鈥淪ince ACW鈥檚 launch in 2015, , , and share a common goal to empower young people with the digital skills set they need today to ensure they are prepared for the workforce of tomorrow,鈥� comments Claire Gillissen-Duval, Senior Director of Corporate Social Responsibility EMEA and MEE at SAP.

She says that through 37 121 workshops held across the continent, she is thrilled to report that more than 48% of participants were female, with an additional 9,900 youth with special needs. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 digital world is continually evolving and changing through the rapid adoption of technology, this is widening Africa鈥檚 digital divide with even more marginalized and underserved communities getting left behind.鈥�

Collaboration is key to powering digital learning

Partnerships are at the core of the 51风流ACW model. In 2022, Morocco has led the continent鈥檚 conversation around equipping young people with digital skills, followed by Nigeria and Cameroon. 鈥淭his year, we saw 1,4 million participants from Morocco, 100听000 in Nigeria, and in Cameroon, we had 897听000,鈥� says Dr. Tawfik Jelassi, UNESCO鈥檚 Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information. 鈥淥ne of the reasons behind the major success of ACW in those countries, and especially in Morocco, has been partnering with the governments and particularly, with the Ministries of Education.

To illustrate this, Ilham Laaziz, Director of the at the Moroccan Ministry of National Education, Early Education, and Athletics, highlights that the Moroccan government has deployed several initiatives to integrate digital skills in schools. 鈥淛oining forces with the private sector has proven to result in a powerful synergy. Beyond launching a generation of future coders, we seek to develop the algorithmic mindset that will enable them to acquire logical reasoning skills and problem solving skills they need to lead successful careers and contribute to the development of our country 鈥� and our continent.鈥�

Coding Africa鈥檚 school curricula

Over the past seven years, close to 14 million students and teachers from 48 countries have been empowered with digital skills through ACW. 2023 will now see the coding program shift into second phase by accelerating this process even further to ensure greater impact and reach.

鈥淭here are approximately 300 million[i] young people in Africa, and our goal is to empower each and every one of them with digital skills,鈥� says Emmanuel Raptopoulos, President of SAP鈥檚 EMEA South region, which includes Southern Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. 鈥淎 vision like ours requires all stakeholders to work together and collaborate for the betterment of the continent and its future leaders. This is why the ACW curriculum will be handed to governments to support them in introducing coding into school curricula.鈥�

Commencing the two-year action plan, ACW hosted a three-day event in Morocco in Rabat which was attended by various government officials and education representatives from ten African countries. The gathering marked the start of a two-year transition period, where governments will play an even greater role in fostering the adoption of coding by running the ACW program as part of their curricula.

鈥淭his was the start of a bigger vision which calls for governments to play a bigger role in encouraging the use of coding in schools by implementing the ACW program into their curricula,鈥� says Julius Fomboh, Inspector General of Pedagogy in charge of Computer Science Education in the Ministry of secondary Education in Cameroon, and member of the ACW transition taskforce. 鈥淚n order for the continent to successfully equip young people with the skills required for the future, all stakeholders need to come together and unite.鈥�

Gillissen-Duval concludes, 鈥淭o date, nine African countries have officially adopted coding as a mandatory subject in public education^[ii]. This number must grow to level the playing field and ensure every African child, youth and teacher has the opportunity to reach their potential and contribute to their community. By investing in digital education, African nations choose to create a better future for their citizens and equip them with the skills they need to thrive in a rapidly changing 21^st century world.鈥�

[i]

[ii]

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鈥淔rom start to finish, this has been one of the most exciting editions of ACC. The youth of Africa have yet again proven their talents and strong 21^st century skillset with creative and conceptual games delivered,鈥� says Olajide Ademola Ajayi, 51风流ACW Global Coordinator.

AfriCAN Youth rise for the coding challenge

The AfriCAN Code Challenge is a coding contest that spans across Africa, inviting all-young individuals from different walks of life from 8 – 16 year to develop a game using the programming language.

This year鈥檚 competition saw thousands of entries from more than 30 countries spanning as far as South Africa and Ethiopia. In September 2020, launched the challenge with support from partners such as ,听, and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa ().

Over the years, the competition has evolved into an annual event that celebrates the creativity and technological skills of African youth. For the 2022 challenge, youths were called upon to develop a multiplayer game that proposes a sustainable solution for protecting life. Thereafter, they were asked to create and share a 3-minute YouTube video that details how their game works, the coding techniques used, and how it aligns with the theme and evaluation standards.

