Luis Monzon
Adapt and Thrive, a data-lite, mobile education program that launched this week in South Africa will be scaled across the continent by the United Nations.
Developed in a collaboration between Funzi and Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, the four-part programme takes just a couple of hours to complete and uses only about 8MB of data. The course shares clear and up-to-date information about COVID-19, as well as actions South Africans can take to stay safe and informed.
It addresses the physical, mental, social, and financial impact that coronavirus has on people’s lives, their families, communities, and South African society. The programme was created in conjunction with medical specialists, digital product designers and other local learning experts and is designed specifically for users in emerging markets, covering the themes:
- What is COVID-19?
- COVID-19: what can you do?
- How to stay healthy and resilient
- How to maintain your social and financial well-being
“In times of crisis, mobile learning has proven to be incredibly impactful,” says Aape Pohjavirta, Founder of Funzi. “We were able to launch the course in only 10 days, giving millions access to timely and critical information. The Funzi approach is unique because of our combination of technology and way of teaching.”
The partnership between Harambee & Funzi is one of many within what has become known as the ‘3Million 3Weeks’ initiative that intends to achieve the ambitious goal of providing credible, consistent, compelling and clear COVID-related information to over 3 million young people that ensures they are kept informed, engaged and connected during these difficult times.
Other partners in theinitiative include the Solidarity Fund, the National Youth Development Agency, Tshepo 1 Million and over 160 other youth-based organisations and employers.
(Edited by Luis Monzon)
