‘Under-the-radar’ innovations are happening across sub-Saharan Africa, but different barriers are blocking the region from leapfrogging the innovation gap in the era of the fourth industrial revolution. We convene experts from across sectors to explore examples of technological and economic innovation in the continent, investigate what is needed to ‘fill the innovation gap’, and what role innovation can play in helping countries economically recover from crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic. This webinar is supported by the Development and Economic Growth Research Programme (DEGRP), funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

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Innovating out of economic crises

Sierra Leone has one of the highest rates of teenage pregnancy in the world, with one in five girls aged between 15 and 19 having children, rising to 29% in rural areas. Research by the Secure Livelihoods Research Consortium (SLRC) shows that most programming focuses on lack of information and access to contraception, emphasising girls as agents of change, with not enough attention paid to the wider context, especially social and gender norms. To test different strategies to address the problem of teenage pregnancy in Sierra Leone, SLRC implemented an Irish Aid-funded action research programme in partnership with Save the Children, Concern Worldwide and the International Rescue Committee. Born out of traditional research, the transformative programme sought to help the three implementing partners trial adaptive programming approaches to address the underexplored and complex drivers of teenage pregnancy–with a focus on social norms–and support and document their programme implementation. Drawing on lessons learned from the Sierra Leone project, this event explores the benefits and challenges of transformative programming to consider how implementers can accelerate change and make programming more effective. The discussion shines a light on the social and gender norms that surround the issue of teenage pregnancy, and how an action research approach can help address such norms.

Transformative approaches to reducing teenage pregnancy

Technology can be a huge force for good, helping young people secure income to support their livelihoods. But equity and inclusivity challenges prevent the online revolution from reaching its full potential. Youth are the current leading users and innovators in tech, and have an instrumental role to play in shaping our digital future. We bring together a diverse, trailblazing panel to discuss the role of technology for the future of work and youth access to employment, bringing pan-African insights from the experiences of tech hubs and youth-led digital innovation on the continent. The panellists also explore how youth-focused programmes can work across the digital divide to prepare young people for the future of work, and how their experiences can be harnessed for designing policy to support digital innovation for youth and by youth. This webinar is supported by the Mastercard Foundation through the Youth Forward Learning Partnership. It is the last event in a series of discussions exploring young people’s engagement with digital technologies in sub-Saharan Africa, continuing conversations started in a youth-focused participatory consultation in July 2020.

JobTech and digital innovation for youth by youth

While the number of children completing primary school education has increased markedly over the past 50 years, in 2018, the World Bank found that 125 million children lacked the minimum literacy skills to continue their education, even after four years of enrolment. This realisation that schooling is not equivalent to learning has sparked a global debate on how to improve the quality of primary school education in low- and middle-income countries. This renewed focus is critical now more than ever, as policymakers shift their focus to rebuilding the global economy after the Covid-19 pandemic. How can they ensure that the policies implemented bolster the access to and quality of primary school education? And more importantly, how can they ensure that these policies capture the multiple disadvantages of vulnerable children from left-behind groups? Ahead of the G20 Education Ministers meeting and informed by ODI’s upcoming publication, ‘Pathways towards quality primary education: improving completion and learning outcomes’, we bring together a group of experts to examine successful reforms that have brought vulnerable children to the forefront of policy implementation and consider what is needed to push the agenda forward.

Pathways toward an education that leaves no one behind

In the last two decades, Western states have frequently worked with non-state or sub-state armed groups to confront security threats, whether as partners in global counter-terrorism operations or as the de facto security providers in stabilisation and peacebuilding contexts. In partnership with ODI's Centre for the Study of Armed Groups and GPPi, our webinar aims to explore emerging international practices on due diligence and risk mitigation measures in the context of partnerships with non-state or sub-state armed groups. To explore this emerging practice, we highlight findings from a recently published paper that looks at seven US partnerships with local, substate and non-state forces in Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. This paper, and the lessons learned from the case studies within it, serve as a launching pad for a broader discussion about how states and the international community might try to mitigate some of the human rights, security, or other policy risks that arise with more irregular armed groups. To provide a broader narrative, our webinar includes perspectives from UN, US and European policymakers who have worked in environments where non-state armed groups are a significant part of the political and security landscape. Panellists address how different states or international actors have tried to address these risks and suggest possible recommendations for the future.