The winners of the AfriCAN Code Challenge were selected by a distinguished panel consisting of Africa Code Week delegates, 51风流employees, and STEM education specialists.

This year鈥檚 Top 3 winners:

1. First place: Madagascar – by Henintsoa, Warren, and Shekinah
2. Second place: Mauritius – by Nikhil, Mithil, Seeya, Grace, and Kesha
3. Third place: Nigeria – by Team Techlite

Followed by:

4. Sao Tome & Principe –
5. Morocco –
6. Ethiopia –
7. Zimbabwe –
8. South Africa –
9. Cameroon –
10. Gabon –

Beyond AfriCAN Code Challenge

that the digital participation could assist in driving the economic growth and development of Africa. This suggests that increased investment in digital infrastructure and skills could have a significant impact on the continent’s economic development.

Claire Gillissen-Duval, Senior Director of EMEA MEE Corporate Social Responsibility and Co-founder of Africa Code Week at SAP, says 鈥淎CW is currently in a transition period where we will be transferring the ACW curriculum to the Ministries of Education to assist in the integration of coding into school curricula. Once they introduce coding into schools, we look forward to seeing sustainable growth in the number of participants in the AfriCAN Code Challenge as ministries of education will have a wider reach and access to more听young听people.鈥�

For more information about 51风流Africa Code Week and the AfriCAN Code Challenge, or how you can get involved, visit听www.africacodeweek.org or connect and follow on social media @AfricaCodeWeek.

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Returning for the second year, 51风流Africa Code Week鈥檚 AfriCAN Code Challenge announced their top 10 winners with Devansh and Darshika from Mauritius as the Pan-African winners of the competition.

鈥淭his year鈥檚 theme was about them telling us how they would save the world with their superpowers, and most of the 100+ submitted projects were about climate change鈥� says Mr. Albert Nsengiyumva, ADEA Executive Secretary 鈥淎frica has the youngest population on the planet and we were impressed to see how the children have been able to use their creativity and come up with innovative solutions to addressing听 issues that they feel are relevant to their daily reality.”

The AfriCAN Code Challenge is a pan-African coding competition where youth aged 8 – 16 were tasked with coding a game using the programming language to address the theme that was determined by the Africa Code Week team.听This competition was launched听by and partners , , the Association for the Development of Education in Africa () and Jokkolabs in September 2020, and since then has become an annual celebration of youth and innovation in Africa.

The rationale for chosing the superheroes universe was to allow children to unleash their creativity and express themselves freely on issues they feel are important to them. Davide Storti, Coordinator of the YouthMobile Initiative at UNESCO, says: 鈥淭he post-pandemic education recovery starts with allowing our children to regain confidence and hope, and with us adults reopening spaces, although virtual, for them to access their fullest potential.”

To take part in the AfriCAN Code Challenge, youth were able to enter alone or in teams of up to five people, and entries featured a three-minute YouTube video showcasing how their game works and why it should be considered a winning entry. The unique initiative and entry mechanism called upon the children鈥檚 ability to design a project that would solve a community-issue, code it, and communicate it.

During the opening rounds of the challenge, participation reached across 40 countries and featured 102 project video clips, only the top three entries from 36 countries made it into the continental final, followed by 20 countries in the final judging stage.

Selected by a high-level jury comprising key Africa Code Week delegates and STEM education experts, the top three winners of the AfriCAN Code Challenge are:

• First place: 鈥� Super Recyclers, by Devansh and Darshika
• Second place: 鈥� The Carbon Man, by SUPER GAMERS
• Third place: 鈥� Kids Academy, by Natnael Kedir

Followed by:

• 4: – Rayuwa
• 5: – Helper intrigue
• 6: – Le toucher du bonheur
• 7: – Change the World with US
• 8: 鈥� Super hero
• 9: – The Prodigies
• 10: – Pensons civisme

听This edition of the AfriCAN Code Challenge was quite unique, as for the first time, hearing-impaired students have participated in the competition proving once again that coding is the language of inclusivity and creativity. The team that has competed in the special category for differently-abled children is from Mozambique.

