The Grandmother Project - Change Through Culture (Senegal), Gender Mobile Initiative (Nigeria) and Kidogo (Kenya), are among the 15 finalists for this year's WISE Awards - the education flagship initiative of Qatar Foundation. The winners will be announced in September 2022.
The projects have been selected for their innovative and impactful approaches to today's most urgent education challenges. Each year, the WISE Awards recognize and promote innovative projects from around the world that are addressing global educational challenges.
The 15 WISE Awards finalists hail from 10 countries and were selected by a pre-Jury of international experts. The projects were selected from a pool of 500 submissions evaluated according to strict criteria. Selected projects must be established, innovative educational projects that have already demonstrated a transformative impact on individuals, communities, and society of their context. They also need to be financially stable, have a clear development plan, and be scalable and replicable.
The Grandmother Project
In Senegal, completion rates for primary and secondary school are very low, especially for girls. Families are less motivated to send their children to school when children are taught foreign values rather than learning about deeply-rooted cultural values and traditions that communities cherish. Grandmother Project – Change through Culture, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education implements a program called "Teachers and Grandmothers Join Hands to Promote Values Education". In more than 60 schools, with 9,400 students,300 grandmothers collaborate with teachers to transmit positive cultural values to children, creating a bridge between tradition and modernity.
Mamadou Coulibaly, Community Developer for Grandmother Project states: "We are honored to be a WISE Awards finalist for our values education work using grandmothers in schools to transmit positive cultural values to younger generations. Senegal, like other African countries, is plagued by a loss of cultural identity and values. Our innovative grandmother-inclusive approach can inspire other countries to use this abundant resource to address an urgent problem – the grandmothers. We believe that this recognition will facilitate sharing our unique and culturally-grounded approach with others in Africa and beyond."
Kidogo
In Kenya's urban informal settlements, women are often left with the choice between pulling older siblings out of school or seeking informal babycares that are often overcrowded and under-resourced, to care for their children, which often puts younger children in risk of neglect in their most important years. Childcare Social Franchising by Kidogo was developed to support women as entrepreneurs to run their own early childhood centers, enabling young children to receive quality education and care. Kidogo is now the largest childcare network in Kenya, with 538 franchises reaching 11,000 children.
Sabrina Habib, CEO and Co-Founder of Kidogo commented: "We're thrilled to be selected as a WISE Awards Finalist. Being part of this community helps bring visibility to the 350 million children worldwide who lack access to quality, affordable childcare. It also recognizes the difficult and honourable work that the early childhood workforce does every day to shape the brains of the future leaders of our world."
Campus Safety Initiative
In Nigeria, 70% of female graduates from tertiary institutions report to have been sexually harassed in schools, according to a World Bank Survey. Campus Safety Initiative by Gender Mobile Initiative helps tertiary institutions address this issue through innovative anti-sexual harassment policies, technology adoption and pro-active by-stander intervention. The CampusPal Mobile app provides a safe space for students while also educating faculty members. At the same time, the by-stander intervention component responsibilizes and
develops people's ability to identify and intervene in these situations. Since its inception three years ago, the project has reached 50,000 members of campus communities.
Omowumi Ogunrotimi, Lead Director of Gender Mobile Initiative said: "My innovation addresses an educational challenge that is global and epidemic in proportion. Being a WISE Awards Finalist is a huge validation of our social impact model as one that is solving one of the world's most pressing educational challenges which is not often not prioritized. Being a Finalist offers a value-based community and I am thrilled to be a part of it."
Proven solutions, addressing key challenges
Stavros N. Yiannouka, CEO of WISE, said: "The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the intrinsic value of education to individuals and society as a whole. It also further highlighted the urgent need for innovation in education. Despite the best (often heroic) efforts of educators and policymakers around the world, school closures and the shift to remote learning resulted in significant learning loss and increased incidence of mental health issues for both learners and teachers alike. Moreover, challenges old and new, from geopolitical conflicts to the climate crisis, loom on the horizon and demand innovative solutions where education is expected to play an integral part.
In this context, the work celebrated by the WISE Awards is critically important in highlighting the possibilities offered by innovation in education. Each of the 2022 finalists have developed and implemented effective, proven solutions that address key challenges. Whether ensuring access to quality early childhood education, imparting skills and practices
for the jobs of tomorrow, or empowering youth through climate action, each project is transforming lives and reaching those most in need."
More information about Wise Awards 2022 can be found here
Featured Photo: Courtsey of Grandmother Project – Change through Culture (Elders share positive values with younger generations)
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