UNICEF's GenU Partners Accenture Globally, Connecting 580,000 Youth to Skilling and Entrepreneurship

Expanded partnership will build on the success of Accenture’s original partnership with Generation Unlimited (GenU), which launched in 2021

UNICEF's Generation Unlimited (GenU) has announced a new phase of its global partnership with Accenture, aiming to connect 580,000 youth to skilling and earning opportunities. This four-year partnership, announced on International Youth Day 2024, builds on the success of their initial collaboration launched in 2021.

Key initiatives include:

imaGen Ventures: Connecting over 188,000 young people to entrepreneurial activities through grants, seed funding, and mentorship.

Youth Marketplace Agency (YOMA): Supporting over 300,000 marginalized youth in building skills to innovate on environmental challenges, re-enter education, find employment, or start businesses.

Passport to Earning (P2E): Providing free, certifiable, job-relevant skills to over 92,000 marginalized youth.

In this new phase of the partnership, Accenture is scaling up its support by providing US$7.8 million to drive impactful outcomes for young people in Brazil, Egypt, India, Philippines, South Africa and Türkiye.

Accenture's CEO of Growth Markets, Leo Framil, has also been appointed to GenU’s Board, further strengthening this partnership. With this appointment, Accenture will become one of GenU’s Founding Partners, a group of leaders that play an integral role in championing global skills development and mentorship.

This collaboration aims to empower young people with the skills needed to thrive in an evolving workforce.

This announcement comes as the world faces an urgent challenge: 1.8 billion young people are standing on the brink of adulthood. Yet, a staggering 60% of young people are projected to lack essential skills by 2030, putting their very prospects for dignified lives at risk. The long-term impacts of this crisis will ripple through our economies, communities, and societies, deepening inequality and locking young people out of the opportunities they need to build a better life.

Vikram Sarabhai Children Innovation Centre (VSCIC) Launched By GUSEC and UNICEF

The Vikram Sarabhai Children Innovation Centre (VSCIC) was launched today in a virtual ceremony organised by Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council (GUSEC), under the aegis of Gujarat University, with the support of UNICEF and Yuwaah. The Centre is projected to identify, nurture and support innovations by children in the state of Gujarat.

The Centre was launched in the presence of M Nagarajan, IAS, Director, Higher Education, Govt. of Gujarat; Jalpa Ratna, Chief of Field Services, UNICEF India; Jitendra Vijayvargiya, CEO, MeitY Startup Hub (MSH) Govt. of India; Prasanta Dash, Chief, UNICEF Gujarat; Prof Himanshu Pandya, Vice-Chancellor, Gujarat University; Dr Jagdish Bhavsar, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Gujarat University; Moira Dawa, Communication, Advocacy & Partnership Specialist, UNICEF and Rahul Bhagchandani, Group CEO, GUSEC; along with officials of Gujarat University, GUSEC and UNICEF.

The VSCIC is envisioned to take GUSEC, UNICEF and Yuwaah’s efforts in children innovation a step further and is being established after the quantified success of two editions of the Children Innovation Festival which collectively brought more than 3100 children in the fold of innovation. The following are the key activities planned under the VSCIC:

• Developing an online platform for the promotion of innovation amongst children and various stakeholders such as school teachers and parents
• Engaging and supporting ideas by children innovators on a rolling basis through the Vikram Sarabhai Incubator of Ideas
• Creation and amplification of inspiring stories of children innovators
• Implementation and delivery of a MOOC for children on innovation, design thinking and entrepreneurship
• Introduction of an in-person immersion program for school students, teachers and parents
• Capacity building of school teachers, principals and academicians on innovation and entrepreneurship development
• Partner with organisations to expand the reach of the VSCIC to children outside the formal education system.

M Nagarajan, IAS, Director, Higher Education, Govt. of Gujarat, delivered the keynote address during the event. “This is a time for us to enable a generation of problem solvers, a society where local youth solve local problems using local resources. The VSCIC is a big leap forward in that direction, giving children access to the real world, and enforcing belief in the idea that anyone can innovate,” he said in the keynote.

Delivering a Special Address during the inaugural event, Jalpa Ratna, Chief of Field Services, UNICEF India, pointed to the enormous potential of the large global youth population and said, “In Gujarat, nearly 30 percent of the population of 60 million is aged 10-24 years. In a world exacerbated by the pandemic, the Centre will not only create mass awareness on innovation, entrepreneurship, SDGs, child rights, 21st-century skills, career guidance among school children in India but it will also create dialogue and discussion with stakeholders to gather key inputs on current curriculum for policy-level interventions. It shall help their transition to real-world learning and help them become active citizens.”