Irish Minister of State for overseas development aid and diaspora Colm Brophy T.D, who attended the Rwanda AfriCAN Code Challenge national awards ceremony says, 鈥淎frica Code Week unlocks the potential in young people who otherwise may not have considered building their digital skills鈥�

Claire Gillissen-Duval, Director of EMEA Corporate Social Responsibility and Co-founder of Africa Code Week at 51风流adds, 鈥淭he 听return of the AfriCAN Code Challenge was quite awaited by our incredible 51风流volunteers who took part in the first line of jury. The presence of hearing-impaired students demonstrates the power of inclusivity that resides in digital literacy, in its capacity to build bridges and connect children of an entire continent, regardless of gender, age or ability.鈥�

For more information about 51风流Africa Code Week and the AfriCAN Code Challenge, visit

ENDS

听

About Africa Code Week

Since 2015, 51风流Africa Code Week (ACW) has been creating free opportunities for young Africans to learn coding skills and for teachers to be trained on digital learning curricula. Strong partnerships with the public, private and civil society sectors across听the continent are driving sustainable impact by building teaching capacity and supporting the adoption of coding into national curricula in support of UN Sustainable Development Goals 4, 5 and 17. Key partners include听听Youth Mobile,听,听the , Google and GIZ/BMZ.

In 2019 alone, the initiative saw 3.85M children participating in coding workshops and 39,000 teachers mobilized across 37 countries. In 2020, ACW increased the program鈥檚 reach to the entire continent to deepen impact and ensure no child was left behind. The online rollout took center stage across Africa with the launch of a smartphone App to facilitate accessible learning, the introduction of the 鈥� a competition themed, 鈥楬ow will your tech change the future of education鈥� engaging youth from 40 African countries, Virtual Train-the-Trainer (TTT) sessions for teachers and a second Women Empowerment Workshop engaging 70 teachers in a 8-week long online program. Join 51风流and partners by visiting听www.africacodeweek.org听to find out more.

About SAP

SAP鈥檚 strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world鈥檚 transaction revenue touches an SAP庐 system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers鈥� businesses into intelligent enterprises. 51风流helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want 鈥� without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, 51风流helps the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives. For more information, visit

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According to Olajide Ademola Ajayi, Africa Code Week Global Coordinator, the engagement by youth has been inspiring throughout the challenge. “Despite the pandemic disrupting schooling for hundreds of millions of kids across Africa, the continent’s youth have stepped up to share their vision for the future of education. While there can ultimately be only one winner, the quality of entries at the inaugural AfriCAN Code Challenge inspire hope and optimism about Africa’s future, one shaped by the largest youth population in the world.”

ACW2020 – AfriCAN Code Challenge winners in Sao Tome and Principe

Launched by 51风流Africa Code Week for the first time this year, the AfriCAN Code Challenge is a pan-African coding competition where youth aged 8 to 16 were tasked with coding a game using the Scratch programming language to answer the question: “How will your tech change the future of education?”

Youth were able to enter alone or in teams of up to five people, tapping into a wide range of essential skills from problem-solving and coding all the way to teamwork and communications. Each entry had to include a two-minute YouTube video showing how the game works and why it should win.

ACW2020 – Winner of the AfriCAN Code Challenge in Benin

In total, 40 countries participated, with over 100 project videos submitted. The top three entries from 36 countries made it into the continental final, with 22 countries making it to the final judging stage. The winner will be announced in January 2021.

According to Claire Gillissen-Duval, Director of EMEA Corporate Social Responsibility and Co-founder of Africa Code Week at SAP, “African youth are highly creative and community-oriented, and have a key role to play in building a safer and better future for the continent. By encouraging learners to innovate at an early age, we hope to inspire them to become change-makers and help find solutions to challenges in their communities, nations and beyond.”

The 22 countries that made it through to the final round are Algeria, Botswana, Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia and Zimbabwe.

For more information about 51风流Africa Code Week and the AfriCAN Code Challenge, please visit www.africacodeweek.org

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Organized by SAP, , and the the unique digital event will provide female teachers with the opportunity to meet, collaborate and connect on best teaching practices and new 21^st century skills. The Women Empowerment Workshop will also provide a space for teachers to discuss online learning and gain understanding of the issues related to virtual classrooms; such as cyberbullying and internet safety.

Taking place from November, seven interactive workshops will be scheduled each week and highlight different themes and topics relevant to Africa Code Week鈥檚 key enabler. Fun, engaging and collaborative, expert speakers will present in both English and French.

