Young People Helping UNICEF Innovate
A prototype test for a global mapping platform turns into much more.
How can young people help us create better digital tools for reporting urgent environmental risks and hazards?
During the month of August young people from 25 different countries helped UNICEF innovate by becoming prototype testers for a new mapping technology. The young people (aged 18- 25) responded to an Urgent Call for Voices of Youth Mappers and submitted an application describing why they wanted to test the UNICEF Urgency Rank. Over 140 young people applied, and 25 were selected to test the prototype.
The prototype test was originally conceived as a way for the technical developers to locate glitches and bugs in the system, and see if the functionality of the technology could be understood. Thanks to the youth testers, we not only confirmed that they understood how the Urgency Rank system works, but they also actively found innovative ways to use it as a platform to advocate for change.
By the the second week of August, all the youth had successfully completed their basic system test and were burning to do more. Youth demanded a space on the map to upload actual reports. Four categories were created: water issues, sanitation problems, garbage disposal and natural resources. The youth reports that followed demonstrate a powerful desire and ability to show the world the environmental issues they face every day. The testers then wanted to know how they could use the map to advocate for change. To start, they came up with the idea of adding a “Services and Sources of Resilience” map to the prototype.
Now we need your help! Based on the amazing response we’ve received we are looking for a second round of 25 young people to help us in planning the next developments for the UNICEF Urgency Rank. If you are between the ages of 18-25, an active social media user, and have a desire to make change in your community and the world please apply: Click Here to Access Application
Here are just a few of the Youth Reports from August 2013:
The river Miljacka at Kozija is much polluted, loaded by the waste water of commune and industry. The load of pollution analysis shows that there are great drainpipes of sewage waste water. The main problem is small water flux, especially during the summer and drought. By the standards given in legislation,it is not possible to make classification concerning the sanitary — microbiological parameters because of very high level of pollution which is out of standards. The sustainable protection measures should be established in order to improve the water current state. —Anela K., Bosnia Herzegovina
“In the densely populated slums areas in Kampala Uganda, some households do not have access to sanitation facilities at all. People living in these areas have inevitably improvised by using Pit latrines. This is one of the environmental problems slum areas in the Kampala city. Unfortunately when they fill up some of the unscrupulous owners have an outlet pipe which they open releasing the human excreta into the environment. This is usually done during the rainy season where rainwater carries the excreta into nearby drainage channels. These pit latrines are usually communal; thus their proper use, maintenance and upkeep are neglected. As a result they become filthy and fall into despair, forcing people to defecate wherever they can. This attracts flies, which in turn transmit diarrhoeal diseases, hence, the high prevalence of these diseases in the city.” — Edison T., Kampala Uganda
Hello to all my eco-conscious readers. Recently, I visited one of the slums in Bhopal and was astonished to see how averse the sanitation conditions are over there. It was Mahatma Gandhi who emphasized on the importance of cleanliness and proper sanitation before trying to do anything else good. During my visit, I saw that pipelines carrying water meant for drinking purposes were passing through the sewer drain pipes. Try to think of the possibility if at some juncture underground, the pipe carrying drinking water bursts and the sewage water mixes with that. The results could be very bad. —Aditya P.,India
Most houses around these quarters connect their drainage pipes to the road, gutters, or nearby streams, this consequently leads to standing dirty water which stink along road sides, gutters, and making the whole environment nasty and unfriendly for humans which too are friendly habitats for mosquitoes. The streets and nearby bushes are all littered with trash cans, plastics, animal waste from stray animals, construction debris, paints and solvents, changed car oil from road side garages. There is lack of good drainage systems, and it has resulted to muddy paths and pools of water everywhere, which now serves as breathing grounds for mosquitoes.
Yannick N., Cameroon
“United Nations always vibrates my mind. I was born in a very remote district of Nepal. When I was a child, I used to see the UN personals in white vehicles having blue number plate and the logo of UN in their T-Shirt. Now I’m a student of forestry and environment is my primary concern. I want to advocate for a healthy and hygienic environment and more attention on nature, environment, resources and sanitation issues. For this we should adopt the principle of “Think globally, act locally”. — Dhiroj K., Pokhara Nepal
This picture was taken at the place near which I live now in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City. Actually, this is the back view of the house, which shows the sewage from that house. In my opinion, it is so unhygienic to let the sewage expose and look like a river without any treatment or processing. The situation gets even worse anytime it rains a lot. We have a small road accross this place. Therefore, it would certainly be such a frightening thing for everyone to pass this road, especially in rainy seasons.
Thảo V., Vietnam
Hardcore extraction at Ntyuka Dodoma..Dodoma region is “semi-desert” with extended periods of zero rainfall (up to 8 months). Once area are deforested natural recovery is rare. Activities such as hardcore extraction for building materials in this example at Ntyuka, Dodoma leaves pits are particularly destructive. In addition child labor, breaking stones is often involved.
Kelvin M., Tanzania
In my community we face many environmental problems such as pollution,climate risks associated with flooding that impact vulnerable communities, problems with water issues (because the main sources of water are polluted), also problems with the environmental awareness,deforestation, loss of biodiversity, among others. Having all those environmental problems I created Barranquilla+20 which is a youth led group with the purpose to educate and to empower children and youth to act for a green and sustainable city, country and world. We have launched several projects and campaigns to reduce the vulnerability of our communities for climate change and also to support the defense of natural resources. However there are lots of things to do! — Xioma A., Colombia
The Urgency Rank is the newest feature of the UNICEF-Geographic Information System (GIS) and was tested by users from VoicesOfYouth.org. UNICEF-GIS an information and communication technology for location based civic media, creating geo-referenced reports for actionable community change. It is used exclusively by UNICEF Country Offices and their partners to gather critical community data. It is a youth friendly technology, and can be used by trained young people aged 13 — 18 to securely collect stories and reports about their neighborhood. All information collected is verified by UNICEF and shared through social and civic media channels to generate action for more child-friendly communities.
To learn more visit www.unicef-gis.org and www.voicesofyouth.org