Speakers in Virtual Ceremony of VSCIC

Applauding the move, Jitendra Vijayvargiya, CEO, MeitY Startup Hub of Ministry of Electronics and IT, said, "The children of today shall inherit the India of tomorrow. We’re witnessing a cultural shift where we do not celebrate our athletes and Bollywood actors, but unicorns and innovators. People have lived in a constrained framework of mind, but today, they’re not hesitant to create their own future which is synonymous with what our honourable Prime Minister has stated - the problem is not in the mind, but in the mindset."

Prasanta Das, UNICEF Gujarat Chief spoke about the accomplishments of UNICEF, GU and GUSEC’s synergetic alliance and the importance of empowering children innovation in the state. He said, “UNICEF is committed to ensuring all children have a right to survive, thrive and fulfil their potential – to the benefit of a better world. And the establishment of the Vikram Sarabhai Children Innovation Centre is a step in that direction. I wish you the very best as you move ahead in your journey of innovation and entrepreneurship.”

Prof Himanshu Pandya, Vice-Chancellor, Gujarat University said, “Named after Dr Vikram Sarabhai, a Gujarat University alumnus who put India on the world space exploration map, the VSCIC shall develop a network between school children and innovation; we aim to produce at least ten products out of the VSCIC.”

Rahul Bhagchandani, Group CEO, GUSEC said, “The Vikram Sarabhai Children Innovation Centre is the result of years of partnership between GUSEC, UNICEF and YuWaah as well as the massive interest we have seen from young kids who want to innovate and solve challenges of the country.”

Two Indian Startups among 8 Selected for funding from UNICEF CryptoFund

Two Indian tech startups - StaTwig and Avyantra Health Technologies -- both of them from Hyderabad, have been named under eight technology companies in developing and emerging economies that will receive investment from the UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund (CryptoFund) to solve local and global challenges.

While StaTwig is a T-Hub incubated startup, Avyantra Health Technologies was incubated at IIIT-Hyderabad.

This investments in startups (from seven countries) is UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund's largest investment of startups in developing and emerging economies, to date.

The CryptoFund will invest 125 ETH (Ether - equivalent to USD 28,741 approx) in the eight selected companies to develop prototypes, pilot, or scale their technologies over six months. Currently, at time of wrting this news, the price of 125 ETH.

Besides the Indian Startups, the other six startups selected for funding includes - Afinidata, Cireha, Ideasis, OS City, Somleng and Utopic.

Besides receiving cryptocurrency to continue the development of their open-source and digital public goods, the selected startups have previously received up to $100,000 from UNICEF’s Innovation Fund, a pooled funding vehicle of UNICEF for equity-free investments in early stage (seed) for-profit technology start-ups.

Besides funding, these investee startups will receive business growth mentorship, product, and technical assistance, open-source and UX and UI development, access to experts and partners, as well as opportunities to showcase their solutions.

“We are seeing the digital world come at us more quickly than we could have imagined – and UNICEF must be able to use all of the tools of this new world to help children today and tomorrow,” says Chris Fabian, Senior Adviser, co-Lead, UNICEF Ventures. “The transfer of these funds – to eight companies in seven countries around the world – took less than 20 minutes and cost us less than $20. Almost instant global movement of value, fees of less than 0.00009% of the total amount transferred, and real-time transparency for our donors and supporters are the types of tools we are excited about.”

Full list of 8 selected start-up companies under UNICEF CryptoFund -

• Afinidata (Guatemala) is further developing its AI-based app to provide parents with personalized early childhood educational activities.


• Avyantra (India) is expanding the functionality of its health app which uses data science to support frontline health workers in the early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis.


• Cireha (Argentina) is scaling the reach of its accessible app in three countries to help more children with speech impairments communicate using symbols.


• Ideasis (Turkey) is transitioning its exposure therapy tool from VR to WebVR to address anxieties and phobias from users’ homes. They will develop new therapy scenarios to address COVID-19 and isolation-related disorders.


• OS City (Mexico) is issuing blockchain-based government assets, heading towards issuing 1,000 blockchain IDs to allocate children’s educational diplomas.


• StaTwig (India) is piloting its blockchain-based app by partnering with the Government of India to track and improve the delivery of rice and support their effort to secure food for millions living in poverty – a need amplified by the onset of COVID-19.