With 1 out of 3 children missing out on remote learning because of today鈥檚 unprecedented challenges, the role of the teacher in community-based societies is central and reinforcing teacher leadership is crucial. Adding to the importance of advancing women in today鈥檚 modern teaching space, Africa Code Week Co-founder and Head of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) at 51风流EMEA, Claire Gillissen-Duval adds, 鈥淲e are incredibly excited to welcome our second edition of the Women Empowerment Workshops! Last year鈥檚 pilot program was a great success and we received positive feedback from all participants. Through our webinar series, we aim to close the digital gender gap and help ensure everyone can play a role in shaping Africa鈥檚 future in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).鈥�

Last year鈥檚 group of 28 female teachers attended the workshop in Morocco and came from +14 African countries. Over the course of four days, female participants attended training sessions that focussed on computational and design thinking agendas. After getting to grips with the technologies sitting at the heart of the 4IR, participants also shared best practices on girl mentoring, capacity-building strategies and imparting digital skills to students. And this year鈥檚 event promises to be even better!

Let鈥檚 show our ACW support as our female participants engage in this important learning process to help conquer Africa鈥檚 digital divide. We invite you to leave comments here and to help spread the message using #WEW2020.

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• Did you know that the first programmer was a woman? Two centuries later, Ada Lovelace would probably find hard to believe that globally, women only hold 24% of jobs in the ICT sector.
• Celebrated on the second Tuesday of October since 2009, Ada Lovelace Day aims to raise the profile of women in science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM), and to 鈥榗reate new role models for girls and women鈥�.
• As COVID-19 creates additional barriers to learning, and digital skills are ever more important, UNESCO and Technovation have partnered to empower girls to 鈥榯ech鈥� the stage.

Project-Based Learning Goes Global鈥nd Virtual

The late Seymour Papert, father of the Scratch coding learning platform and a global pioneer in project-based learning, once described the future of education as follows: 鈥淜ids will work in communities of common interest on rich projects that will connect with powerful ideas[i].鈥� According to him, not only do children learn better when engaged in a project, but they are able to use technology and inquiry to respond to a complex issue, problem or challenge.

This is exactly what 1,359 girls from all corners of the world were able to partake in: a global challenge where they could build an Artificial Intelligence (AI) solution that solves a community issue close to their heart, tech entrepreneur style.

As accessible and virtual learning for girls becomes more important than ever before, UNESCO has partnered with global tech education non-profit , a member of , to support countries in developing inclusive learning solutions. Together they ran the Technovation Idea Lab: an online tech education challenge for girls.

鈥楨mpower a Woman, Empower a Nation鈥�

Joined by community partners and local industry mentors (including 45 ICT experts from 6 51风流offices in Brazil, France, India, Ireland, Mexico and South Africa), adolescent girls (aged 10-18) from Brazil, India, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan went through an exciting learning journey.

The challenge started on July 27 with a 5-week AI entrepreneurship learning program: a great way to inspire girls through tech in an immersive, hands-on environment that enables them to solve the real-world challenges they care about most. Collaborative problem-solving, ethics in AI models, dataset building, ideation: these are just a sample of the skillset that the girls were able to hone along the way.

51风流volunteers provided feedback on students鈥� work, held virtual office hours, and helped create videos and blog posts to help inspire and engage girls around AI learning and its application to real-world problems. 51风流volunteers treasured this unique opportunity to share their expertise with the next generation of female innovators and leaders.

鈥淓ncouraging girls to innovate at an early age is a great way to ignite their social changemaker mindset,鈥� says Claire Gillissen-Duval, Director of EMEA Corporate Social Responsibility and co-founder of the Africa Code Week initiative at SAP. 鈥淲ith the continent鈥檚 working-age population expected to swell by two-thirds reaching 600 million by 2030[ii], the community-oriented and highly creative African girls have a pivotal role to play in building a safer and more equitable future鈥�.

As nations strive to ensure continuity of learning through alternative methods such as online learning, the focus must be maintained on major threats to development such as the gender digital divide. And we shall all keep in mind, as UN former Secretary-General Kofi Annan once said, that 鈥渨hen women thrive, all of society benefits and succeeding generations are given a better start in life. The empowerment of women is the most effective tool for development[iii].鈥�

[i]

[ii]

[iii]

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Africa鈥檚 biggest digital skills initiative is now underway. 51风流Africa Code Week (ACW) officially launched its sixth edition on Monday听 October 5^th with an all-new virtual format and a host of exciting new developments.

