UNESCO workshop in Tajikistan to encourage youth to develop mobile apps to serve SDGs

The workshop’s aim is to increase capacities of young people in developing mobile applications for solving problems relevant to the local communities of the Sughd region based on the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The UNESCO YouthMobile Initiative was launched globally in 2014 and is currently deploying projects worldwide. It empowers its students with the capacity to develop mobile phone applications, promoting bottom-up approaches to innovation and youth involvement.

The YouthMobile UNESCO Initiative leverages computer science education and the widespread availability of mobile phones to empower its students. Young girls and boys are introduced to coding as both a resource to solve local issues and as a tool to develop complex learning skills. Students are encouraged to develop, promote and eventually sell mobile applications as the key to ensure sustainable development.

YouthMobile is strongly committed to the Sustainable Development Goals, in particular Goal 10 on reducing inequalities. It promotes the creation of inclusive digital societies and it strives to unlock the potential of women in ICT, fostering gender equality. It supports the creation of positive socio-economic cycles and it tackles unemployment challenges with a special focus on the African continent. The Initiative has been recognized as a flagship UNESCO Initiative.

The YouthMobile Initiative’s comprehensive training also involves boosting self-confidence and creativity, breaking stereotypes and gender norms and enjoying the act of learning.

In June, over 600 young women and men graduated from YouthMobile project in Nigeria. Over 135 mobile apps were developed by enthusiastic students, showing the innovative ideas, entrepreneurship and creativity of the young people in Nigeria.

“I encourage you to use the skills you had acquired to build the world you want to see”, said UNESCO’s Regional Director Yao Ydo congratulating the Nigerian students at their graduation. He also invited them to learn from each other and to promote African values for solidarity, hospitality and mutual support. “UNESCO”, he added, “will continue to engage and collaborate with young women and men, in promoting peace, preventing violent extremism”, reiterating UNESCO’s commitment towards building Peace, through Education, the Sciences and Culture.

In Uzbekistan, UNESCO YouthMobile Contest attracted young developers, who are between 18 and 30 years old. A mobile application that promotes recycling habits received first prize.

The contest , organized within the framework of UNESCO’s YouthMobile Initiative for empowering young women and men, challenged the participants to propose solutions addressing local issues linked to United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).