Regulating irregular actors in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria

The success of the G7 summit will be judged primarily on whether concrete measures are agreed to accelerate the global response to the pandemic. While infection rates soar, and vaccine access remains highly unequal, there has perhaps never been a public policy challenge where national and international interests are so closely aligned. We know that no one is safe until everyone is safe, but COVAX will only cover around 30% of eligible populations in low- and middle-income countries with its current financing of $9.6 billion. In light of recent developments in India, a major vaccine exporter in the midst of a devastating third wave, it is clear that critical barriers remain. What do countries battling the virus and struggling to vaccinate their people need? How should G7 leaders rise to the global vaccine challenge? We explore these key questions with government and international decision-makers.

Mobilising action and finance towards global vaccination

Better recognition, funding and support of local humanitarian responders is long overdue. Many humanitarian organisations have not waited for global-level reforms within the Grand Bargain to drive the agenda forward. Instead, individuals, peer networks and organisations large and small have corrected the sector’s imbalances in their own ways. Away from the often technical or policy debates within the Grand Bargain, there are dynamic, new developments and new opportunities for hyper-local initiatives, survivor-led activities, civil society activism and South–South cooperation. These developments and opportunities are shaping the ‘localisation’ agenda beyond the Grand Bargain. The formal conclusion of the five-year phase of the Grand Bargain this year, raises questions for the humanitarian sector on how best to continue to make progress on localisation. To explore these issues, HPG and HPN convene a conversation exploring the activities and activism on local humanitarian action that are occurring outside of the formal policy processes, and how the landscape is adapting and changing to tackle old problems not being addressed by the wider humanitarian system.

Activism and action beyond 'localisation'

Climate change is a major driver of humanitarian need, alongside conflict and the COVID-19 pandemic. Weather events are becoming more extreme and more frequent – with huge consequences for people already living in humanitarian contexts. Despite the resilience and adaptability of communities living with climate emergencies and related insecurities, they are being hit hard. Join Mark Lowcock and Fonteh Akum for a discussion hosted by Sorcha O'Callaghan about the impact of climate change in the world’s most vulnerable places, and what needs to be done about it.

The climate crisis and humanitarian need

A stronger and more equal partnership between Africa and Europe has never felt more critical. With the blow dealt by Covid-19 to both continents and the inequalities it highlighted, we need to find common solutions to global challenges, from pandemics and climate change to migration. New forms of cross-border cooperation are needed – and fast. ODI hosts a ‘Green Talk’ ahead of the High-level European Union-Africa Green Investment Forum co-organised by the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union and the European Investment Bank. We explore how cities can support the green transition and reinvigorate the partnership between Africa and Europe in the lead up to the long-awaited AU-EU Summit. Cities are decisive players to accelerate the shift to low-carbon and climate-resilient economies needed to sustain the green recovery. Their practical approach to cooperation across borders has much to offer policy-makers at the national and regional level. African and European mayors are already working together to meet these challenges. Our discussion highlights innovative initiatives and city-to-city partnerships, brokered by the Mayors Dialogue on Growth and Solidarity, which harness human mobility within and between Africa and Europe to tackle core shared challenges and find solutions.

French translation | African and European cities, partners for the green transition

English translation | African and European cities, partners for the green transition

Global poverty increased dramatically in 2020 with the impacts of Covid-19 reversing two decades of progress towards achieving the sustainable development goals. The demand for development finance continues to grow as governments and policy makers work to build back their economies, however, development finance is undergoing extreme pressure and is at risk of decline. Adopted in 2015, the Addis Ababa Action Agenda provides a multilateral framework for financing sustainable development. It acknowledges the role public and private finance can play in creating new markets, jobs and reducing poverty, and the unique ability to mobilise finance in low-income and middle-income countries. However, five years on, progress has been slow and is at risk of steering further off course. Informed by ODI’s new report, “ Development Finance Institutions (DFIs): need for bold action to invest better ” we investigate what has and hasn’t worked in mobilising private finance for development. We explore how development finance institutions, multilateral development banks and their shareholders, can re-evaluate their business models, investment approaches and collaborative initiatives to better support the vision of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, and support the global effort to ‘build back better'.