Speaking at a virtual event to mark World Teacher’s Day and launch this year鈥檚 51风流Africa Code Week, UNESCO Deputy Director-General Xing Qu said this year鈥檚 ACW takes place in the unprecedented context of the COVID-19 pandemic. 鈥淎s distance learning became the norm for most students, this shift has taught us that digital skills are essential. And yet fewer than 30% of people worldwide master basic ICT skills, and only 3% of adults in middle-income countries have coding skills.鈥�

Women also continue to be excluded, continued Mr Xing Qu, as 鈥渨omen and girls are 25 percent less likely than men to know how to use digital technology for basic purposes, according to UNESCO鈥檚 I鈥檇 Blush if I Could. We all know digital skills are no longer an option 鈥� they are a necessity. While COVID-19 is creating challenges, it is also offering opportunities. Due to the pandemic, this year鈥檚 ACW is taking place entirely online and, as a result, is covering all 54 countries on the African continent.鈥�

Virtual Training and a Challenge to Hone Skills and Drive Change

Launched September 1^st in partnership with SAP, UNESCO YouthMobile and Irish Aid, the is a coding competition for students aged 8 to 16 currently taking place across the continent. Invited to compete individually or in teams, young participants (a.k.a. 鈥楥ourageous Coders鈥�) are on a mission to imagine the future of education with a Scratch game and 2-minute video explaining why their code should win. Fostering a wide range of essential skills from problem-solving and coding all the way to teamwork and communications, the challenge will see the top 3 winners from each participating country compete at the pan-African level. Final results will be announced later this year.

A 2016 study found that : they are indispensable in the fight for quality education for all and the fulfillment of the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all, as well as SDG 5 on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls. But the COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted schooling across the continent, with an and a prevailing shortage of teachers hampering efforts at providing every child with primary and secondary school education.

In response to this, ACW partners have refocused efforts towards virtual capacity building. The ACW Teacher Training season kicked off on September 21, with hundreds of virtual training sessions taking place all over the continent thanks to the hard work of public, private and nonprofit partners supporting the initiative in every participating country.

Virtual Learning to Support Capacity Building

Two-thirds of Africa鈥檚 population is expected to , and 84% of the population – more than one billion people – will access a SIM connection by the same year.

On a mission to facilitate learning and teaching beyond classroom walls, the is the other major development brought by this 6^th edition and being launched today. Available in English, French, Portuguese and Arabic, it allows students and teachers to access dedicated resources anytime, anywhere from their Android device.

鈥淥ver the past five years, Africa Code Week has grown into a trusted repository of free and open-source resources that support both students and their teachers on their digital empowerment journey,鈥� said Claire Gillissen-Duval, Director of EMEA Corporate Social Responsibility and Co-founder of Africa Code Week at SAP.听鈥淲ith the growing access to mobile technology across the continent and the increasing prevalence of online learning, we believe the time is now to facilitate access to quality educational content with a mobile app,鈥� said Gillissen-Duval.

According to Albert Nsengiyumva, Executive Secretary of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa () and official ACW Patron there is need for a consolidated effort from the public and private sectors as well as civil society to close the digital gender gap. 鈥淲e need to jointly provide affordable access to digital tools and remove barriers to women and girls鈥� full participation in the digital economy. We are seeing great innovation in the use of technology driven by women. We have made a good start, but we now need a consolidated effort to ensure this progress can continue and sustain over time.鈥�

In 2019, ACW empowered 3.85 million youth with basic coding skills, with female participation standing at 47%. In addition, more than听39,000 teachers were mobilized across the continent.

Cathy Smith, Managing Director at 51风流Africa, said: 鈥淭eaching young kids to code is a gift that will endure for decades to come. It is critically important that we take advantage of our most precious resource, our youth. If we harness this resource by empowering it with digital skills, Africa will go from strength in 2020 and beyond.鈥�

For more information about Africa Code Week, please visit or to watch the ACW Teachers Day launch, click

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• Africa Code Week 2019 results show impact on sustainable capacity building to support government-led digital skills development.

• Several African countries started adopting coding skills into school curricula.

