SDG Innovation Challenge
Advancing Sustainable Development Pan-Africa
SDG Innovation Challenge - Advancing Sustainable Development Pan-Africa
The SDG Innovation Challenge is a virtual ideation marathon for motivated young people from across Africa to come together in developing and connecting practical solution ideas for challenges faced by their local communities at the grassroots level.
Our Three-Fold Approach to Advancing Agenda 2030
The SDG Innovation Challenge fosters change through:
Awareness: Building applied knowledge of the SDGs and understanding global challenges in diverse contexts.
Responsibility: Cultivating ethical leadership and collaborative approaches to shared challenges.
Action: Equipping participants with tools and skills to drive local impact and contribute to global progress.
Launched in 2020, the SDG Innovation Challenge is a 48-hour marathon uniting Africa's brightest minds to develop grassroots solutions to global issues. Interdisciplinary teams of 4-7 participants collaborate to create impactful ideas, with winning teams earning incentives, support, and a chance to present at the African Youth SDGs Summit.
The Genesis
The SDG Innovation Challenge emerged in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic as a response to global disruption, emphasizing the need for renewed focus on Agenda 2030.
Inspired by the values of SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals), the Melton Foundation, in collaboration with the African Youth SDGs Summit, launched this initiative to foster interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation across Africa, advancing sustainable development through collective action.
Our Audience
The SDG Innovation Challenge is open to passionate young SDG practitioners, advocates, and leaders across Africa. It provides a platform for grassroots-driven ideators eager to create change in their communities and beyond. Contestants collaborate across diverse geographies and domains, fostering teamwork and holistic solutions to advance the SDGs.
The African Youth SDGs Summit
The SDG Innovation Challenge and The African Youth SDGs Summit strategically intersect - in their goals, themes and motivation.
The African Youth SDGs Summit is Africa’s largest youth forum on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The Summit challenges young participants to adopt the mindset of SDG activists and leading decision-makers so as to evolve as a change-agent reflectively. Through an open debate on the youth’s role in implementing and monitoring the SDGs, envisaging innovations that unlock the road towards achieving the SDGs and networking with leaders, organizations and other key stakeholders in the Summit, the youth undergo a metamorphosis as young, motivated and passionate SDG leaders.
Aligned with the theme and focus areas of the African Youth SDGs Summit, the SDG Innovation Challenge aspires to engage 100+ participants from across Africa to yield 25+ solution ideas. A jury of renowned experts and practitioners in the respective areas as well as youth advocates, will evaluate these ideas to identify the most viable proposals / Start-Up Solutions in pre-specified categories, based on the focus areas of the event, for continued support. The top 3 solution ideas and the respective awards will be announced during the summit, where the winning teams will have the opportunity to present their solution idea on a pan-African forum.
Editions
SDG Innovation Challenge 2020
SDG Innovation Challenge 2021
Almost 250 young, passionate SDG practitioners, advocates and leaders pan-Africa participated in last year's SDG Innovation Challenge, and formed part of an interdisciplinary team to produce innovative solutions to advance the Sustainable Development Goals beyond the COVID-19 pandemic!
Participants developed solution ideas, competed for an opportunity to present at the prestigious AYSDG Summit 2020, and more!
For young people, and especially for vulnerable youth, the COVID-19 crisis poses considerable risks in the fields of education, employment, mental health, and more. To involve young people in building societal resilience and reduce intergenerational inequalities, the 2021 iteration converged young talent from multiple disciplines under the theme.Youth resilience in the Covid-19 era: Pathways to accelerate actions towards achieving SDGs.
SDG Innovation Challenge 2022
Thousands of young Africans accepted the invitation to encompass collaborative ways of advancing sustainable development under the theme Transformative Solutions against Global Challenges – Accountability in Leveraging Youth Action to Create and Empower. The Organizers embrace the unprecedented turn-out to further the program’s capacity to connect, empower and transform youth-led SDG Innovations at scale.
A unique pan-African innovation space that scripts SDG success stories!
Applications for the SDG Innovation Challenge 2024 open in August 2024.
Here's how you can join us in building and leveraging youth capacity towards SDG action.
Organizers & Partners
Embracing SDG 17 - Partnership for the Goals, the SDG Innovation Challenge is a collaborative efforts of numerous local, regional, and global organizations, including the following:
Melton Foundation
Co-Organizer
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The Melton Foundation has been a prominent organization working in the field of global citizenship for more than 25 years. We believe in drawing the wisdom of multiple cultures to shape fresh and creative narratives of global citizenship. In consonance with our endeavor to ‘Think Global, Act Local’ we collaborate on numerous projects and programs around the world to enable global citizenship as a way for individuals and organizations to work together across boundaries of place and identity to address global challenges and advance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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Learn more about us here.
GrassRoots Hub
Co-Organizer
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GrassRoots Hub Ghana is an eco-entrepreneurship and SDGs Innovation Lab with a global community of grassrooters sharing and generating insights and ideas to ensure impact from local communities to a global level. GrassRoots educate, innovate and incubate start-ups and connect accelerators to leading companies, research institutions, foundations, non-profits, and investors.
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Learn more about GrassRoots Hub Ghana here.
TECHFARM Hub
Co-Organizer
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TECHFARM Hub is an Innovation and Business Development Hub promoting disruptive knowledge, mindset, skills, technologies and resources to upscale young Innovators, Entrepreneurs, Agripreneurs and Startups solve pertinent challenges and become productive and profitable.
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Learn more about TECHFARM Hub Ghana here.
Youth Advocates Ghana
Co-Organizer
Youth Advocates Ghana (YAG) is a Ghana-based NPO dedicated to restoring hope, educating and improving the well-being of vulnerable children, young people and their communities. Among different projects and initiatives, YAG has been spearheading the organization of the African Youth SDGs Summit, a Africa-wide advocacy platform to further SDG awareness and attainment.
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Learn more about Youth Advocates Ghana here.
Partner
The African Youth SDGs Summit is Africa’s largest youth forum on the Sustainable Development Goals. Launched in 2017, the Summit has evolved to bring together a multi-sector coalition of youth, development experts, government and UN entities, NGOs and the private sector to create the Africa we want together.
On 4-5 November 2020, the 3rd African Youth Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit will convene again: this time, on the world’s largest stage!
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For more information and to register, click here.