African Startups can apply for UNFPA’s Climate HackLab Project

UNFPA East and Southern Africa, in partnership with Safeguard Young People Programme, has announced the ‘Climate HackLab’ project, which aims to empower young people to be game-changers and drivers of a sustainable green future.

The program aims to drive young minds aged between 14 and 35 with smart innovations that will help build resilience during times of adverse climate events in their communities or ideas that have the potential to be scaled up in East and Southern Africa.

Specifically, the program will consider innovative solutions in the following areas:

• The innovative solution that supports the empowerment and/or adaptive capacity of women, girls, young people, or marginalized groups in hotspot areas affected by climate change.
• The innovative solution that promotes the involvement of young people, women, and marginalized groups in program design to help in the delivery of sexual and reproductive health and rights issues in climate change-affected areas.
• The innovative solution promotes access to health services, including sexual and reproductive health services.
• Innovation that promotes the protection of women, girls, and young people from harmful practices such as child marriage, early marriage, and gender-based violence.
• Innovation that promotes protection systems to prevent and minimize acts of violence, such as sexual exploitation and gender-based violence in emergency settings.
• Innovation tools that promote knowledge of sexual and reproductive health and rights, gender, and climate change issues.

Two winners will be selected from the challenge with each winner receiving $10,000 in seed money and business support services. The two winners will be matched with a business incubation/acceleration partner to support the business growth.

Application for the program is open until 31 July 2021. Interested startups and individuals can submit project innovations or ideas here.