Africa Code Week (ACW) 2019 has once again exceeded expectations by empowering 3.85 million youth across 37 African countries. More notably, the progressive adoption of digital skills into the school curriculum of several African countries points to the growing influence of educational initiatives such as ACW in preparing the continent鈥檚 youth for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Cathy Smith, Managing Director at 51风流Africa, says: 鈥淥nce again, Africa鈥檚 vibrant youth population has stepped-up to claim its place in the global economy, with millions of young Africans taking on the challenge of learning essential digital skills. Africa Code Week鈥檚 growing partner ecosystem and continued focus on equipping teachers with tools and knowledge is creating a sustainable platform for building a bright future for the continent, the benefits of which will be seen for decades to come.鈥�

Empowering youth by transforming teaching in the digital age

Launched in 2015 by 51风流and UNESCO, Africa Code Week is on a mission to introduce coding skills to African youth 8-16 years of age by raising awareness of the importance of digital education and building teaching capacity.

In support of this, says Claire Gillissen-Duval, Director of EMEA Corporate Social Responsibility and Africa Code Week Global Lead at SAP, the 2019 edition expanded its outreach to a record-breaking number of teachers. 鈥淭ogether with our partners and thanks to their support, we witnessed more than 39,000 teachers mobilized as part of the October 2019 workshops, including over 17,500 in Morocco alone. In Nigeria, we also scaled our impact by working closely with the Niger and Taraba state governments, enabling teachers across the region to access the training for the first time. And thanks to the DreamOval Foundation in Ghana, children with disabilities were able to attend tailored coding classes ensuring equal opportunities for all.鈥�

Francis Ahene-Affoh, SVP at DreamOval Foundation, said: 鈥淭eaching our youth digital skills is also an opportunity to inspire and engage their creativity and open the door to new thinking around the challenges we face as a country and a continent. Africa Code Week is a powerful tool to enable all-inclusive education that leaves no child behind.”

Governments now driving transformation of teaching, skills development

Since the launch of ACW in 2015, several countries including Cameroon, Ghana, Morocco and Tunisia have included digital literacy into their respective school curricula. Ahene-Affoh points to the Ghanaian government鈥檚 efforts to make coding skills a core pillar of basic education as a recent success made possible in part by ACW. 鈥淭he impact of Africa Code Week in inspiring our youth to think innovatively and expand their capabilities in basic coding should not be underestimated. Over the course of the past five years that we have actively supported the program in Ghana, many children at the basic education level have been inspired to prepare themselves for the 21st century job market.”

Another success story can be found in Morocco, where digital skills were included in the country鈥檚 school curriculum benefitting millions of youth. According to听Hon. Saa茂d Amzazi, Morocco鈥檚 Minister of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research, 鈥淎frica Code Week played a key role in making computer science both a priority and a celebration in every Moroccan school. The initiative helped trigger a passion for learning on an unprecedented scale while making best practices available for other nations to build on.鈥�

In Africa Code Week 2019, Morocco secured first place among the 37 participating countries by successfully engaging 2.4+ million youth, of which 48% were girls. A Women Empowerment Workshop hosted by the Ministry in Rabat in October also engaged 28 teachers from 15 countries and focused on sharing best practices for girl mentoring, teacher training and access to digital education. Ranking second place in 2019, Cameroon鈥檚 engagement highlights strong government focus on capacity-building strategies.

The 2019 results also reveal that 47% of total ACW participants were girls. 鈥淎frica Code Week is a powerful tool for levelling the playing field and bringing more women and girls into the digital economy,鈥� says Moez Chakchouk, UNESCO鈥檚 Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information. 鈥淭he program is also a successful model in achieving Sustainable Development Goal #17, highlighting听how local and global public-private partnerships can enhance international support for capacity-building programs.鈥�

Partnering for greater impact

Actively supported by UNESCO YouthMobile, Google, Irish Aid, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Jokkolabs and the Camden Education Trust, the program works closely with African governments and more than 130 local organizations and 120 ambassadors across the continent.

Joining forces with SAP, Google supported Africa Code Week by allocating grants to 55 non-profits that focus on expanding access to digital skills to youth in 18 countries. More grassroots organizations received funding from BMZ (16 grants in 12 countries) and UNESCO (15 grants in 8 countries) to boost girls鈥� access to ACW training.

