The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and Kenyan startup accelerator, Nailab, have partnered to launch an accelerator project focused on promoting youth sexual reproductive health and rights.
They’re calling it Innovation Accelerator (or iAccelerator for short) and it’s part of UNFPA’s East and Southern African initiative funded by UKAID.
iAccelerator is an opportunity for youths in Kenya to discuss, learn and understand their sexuality and sexual reproductive health by engaging with the right sources of information in a safe environment free from stigmatization.
The project was developed with the support of the National Council for Population and Development (NCPD) and the Kenyan Ministry of Health in order to align with national priorities and contribute to the realization of Vision 2030.
Talking about the launch, Regional Director for UNFPA East and Southern Africa, Dr. Julitta Onabanjo said, “Within the context of a rapidly evolving development and aid environment, it has become increasingly clear that UNFPA can no longer do business as usual. As the East and Southern Africa region strives to deliver excellence for the women, girls and young people we serve, innovation and out-of-the-box thinking will change the way we deliver programmes for years to come.”
She continued by saying, “The Innovation Accelerator provides an opportunity for the youth of our region to generate creative, market-based and context appropriate solutions to development challenges, while creating income-generating opportunities for young people in the process”
According to statistics provided by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and the National AIDS Control Council (NACC) in 2014, more than 29,000 young people between the ages of 15-24 get infected with HIV every year. One in every five teenage girl have begun motherhood (with approximately 13,000 dropping out of school each year to raise their kids) and nearly half of all abortion-related complications occur among girls below 25 years.
These are pretty depressing statistics and Nailab founder, Sam Gichuru hopes to solve the problems that affect Kenyan youths. In his words, “We envisage that the solutions to the vast challenges faced by young people in matters of sexuality and sexual reproductive health lie in their hands and in technology,”
“Data has been the primary anchor on which this acceleration program has been established. The power of customer centered solutions lies in the provision of data to innovators and consumers alike. Our passion is to not only catalyze the development of commercially viable businesses but more so businesses heavily invested in improving our societies’ wellbeing. This is indeed a labour of love for Nailab,” he added.
iAccelerator will run from August till November 2016 but will be preceded by the campaign, I.AM, through which young people will be called upon to own and engage in the conversation.
Four social enterprises led by young entrepreneurs will be picked to join the iAccelerator and they will go through 2 months of training, mentoring and assistance. They will also undergo an added 2 months of support during which training, mentorship and seed-funding of KSH 1,000,000 will be made available based on achievement of pre-agreed business milestones.