• Somleng (Cambodia) is scaling its low-cost Interactive Voice Response platform by partnering with the Government of Cambodia to send vital information about COVID-19.


• Utopic (Chile) is transitioning its learning game from VR to WebVR and empowering educators to assess, track, and help improve children’s reading skills from their homes during COVID-19 containment measures and beyond.

Launched in October 2019, the UNICEF Cryptocurrency Fund is part of UNICEF’s ongoing work with blockchain technology. UNICEF co-leads the UN Innovation Network with WFP. The network is responsible for researching the potential and pitfalls of blockchain and other emerging technologies.

Currently,  the UNICEF Innovation Fund and CryptoFund have an open call for blockchain solutions to apply for funding (up to $100,000 and cryptocurrency combined) and mentorship.

READ MORE - www.unicef.org/innovation/applyBlockchainCrypto

Hyderabad Startup 'Statwig' Selected for UNICEF's 1st Cohort of Blockchain Investments

The United Nations’ charity arm for children, UNICEF, is funding research into blockchain technology and for same it has selected six companies in developing and emerging economies, which will together receive $100,000 as an investment from UNICEF's Innovation Fund to solve global challenges using blockchain technology, said UNICEF in a press release.

Among six selected companies, one of them 'StaTwig' is from India. Based out of Hyderabad and incubated at T-Hub, India's largest startup acclerator, StaTwig is an IoT (Internet of Things) and Blockchain startup innovating Cold-Chain space to prevent wastage of food and vaccines.

Founded in 2016, by Sid Chakravarthy, Statwig uses Blockchain and IoT to provide an end-to-end traceability of products from manufacturers to customers. The platform created by StaTwig that lets all parties involved in the supply chain track goods at all times and even be able to trace back to any point.

[caption id="attachment_127711" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Statwig Founder & CEO Sid Chakravarthy. Photo credit: Statwig.
(Via - TechInAsia.com)[/caption]

Statwig is also a graduate startup from Singaporean hardware accelerator Airmaker.

Statwig intends to use the investment from the UNICEF Innovation Fund to validate its solution and thereafter bring it to scale.

Besides Statwig, UNICEF will invest up to $100,000 USD in the five other companies -- Atix Labs, Onesmart, Prescrypto, Utopixar and W3 Engineers to deliver open-source prototypes of blockchain applications within 12-months.

• Atix Labs (Argentina) will develop a platform for small to medium-sized enterprises to gain access to funding while creating traceability into where the funds are used and measuring the impact.



• Onesmart (Mexico) will address the misappropriation of funds in emerging markets with the scale of its prototype application, which ensures the delivery of state-provided social services to children and young people.



• Prescrypto (Mexico) will provide a digital solution to the lack of electronic prescriptions in developing countries with a platform that allows medical services providers to view one common history of a patient, and improve the level of care.



• Statwig (India) will use blockchain solutions to ensure the efficient delivery of vaccines through an enhanced supply-chain management system.



• Utopixar (Tunisia) will deliver a social collaboration tool for communities and organisations to facilitate participative decision-making and value transfer.



• W3 Engineers (Bangladesh), will improve connectivity within the refugee and migrant communities through an offline mobile networking platform without the use of sim cards and internet connection.

The investments are part of a broader program which already funds 20 technology startups, according to a press release.

Selected from more than 100 applications across 50 countries, these six companies will build prototypes and systems for global problems like transparency in health-care delivery, affordable access to mobile phone connectivity, and the ability to direct finances and resources to social-impact projects. They join 20 other technology startups currently under management by the Fund in fields from data science and machine learning, to virtual reality, to drones.

“Blockchain technology is still at an early stage -- and there is a great deal of experimentation, failure, and learning ahead of us as we see how, and where, we can use this technology to create a better world,” said Chris Fabian, Principal Adviser, UNICEF Innovation. “That's exactly the stage when UNICEF Innovation Fund invests: when our financing, technical support, and focus on vulnerable populations can help a technology grow and mature in the most fair and equitable way possible."

These investments are part of UNICEF's larger blockchain explorations of using smart-contracts for organizational efficiencies, creating distributed decision-making processes, and working to build knowledge and understanding of distributed ledger technology both in the United Nations and in the countries where UNICEF works.

In addition to funding the start-up companies, UNICEF’s Innovation Fund will provide product and technology assistance, support with business growth, and access to a network of experts and partners. The Fund also actively seeks second-round investment and support for companies it has invested in, as well as the opportunity to scale-up these technologies, when they are successful, in the more than 190 countries and territories where UNICEF operates.