Meet the Young Innovators supporting sexual health and reproductive rights in 18 countries
"My greatest motivation is being able to help others," says Heleni Anastacia Manolas Sanhueza. The 20-year-old hails from Panama and is one of 18 Young Innovator Fellows deployed by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA). The Young Innovators fellowship gives people aged 18 to 26 from UNFPA programme countries the opportunity to work in the organization's country and regional offices for eight months. Their task? To develop and support innovative projects in UNFPA's mandate areas.
As the UN agency focused on sexual health and reproductive rights, UNFPA's mandate spans many areas – from maternal health to gender-based violence. With the Youth Innovator Fellows on board, the agency has gained a strong group of advocates and implementers.
What does the day-to-day work of a Young Innovator Fellow look like? It turns out the projects are as diverse as the Young Innovators themselves. Yet innovation is the thread that binds.
A partnership to ensure food security for vulnerable communities
The representation of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) was established in the Republic of The Gambia in 1979. Since then, FAO has implemented over 120 projects, facilitating policy formulation and the development of programmes and projects aimed at improving production, productivity, food quality and national technical and institutional capacities. The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, through the deployment of highly qualified volunteers like Esi Mawuena Christon-Quao (Ghana) and Gopi Chandra Kharel (Bhutan), is making a significant contribution to FAO's mandate in the country.
When Esi took up her position as UN Volunteer Monitoring and Evaluation Specialist, she immediately identified implementation bottlenecks as the main problem with FAO projects in the country. Prior to her arrival, projects required, on average, up to two or three no-cost extensions to complete deliverables. This was beyond the project timeline, which could take up to two years.