UNICEF Innovation

At #AfricaSkillsWeek, Thomas Davin, Global Director of UNICEF Office of Innovation, joined an incredible group of thinkers, builders, and changemakers in discussing “Innovating for the Transformation of Education on the Continent 3.0”, hosted by the African Union Commission and masterfully moderated by Chigozie Emmanuel Okonkwo.    📚 250 million children are out of school and nearly a third are in Sub-Saharan Africa.     🎒 32 million children with a disability are currently deprived of education.     🧒🏾 70% of 10-year-olds in low- and middle-income countries can’t read a simple story for meaning- that’s 90% in Sub-Saharan Africa.    🌡️ Nearly 1 billion children face extreme climate risks that threaten their right to learn.    These sobering truths highlight that education in crisis contexts is not just a learning issue, it’s a generational emergency.    Amidst these challenges lies extraordinary opportunity. Advances in technology, innovation, and collective creativity can help us reimagine what learning looks like and make it inclusive, relevant, and resilient.    At UNICEF Innovation, we’re proud to work alongside African governments, the African Union and their Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation Gaspard Banyankimbona and Director Saidou Madougou, partners, and the private sector to turn this vision into reality. The morning sessions underlined a range of directions which could underpin true traction for us all, jointly, to leverage true progress in learning outcomes for all learners, including: For digital education to be the game changer it can be, we must connect all schools to internet. Through our partnership with International Telecommunication Union around the Giga initiative, we hope to turbocharge further progress on this across all countries on the continent that may need it. Digital Education as a clear comprehensive national strategy, anticipating the “Total cost of business” – ie from connectivity to devices, to teachers training, to edtech costs.  The power of -and to- the educators. Millions of teachers are already championing lifelong efforts to impact knowledge to their students, in and out of schools. We now have extremely powerful tools to empower them to be at the heart of the change we seek to leverage. Giving children and youth the tools to become change leaders and entrepreneurs, and have the skills to define their own future. From Project Alpha in Ethiopia using innovative finance and renewable energy to sustain health, water, and education systems, to the Africa Drone and Data Academy, FunDoo, and the UNICEF Game Changers Coalition, we are seeing how young people across Africa are driving digital, green, and creative transformation. Huge thanks to panelists Mazoughou Goépogui, Therese K Keita, Natnael Argaw Wondimu, and Apiwe Hotele for their powerful reflections, and to the African Union for convening this critical dialogue on the future of education and skills in Africa. 

According to the World Health Organization, air pollution is the biggest global environmental risk factor to human health, contributing to 100 deaths of children under 5 in East Asia and the Pacific daily.      UNICEF Office of Innovation is collaborating with climate innovators like Achim Haug, founder of AirGradient Ltd. to adopt and scale locally developed open-source solutions that help improve outcomes for children and their communities.  Our collaboration and partnership with Arm, UNICEF Laos and the Government of Lao PDR, led to the installation of 148 AI powered air quality monitoring sensors in schools across Laos.  Read the The New York Times article by Preeti Jha to find out more https://lnkd.in/dpTBUFuU Plans are underway to scale this initiative further and provide real-time air pollution data to decision-makers to better protect children from harmful pollution. Click here to find more about how UNICEF is addressing air pollution with and for children and young people. 👉🏽 https://lnkd.in/djynHXRf    UNICEF East Asia and Pacific

“Technology is only as effective as the people using it,” says Jahid Hossen Shahed from UNICEF Bangladesh.     Jahid is leading the Vaccine Intelligence Network (VaxIN), a blockchain-based tech solution in Bangladesh that strengthens vaccine supply chains and improves data accuracy.    Read his insights and reflection about how this initiative is supporting millions of children. 🧒🏽     Find out more 👉🏽https://lnkd.in/dXzQzVvv  

📣 Last call for our UNICEF Climate Innovation Challenge.  ⌛ Deadline to apply is 21 October.  🚨 Get your application in now.  👉🏽 https://lnkd.in/dkUsuvvB  Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), India Health Fund

Shared purpose is key to impactful partnerships.   Bitget and UNICEF, through the Game Changers Coalition are equipping young people with the skills they need to leverage frontier technology like blockchain to shape an equitable digital future.   This week, Vugar Usi Zade, COO, Bitget and Sunita Grote, Lead, UNICEF Ventures discussed the vast potential of the expansion and strength of blockchain ecosystems in emerging economies. During their fireside chat at #GitexGlobal, they discussed their shared commitment to equip and enable girls, women and other underrepresented communities through blockchain and the importance of initiatives and solutions improving their financial inclusion.   Find out more about blockchain solutions bridging equity gaps and improving economic participation in humanitarian contexts.     👉🏽 https://lnkd.in/dvHrSqbd #BlockchainForGood #DiversityInTech GITEX GLOBAL Largest Tech & Startup Show in the World

Young people's voices are key to reimagining mental health support.     Karolinska Institutet, Public Health Section and UNICEF Innovation engaged in an intergenerational discussion on how innovation can expand access to care for children, adolescents, caregivers, and frontline workers.     Together, we explored UNICEF’s approach to innovation:    🌍 Using new tools and methods to accelerate impact.  👧🏽 Co-creating solutions with children and young people, not just for them.  💬 Scaling through evidence, partnerships, and local adaptation.      A big thank you to the KI community for the thoughtful exchange and shared commitment to a more compassionate world.      #WorldMentalHealthDay #MentalHealth #InnovationForImpact #GlobalHealth #YouthEngagement

As demands for AI skills grow, a new US program is helping parents guide their children through the digital era. Find out more from Sandy Carter in Forbes, here: https://lnkd.in/gZwrKQDh Want to learn more about EdTech tools to guide young learners? Visit our Learning Cabinet to find out more 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/dbW9atdE  The Cabinet is a curated selection of rigorously evaluated learning tools offering clear insights into what works, where and why; developed in collaboration with support from Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Asian Development Bank (ADB), Arm and leading EdTech experts.

This #DayOfTheGirl, we’re celebrating the brilliant girls and young women who are coding, designing, storytelling and problem-solving their way toward a more inclusive digital world. 🌍💪 From Nare in 🇦🇲 Armenia, who built her own video game to rewrite the rules of representation, to Darlene in 🇰🇪 Kenya, who taught herself to code in Kakuma refugee camp, these young innovators are proving that girls don’t just play the game, they change it. 🎮 Through UNICEF initiatives like the UNICEF Game Changers Coalition, Tinkering with Tech, Giga, and UPSHIFT, UNICEF Innovation is equipping girls everywhere with the digital capital, tools and resources to build the future. ✨ Here’s to girls who innovate, imagine and inspire us all 👏 👏🏼 👏🏽 👏🏾 👏🏿 https://lnkd.in/dayj9Qfa #GirlGoals #IDG2025

“The gender health gap is a reality that affects millions of women every day, from longer diagnostic delays to poorer health outcomes,” writes Dr Ariella Heffernan-Marks.     This crisis inspired the creation of Ovum AI- the 1st AI health partner designed specifically for women. Read more in Forbes Australia 👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/dtMnvRZn      At UNICEF, we believe that investing in femtech is key to stronger economies and healthier communities. Learn more about how the UNICEF Venture Fund identifies and invests in women- and girl-centric solutions  👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/eisn-v-Q