Nairobi, 11th December 2023 – In a thrilling end to the Youth Connekt Africa Summit 2023, twenty-two-year-old Selma Ndasilohenda Iyambo of Namibia and twenty-nine-year-old Tapiwa Penama, from Malawi, emerged as the winners of the UNFPA Mental Health and Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (ASRHR) Innovation HackLab.
The announcement was made at the summit's closing ceremony, in the presence of His Excellency Rigathi Gachagua, the Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya.
Ms. Iyambo's winning idea, 'Sex Talks,' takes the form of a youth-centric podcast dedicated to delivering essential SRHR and mental health insights to young Namibians. The platform not only encourages open dialogue but also fosters connections between youth and experts for additional support.
Additionally, Ms. Penama's initiative, 'Tilitonse,' serves as a comprehensive one-stop center providing crucial sexual and reproductive health, mental health, and psychosocial support to vulnerable youth within Malawi's Dzaleka refugee camp. Recognizing the impact of these ideas, each solution will receive $20,000 in seed funding and enterprise support from UNFPA.
Supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the UNFPA HackLab is a crowdsourcing platform targeting youth-led social innovation solutions geared towards enhancing mental health and ASRHR, across the East and Southern Africa region.
and UNDP Regional Director for Africa Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa present a $20,000 cheque to winner Selma Iyambo of Namibia
Ten finalists drawn from Malawi, Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini, Mozambique, South Africa, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, and Rwanda competed for the top prize at a pitch event held on the sidelines of the Youth Connekt Africa Summit 2023. Some of the ideas pitched included mobile applications, chatbots, and the creative use of art and games to deliver information and services to the youth. In awarding top place to ‘Sex Talks and ‘ Tilintose,’ the panel of expert judges cited the two winning solutions for their unique approach to tackling the challenges young people face concerning their sexual and reproductive health as well as their mental health.
“Young people are often shy to speak about issues of sex and reproductive health and have few places to turn to when they need information,” said Ms. Iyambo. “I feel privileged to be able to build a platform where youth are free to ask questions and get the support they need to make informed choices and build healthy lives.”
During the awards ceremony, the UNFPA Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Ms. Lydia Zigomo congratulated the HackLab winners on their innovative solutions and pledged UNFPA’s commitment to advancing youth-led solutions that advance sexual and reproductive health and rights on the continent.
The UNFPA Innovation HackLab has so far awarded more than USD 200,000 to nine innovators across Africa. These innovators cover issues ranging from climate change, harmful practices, early and unintended pregnancies, and now mental health and sexual and reproductive health and rights. They include a mobile application built to track school attendance by girls most at risk of undergoing FGM in Kenya, and a femtech startup providing girls and women in South Africa with access to menstrual health information and services, including locally manufactured and affordable sanitary products.
