Last Thursday evening at the Centre for Leadership and Entrepreneurship (CLE), the prize-giving ceremony for the young winners of the Covid challenge competition launched with the support of UNDP and UNICEF took place. The Minister of Economy and Finance, Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh, the Resident Representative of UNDP in Djibouti, Fatima Elsheikh, the Representative of UNICEF in Djibouti, Melva Johson, the Director of CLE, Oubah Malow, and the Deputy Representative of UNDP, Gaël Olivier, participated in the ceremony. The young winners of the competition, who have developed Djibouti's solutions to the pandemic, were awarded prizes ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 to help them realize their projects. Manufacturing masks, hydro-alcoholic gels, creating hand washing stations, but also setting up an online purchasing platform, the Djiboutian genius has revealed itself in all its splendour. 

Recently, the world has been confronted with the covid-19 pandemic, which has triggered an unprecedented health crisis. No country has been spared. It is a time of global mobilization around the world. The coronavirus, which appeared in China last November, has spread like wildfire. At present there is no effective treatment or preventive vaccine. Each country is trying to fight this epidemic with its own resources, relying on prevention and raising public awareness of the dangers of this virus. Everywhere in the world, we are redoubling our ingenuity to provide national solutions to this crisis by mobilizing our resources and technical expertise.

With this objective in mind, the CLE, in collaboration with UNDP and UNICEF, launched a call for innovative solutions in the fight against the pandemic on 7 April. The aim was to highlight the contribution of project leaders to the development of solutions with an immediate technological or social impact to help health systems and populations cope with the challenges caused by covid-19.

Many young people took part in this competition, which was particularly popular. The genius, the spirit of innovation and the determination of the young people to find solutions to this pandemic was evident.

Local solutions to local problems... In a speech delivered on the occasion of this ceremony, Fatima Elsheikh welcomed this partnership between the three institutions that have done a remarkable job, while saluting the determination of young people to contribute to the fight against the pandemic. On her part, the Representative of UNICEF said that if young people are the leaders of tomorrow, they are also the present. She encouraged them to think big and to target regional and international markets for their projects.  The Minister for the Economy recalled that the government has been working over the last few years to change the mindset of young people by encouraging them to become independent, and to develop and take charge of themselves through innovative projects. "During this pandemic, we are relying heavily on the genius and resilience of the Djiboutian people and especially the innovative capacities of young people. "He said. While promising that the State, with the support of organizations such as UNDP and UNICEF, will accompany them in the implementation of their projects. It is a question of providing local solutions to our local problems," he said.
Oubah Malow said that "covid-19 has changed our lives, and on this occasion we wanted to tickle the creativity of our young people to counter this pandemic. This has enabled start-ups to reorient themselves to embark on this battle to bring national solutions to this problem". She made a point of thanking the partners who invested in this project for their constant support, and the members of the jury who did a remarkable job to decide between the competitors. She called on the young people whose projects were not selected not to be discouraged: "We must persevere on this path because it is only the beginning.

The first prize in this competition was won by the company Ilyco, which specializes in the manufacture of shoes, with the production of masks made in Djibouti that meet international standards. These masks comply with the specifications of the AFNOR SPEC S76-001:2020 standard of the French Agency for Standardization, and are approved by the national scientific committee set up in the context of the health crisis. These masks are intended for the general population and the personnel and security forces. Ilyas Dougsieh Boulaleh, CEO of this company, is delighted: "We are happy to receive this first prize because our company has made a lot of effort to implement these masks which are certified by the national scientific committee. This encourages us to move forward and to explore other avenues in the future to provide national solutions to this pandemic".

The second prize went to Green tech, a company specialising in renewable energy that employs ten people. This company has set up automatic hand washing stations, which run on solar energy. Its manager is Abdirazak Ali Waberi, a young engineer from Djibouti's Faculty of Engineering. He told us that his company is the first to have manufactured solar bags in Djibouti. Abdirazak and his friends took part in the 2019 Entrepreneurship World Cup in Qatar. His main customers for their solar bags are UNICEF and IOM.
The third prize winner is Aya Tech solutions who created Marso hand gel. This product made in Djibouti complies with the standards for manufacturing hydroalcoholic gels of the WHO guide and is approved by LAANA.

The prize in the association category went to the young Green Generation who received a cheque for 5000 dollars. It will donate the masks and hydroalcoholic gels it produces to the vulnerable people with whom it is involved. The Minister of Economy and Finance added a personal donation of $1,000 to this prize to encourage these young people.

Finally, the prize in the women's category was won by Fathya Hassan Mohamed, who created an online shopping platform, My Buzzy Market.

This competition has allowed many talents to emerge and participate in the fight against the pandemic of this century from which our country is coping relatively well.

Kenedid Ibrahim