In efforts to support innovative youth entrepreneurs and facilitate knowledge management and exchange, UN Women, in collaboration with its partners, will host the Africa Youth Conference 2018 on 23 – 25 October 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya. The conference, under the theme of “Unleashing the Potential of Youth in Africa – Prioritizing Investment in Youth Development in the Post-2015 Agenda”, will offer a platform for young people and key stakeholders to showcase their work, share ideas, experiences and innovative approaches for effectively addressing youth challenges in Africa, with a special focus on addressing the challenges facing women and girls.
The SDG Challenge
Within the Africa Youth Conference 2018, UN Women partners with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to conduct a challenge and award grant financing to help African youth entrepreneurs to develop and implement their innovative solutions that address SDG challenges in their communities, especially those targeted at bridging the gender gap in their countries. The grants follow the Open Innovation Challenge of “YAS! Youth for Africa and SDGs” which UNDP implements in partnership with Accenture.
To get more, join Diplomacy Opportunities Facebook Group, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram
This Challenge invites African youth entrepreneurs to step forward to help realise the Goals of Africa: We call on young people, especially women and girls, to present us with their innovations for SDG attainment in their communities and countries across Africa. Areas of particular relevance for this Challenge include youth access to sustainable livelihoods, youth engagement in governance / political participation, leadership and decision making, as well as youth action in preventing violence and other harmful practices against young women and girls.
Winning entries will receive funding to develop, validate and scale innovative ideas. The grants will be awarded to entrepreneurs who would like to test their innovative solutions or grow existing ventures, as per the following categories:
Idea Stage: 5,000 USD (seed grants)
Growth Stage: 10,000 USD (scale grants)
The innovators selected for the funds will be acknowledged and presented with awards during the Africa Youth Conference in October 2018. In selected cases, UNDP and Accenture will also provide business development support to winning innovators, including access to mentors and capacity building to implement their solutions. From the applications, UN Women, in collaboration with UNDP, will also identify additional youth entrepreneurs that have particularly innovative solutions to also invite them to the Africa Youth Conference, where their ventures will be profiled and exhibited. So, even if you do not make it for the grants, you could still secure yourself a trip to Kenya to exchange with other youth innovators on your solutions to support the attainment
of the SDGs!
To get more, join Diplomacy Opportunities Facebook Group, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram
How to apply for the Challenge
To apply for the Challenge and stand a chance to win grant funding to pursue your entrepreneurship venture and/or profile your innovative idea/solution, fill and submit the form. In addition to your written response, you are encouraged to make multimedia submissions. This can include a short video (which can be recorded using a phone) narrating in a summary form your initiative or high-resolution action photographs of
the solution.
Click here to download the application form
Please fill out this form, save it and e-mail it to: procurement.et@undp.org and susan.kariuki@unwomen.org
Deadline: September 18, 2018
Eligibility for the Challenge
You are eligible for the Challenge if you answer “yes” to all of the following questions:
- Are you African, aged between 15 and 35 years?
- Do you have an innovative, replicable, scalable idea that could transform your community, country… or even Africa?
- Would you like to contribute towards the attainment of the SDGs and therein especially gender-related targets and indicators of SDG 1 (poverty), SDG 5 (gender equality and empowerment of women and girls), SDG 8 (decent employment) and SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure)?
- Do you have the passion to help Africa progress – but struggle to find the support you need to turn your idea into reality?
Diplomacy Opp 
I look forward for that time when many women will be free from marriage torture and be given a chance to work ,make decisions,which am sure if more open forums are set ,seminars,projects ment to be driven by women and girls they can for sure give their best and explain their challeges in marriage.
LikeLike
I have a dream and its on my mind and cant sleep. For I dream of a day when young girls whether educated, or drop outs or even not educated in a formative structure can still live to see their dreams! I dream a society free of torture, a protective community of her own future mothers. A community where women are not just raised for marriage alone but raised to build and see realities of their creation purpose as co heirs of the promises of God. My mind can’t stop fighting for naived girls and single mothers whose dreams have been shattered by early pregnancies.
LikeLike