AMMAN —
The UN World Food Program (WFP) and UNICEF awarded seed funding to five young
women and men, to help them launch their start-ups that will positively impact
food security in Jordan.
اضافة اعلان
In a joint statement
on Tuesday carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, the UN bodies said that
the winners were among 22 young people between 18 and 26 years old who received
entrepreneurship and food security training to turn their ideas into action as
part of the WFP/UNICEF Youth in Food Security Innovation program.
The program ended
with a pitch day for 12 finalists, including 10 women, who presented their
ideas to a panel of experts.
The five winning
innovations — ranging from healthy school meal alternatives, managing solid
waste, to recycling carbon dioxide — will receive seed funding of JOD2,800 and
mentorship to help bring their ideas to life and contribute to making sure
everyone in Jordan will have reliable access to adequate and nutritious food in
the future.
“WFP has been
innovating since the first use of commercial airlines to deliver life-saving
humanitarian assistance, 60 years ago. Today, we use cutting-edge technologies
like blockchain to deliver digital cash assistance. Innovation is in our DNA,”
said WFP Jordan Country Director, Alberto Correia Mendes. “We deeply believe
that these talented young people with their brilliant ideas and the support
from WFP and UNICEF can become the backbone of food security in the future.”
“Young people in
Jordan have the ideas that can transform the world and tackle the greatest
challenges facing their generation including climate change, water scarcity and
food insecurity. Our partnership with WFP is helping to turn that potential
into real and meaningful action,” said UNICEF Jordan Representative Tanya
Chapuisat.
These innovative
projects all help address Jordan’s most pressing food security issues; rising
population, water scarcity, low agricultural production, unemployment and the
growing impact of climate change.
The WFP/UNICEF
program ensures that entrepreneurs and start-ups working on food security
solutions are given the support they need to bring their ideas to scale and
create employment opportunities for young people.
WFP’s innovation
program has been made possible through generous support Australia and Ireland.
UNICEF’s Youth Social Innovation program is generously supported by the the
Netherlands.
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