By Alhaji Haruna Sani
In a bid to enhance the leadership capacity of young women and develop sustainable solutions to challenges such as child marriage, gender-based violence, and economic inequality, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Sierra Leone, in partnership with the Ministry of Youth Affairs (MOYA), has kicked off a regional workshop for the Young Women’s Innovation Challenge.
The initiative is designed to train and support selected groups of young female innovators as they design and implement impactful projects in their communities over the course of one year.
The initiative followed an open call for applications from August 12th to September 9th, 2024, nearly 300 young women’s groups from across the country submitted proposals. After a thorough review process, 73 groups were selected to participate in regional workshops.
These workshops, currently underway, focus on training the participants in proposal development and teaching them how to effectively pitch their ideas.
At the conclusion of the workshop series, 25 groups will be awarded NLe 25,000 each to implement their community-based projects.
During the opening event held at the Family Kingdom Resort on October 14th, UNFPA’s Communications Officer-in-Charge, Islander Kabia, highlighted that the Innovation Challenge was launched to support and promote young female leaders in Sierra Leone.
She explained that the program aims to harness the creativity, resilience, and leadership skills of young women, encouraging them to spearhead community-led innovations that improve the lives of women and youth across the country.
Kabia noted that the initiative focuses on empowering young women to lead in areas such as entrepreneurship and income generation, improving health services for youth, ending gender-based violence and child marriage, reducing teenage pregnancy, addressing female genital mutilation, preventing drug and substance abuse, and implementing other strategic initiatives to empower women.
Minister of Youth Affairs, Mohamed Orman Bangura, praised UNFPA for its continued support of Sierra Leone’s youth, particularly young women. Reflecting on his leadership experience, he emphasized that women are best positioned to solve the problems faced by women, while men should offer support.
He also pledged to engage other development partners, including the European Union and the World Bank, to further back the young women’s initiative.
Bangura applauded the government’s ongoing efforts to promote women’s empowerment, which have earned global recognition for the first family.
He assured the participants that even those who are not selected among the final 25 groups will still have access to future opportunities through MOYA and UNFPA.
UNFPA Country Representative, Nadia Rashid, lauded the Youth Ministry for its partnership in realizing the vision of the Innovation Challenge.
She emphasized that the challenge seeks to elevate women’s leadership by enabling young women to design and implement meaningful, sustainable solutions to the pressing issues affecting youth in Sierra Leone.
Rashid congratulated the shortlisted participants and encouraged them to stay resilient in building their skills and engaging in networking during and beyond the event.
She explained that the groups will refine their proposals and learn how to effectively present them through pitching sessions. The top-performing groups from each district will advance to the final pitch event, where they will compete for funding and recognition.
The Innovation Challenge provides young women-led groups with capacity building, mentorship from female leaders and experts, and networking opportunities.
Yesterday’s workshop was concluded with key proposals addressing issues such as teenage pregnancy and challenges faced by inmates. Similar workshops will follow in Bo and Makeni.
