Member Article

UNICEF Innovation Award Winner to inspire next generation of young women in Liverpool

Liverpool first hackathon on UN Sustainable Development Goals to be hosted by Senegalese-British Tech Entrepreneur and Founder of African- led global movement iamtheCODE.org in Partnership with Unilever.

Senegalese-British Tech Entrepreneur, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation & UNICEF Innovation Award Winning Goalkeeper 2017, Mariéme Jamme is to launch iamtheCODE, the first African-led global movement for STEAMD (science, technology, engineering, mathematics, Arts and Design) Education for girls and women in Liverpool.

Unilever and iamtheCODE.org are joining forces to host a series of events related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. The first of the hackathons across the UK will take place in Liverpool this Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th of June 2018 at Unilever Offices at Wood St, Birkenhead, Wirral CH62 4UY.

To help address the STEAMED (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics, Entrepreneurship, and Design) skills shortage in the most deprived communities in the UK, and to inspire the next generation of young women both organizations have invited girls and Unilever employees to ‘decode’ the Sustainable Development Goals;

Creating synergies between employees and young girls to decode the UN Sustainable Development Goals, not only inform but also educate. The events are aligned with Unilever’s vision of a new way of doing business – one that delivers growth by serving society and the planet. Together both organization aims to foster economic empowerment and inclusion through technology.

About iamtheCODE

iamtheCODE is the first African-led global movement to mobilise government, private sector, civil society and philanthropic foundations to advance STEAMED (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics, Entrepreneurship, and Design) Education.

Its goal is to mobilize multi-stakeholders to invest in future technologies that can drive sustainable opportunities and development for marginalized girls in society. It aims to enable 1 million women and girl coders by 2030 and give them the skills they will need in the future in order to find decent and good work.

A fundamental pillar of iamtheCODE’s work is the empowerment of women and girls across the world, a key target of SDG #5. iamtheCODE is a unique movement of direct action for the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to improve economic outcomes for women and girls.

A lack of data (on gender issues and the inclusion of women) is a huge challenge that faces initiatives looking to promote gender equality and improve women’s livelihoods through tech and innovation. In empowering a generation of one million women and girl coders by 2030, iamtheCODE will also measure the indicators of the Goals and track their progress.

“At the end of the two days, amazing young girls will build innovative solutions related to the Sustainability Development Goals, get inspired, be included and have lots of fun,” says Mariéme Jamme, founder of iamtheCODE.

The iamtheCODE Hackathon will contain 4 tracks and challenges addressing Goal 4, Goal 5, Goal 14 and Goal 17 (Quality Education, Gender Equality, Life Below Water and Global Partnerships). Our carefully selected tracks will give an opportunity to girls, employees, geeks, innovators, do-gooders, subject matters experts, with different skill sets ranging from coding, app building and data analysis to design solutions related to achievement of the SDGs.

Over 60 young girls will be invited to be bold and ambitious and put the SDGs into real action, and Unilever will work with iamtheCODE in its capacity as a leader in consumer goods to bring together creative minds, mentors, and speakers.

Engaging young women and girls on the #SDGs through technology and innovation enables a platform for data sharing. iamtheCODE believes in fostering a better understanding of the role women and girls will play in the data revolution. The Hackathon will act as a kickstarter to partner with Unilever, recruit young women into iamtheCODE Digital Clubs in more communities, and ensure greater inclusivity by aiming for 60% by women and girls at the event.

The best ideas from the girls will be developed and supported through local incubation programmes, mentoring and further co-creation of activities with partners in the United Kingdom and Africa. Prizes include Computer Kits and Tee-shirts.

About Unilever    Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of Beauty & Personal Care, Home Care, and Foods & Refreshment products with sales in over 190 countries and reaching 2.5 billion consumers a day. It has 161,000 employees and generated sales of €53.7 billion in 2017. Over half (57%) of the company’s footprint is in developing and emerging markets. Unilever has more than 400 brands found in homes all over the world, including Persil, Dove, Knorr, Domestos, Hellmann’s, Lipton, Wall’s, PG Tips, Ben & Jerry’s, Magnum and Lynx.

Unilever’s Sustainable Living Plan underpins the company’s strategy and commits to:    • Helping more than a billion people take action to improve their health and wellbeing by 2020 • Halving the environmental impact of our products by 2030 • Enhancing the livelihoods of millions of people by 2020 • Improving Health and well-being for more than 1 billion    The USLP creates value by driving growth and trust, eliminating costs and reducing risks. The company’s sustainable living brands are growing 50% faster than the rest of the business and delivered more than 60% of the company’s growth in 2016.

Unilever was ranked number one in its sector in the 2017 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In the FTSE4Good Index, it achieved the highest environmental score of 5. It led the list of Global Corporate Sustainability Leaders in the 2017 GlobeScan/Sustainability annual survey for the seventh year running, and achieved four A ratings across Climate Change, Water, Forests and Supplier Engagement in CDP’s 2018 Global Supply Chain report. Unilever has pledged to become carbon positive in its operations by 2030, and to ensure 100% of its plastic packaging is fully reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paul Richards .