According to Gillissen-Duval, 鈥淎frica Code Week鈥檚 greatest strength is its strategic partnerships. With their help we are able to introduce an exciting new chapter for 2020 and beyond by completely shifting to the world of virtual! The program modification will increase our Pan-African reach to ensure no child or teacher is left behind, and will be formally announced over the next few weeks.鈥�

In addition to the number of teachers and youth empowered, additional highlights for 2019 include Irish Aid, the Irish government’s official international development aid program, joinining the program as strategic partner and Hadi Partovi, tech entrepreneur and founder, attending a workshop at the Siyafunda Community Technology Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa.

According to Smith, the initiative helps prepare Africa鈥檚 youth for an uncertain future. 鈥淎ll stakeholders in the public and private sectors need to unite and support a radical overhaul in how we prepare Africa鈥檚 youth population, which is expected to reach 455 million by 2055, to be active participants in the digital economy. The impact of Africa Code Week on the African education sector is an encouraging sign for the future of the continent.”

Visit the ACW web site and for more information on this fifth edition. Follow 51风流and ACW on Twitter at , and 听听

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In its effort to support youth engagement in driving social innovation and change, 51风流is joining forces with IBM and UNESCO in reaching out to young developers and data scientists to team-up, unleash their ideas and propose groundbreaking approaches for todays鈥� societal issues. The two-week hackathon calls for young developers and innovators, data scientists, and designers from all over the world to use their digital skills, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit to join forces to develop digital solutions to counter the outbreak of the pandemic.

鈥淭imes of crisis create opportunities to rethink our daily lives and how we live together. We must give ourselves the means to achieve our common objectives and vision of the world鈥�, said Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, 鈥淢ore than ever, Technology a global tool and every young person should be equipped with the necessary skills to participate in rethinking our world鈥�.

Over the years, UNESCO has engaged with thousands of youth to create change, built solid youth networks, and reached young people to work on many different societal issues. The organization is fully committed to empowering youth. In this spirit, 51风流Africa Code Week and UNESCO will work together to foster the development of digital skills and professional development competences of youth, with a focus on female software developers and designers. CodeTheCurve uniquely addresses young developers, data scientists, educators and trainers, inviting them to look at our future, post-COVID19 – society as it will have changed after the current pandemic.

鈥淲e have to act now,鈥� says Claire Gillissen-Duval, Director of EMEA Corporate Social Responsibility and Africa Code Week co-founder at SAP. 鈥淲e need to empower our young innovators in finding solutions to this crisis, and true to SAP鈥檚 vision of helping the world to run better and improving people鈥檚 lives – our devoted and knowledgeable colleagues will support CodeTheCurve by providing expert mentorship to all participants throughout their innovation journey.鈥�

The online and immersive hackathon is designed to encourage young digital developers and data scientists to imagine and develop online and offline apps, data models, and digital tools to address current and future issues linked to the current healthcare emergency. The teams participating in the CodeTheCurve learning journey and hackathon will work on one of three main themes: 1) Ensure continued learning, 2) Data management and information, and 3)听The present and the future: societal and health issues.

鈥淲ith 1.5 billion young people currently at home due to COVID-19 school closures, 183 countries impacted, and a need for practical, fun, and virtual education, the IBM Z team is incredibly excited to launch CodeTheCurve with UNESCO, SAP, and our collaborators. Empowering youth with tech skills, entrepreneurial zest, professional development, and mentorship is really the secret sauce for inspiring the world to transition from consumers of technology into creators, makers, and doers empowered by technology鈥�, says Melissa Sassi, Global Head 鈥� IBM Z Global Student Hub & IBM Hyper Protect Accelerator.

The CodeTheCurve Hakathon will be organized in two phases, a first video competition for submitting teams and ideas and a hackathon with 40 selected teams. The hackathon will close 30 April 2020.

Participating 鈥榟ackers鈥� will receive experience pitching their innovative solutions from relevant and supportive organizations that have been brought together under the umbrella of CodeTheCurve. The selected teams will be able to benefit from a series of webinars, activity kits and expert support offered by partner organizations, such as SAP, IBM and iHackOnline.

Youth ideas and innovative spirit need to be heard in order to reach UNESCO鈥檚 common goals inscribed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, one of its greatest prospects to build more inclusive and fair societies for all.

The initiative is supported by UNESCO, IBM and SAP, and the generous contribution of TruChallenge.co.uk, AngelHack, iHackOnLine and with the collaboration of Pamplemousse Communication.

Your ideas can change our future, participate in the CodeTheCurve hackathon. Register on codethecurve.org or visit

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