Development finance institutions: bold action to invest better

On August 1, 2018, the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) declared a new outbreak of Ebola in North Kivu. By November 2018, it had become DRC’s largest Ebola outbreak, and the second largest in the world after the 2014-2015 West Africa outbreak. Combatting the outbreak in a region that has experienced decades of armed conflict and ongoing acute humanitarian needs proved a major challenge. The Humanitarian Policy Group’s (HPG) new report finds that international leadership and coordination was slow to adapt to these challenges. Failure of international leadership to analyse risks from the outset, and to plan to adapt to them, contributed to profoundly negative impacts on outcomes related to community engagement, security approaches and sound financial management. This is likely to have lasting negative implications for future responses in the region. This webinar draws on the lessons learnt and recommendations from HPG’s report, considering the implications for future responses and changes that need to be enacted, to better respond to new outbreaks of Ebola and other public health crises.

French translation | Ebola in DRC: building on lessons learned

English translation | Ebola in DRC: building on lessons learned

Chair Nicola Jones @njonesODI – Principal Research Fellow, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, ODI Speakers María del Carmen Calle – Executive Secretary, Pan-Andean Health Organisation Prerna Banati @pbanati – Regional Gender and Adolescent Girls Advisor, West and Central Africa, UNICEF Kenan Madi – Programme Manager, UNICEF Jordan Selin Ozunaldim @SOzunaldim – Founder, Girls Who Code Turkey Closing remarks Arlette Mvondo @ArletteMvondo – Policy Advisor, UN Women Description As governments roll out Covid-19 response plans, a critical window of opportunity arises to reshape adolescent girls’ programs, anchoring them in girls’ voices, leadership and ambitions. Dedicated strategies to reach and support adolescent girls have been advocated, however challenges to scaling up approaches include sustainable financing, and weak systems with limited integration. Policymakers and community leadership also tend to be resistant and sceptical of meaningful adolescent girls’ engagement. As part of the broader conversations around the sixty-fifth session of the Commission on the Status of Women and in partnership with ODI’s GAGE and UNICEF, we explore empowering girl-intentional approaches to policy and programming. We also share experiences from promising practices in low- and middle-income countries, including lessons in light of the pandemic. This webinar is the second in a three-part ODI series on empowering women on their journey from adolescent girls, to young feminists, through to future political and judicial leaders.

Agency and empowerment for adolescent girls beyond Covid-19

Chair Carmen Leon-Himmelstine @C_Himmelstine – Senior Research Fellow, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, ODI Opening Remarks Zainab Hawa Bangura @ZainabHawa – Director-General, United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) Speakers Erika Yamada @ErikaYamada – States and Projects Coordinator, Equidad de Género Javiera Manzi @JavieraManzi – Sociologist and Researcher, Coordinadora Feminista 8M Yara Hawari @yarahawari – Senior Policy Analyst, Al Shabaka Description The last five years have been the backdrop to a global renewal of feminist movements. From Mexico, Chile and Argentina, to India and Taiwan, the urgency to mobilise for women’s rights and against violence has gained momentum. Female-led organisations are changing legislation and shaping public discourse on the structural influence of patriarchy, racism, and colonialism in their daily lives. Feminism has become a popular movement for many young women outside of the 'Global North'. These leaders are currently leading efforts to deconstruct relations of inequality and provide an alternative feminist future. Ahead of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) and as part of broader conversations towards delivering the sustainable development goals during this decade of transformation, we convene a conversation with activist leaders to understand the power of collective action. We hear from key voices that can help guide future strategies for all those working to realise a more equal world. This webinar is the first in a three-part ODI series on empowering women on their journey from adolescent girls, to young feminists, through to future political and judicial leaders.

Sisterhood and beyond: keeping up momentum on feminist change

Live recordings of the Overseas Development Institute events, covering everything from climate change to migration, gender to the Sustainable Development Goals. Join our global discussion of international development and humanitarian issues here. Find out more about ODI events: www.odi.org/events

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