen teams which made up one hundred and fifty-two participants, between the ages of 14 years and 24 years were selected to take part in the challenge. The youngsters participated in a pre-bootcamp and a two-day bootcamp at the Ecobank Headquarters, Accra, from 15th to 17th November, 2019.
Each team was on a pursuit to develop practical and creative solutions to solve problems revolving around rural education, sexual reproductive health, people living with a disability, substance abuse, sanitation, menstrual hygiene management, youth suicide, and how to encourage girls in Science, Engineering, Technology and Mathematics (STEM).
The teams were assigned mentors who are well-equipped and well-informed in these areas to guide them through. These mentors included Dr. Gordon Adomdza, Mr. Eugene Eluekerh and Dr. Justina Morris.
Also present at the event were dignitaries in the name of Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, Deputy Minister of Education, Basic and Secondary Education; UNICEF West and Central Africa Regional Director, Marie-Pierre Poirier; UNDP Resident Representative, Silke Hollander, and Plan International Ghana Country Director, Solomon Tesfamariam, all of whom gave short speeches to encourage the participants.
Dr. Yaw Adutwum who was genuinely impressed by the raw craft and ability of the youngsters encouraged in a statement, “It really does not matter what your background is but what matters is that you are here, and you are going to be as determined as you can to make the best out of every opportunity that may come your way and become the best that this country has to offer.”
The teams after a long period of brainstorming and working on their ideas, presented their prototypes to a panel of judges, in the persons of Hayford Siaw of Ghana Library Authority and Generational Unlimited Global Advisor; Gijs Bakker of Royal Netherlands Embassy to Ghana; Victoria Quaynor of Generation Unlimited Young People’s Action Team, Lady Omega Hammond of Ampersand Technologies Ltd., and Roberta Geraldine Amissah Allotey of Ecobank.
After much deliberations from the judges, five teams were chosen to advance into a more competitive challenge:
· Team Nexa will use creative skills to educate young people and create awareness about mental illness and create a mobile app to support persons affected by mental illness.
· SheaMe will start an agro-processing empowerment initiative using shea plant to produce oil, cream, balm and its residues to produce shoes, sandals and insulators.
· EmployDeaf will develop a business incubation program to train students with hearing disabilities on how to start a business, how to access funding, how to manage established businesses, and how to reach customers.
· Kideaf Girls Ambassadors will teach adolescent girls including those living with disabilities how to produce handmade pads and create awareness on menstrual hygiene management.
· ETATI (Empowered to achieve the impossible) will train people cured of leprosy skills to design bags, beads and local sandals to earn extra income and reduce dependency on donations from individuals and organizations.
The selected teams will each receive a financial contribution and a tailored incubation programme, which will include virtual and face-to-face mentorship that would support testing and finessing of solutions for 16 weeks, from December 2019 to May 2020.
The incubation period will lead up to the Global Generation Unlimited Youth Challenge in June - July 2020 which will see two teams from Ghana competing.
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