Center for Advocacy, Relief, and Dev't

Team Leader

David Mawa

Solution Overview

Solution Name:

One-line solution summary:

Empowering Youth in Yei with access to ICT infrastructure and affordable ICT training in Yei River County South Sudan

Pitch your solution.

The project is designed to provide 56% of beneficiaries (students, returnees, self-employed, and small scale women entrepreneurs’) with access to digital infrastructure and safe, affordable internet, and affordable training for those community members lacking ICT knowledge

The project seeks to establish a community ICT center well equipped with digital infrastructure (computers, a V-Sat, and ICT training hall) to provide low-income, remote, and returnees’ communities’ access to digital infrastructure and safe, affordable internet and access to affordable ICT training for those lacking knowledge and skills

Providing youth with access to digital infrastructure and safe, affordable internet will enable them access to commerce, credit lines, safety nets, and saving mechanisms that are key for the opportunity to lead a dignified and productive life

What specific problem are you solving?

From the estimated population of 100,000 people living in Yei River County, only 5% who are working for International and few national humanitarian agencies have access to digital infrastructure, while 45% (students, self-employed, small scale women entrepreneurs’ find it difficult to network with regional and international partners and access trade-related information, etc.) They do have digital knowledge but facing difficulty accessing digital infrastructure particularly internet infrastructure and 50% of the youth living in Yei do not know how to use a computer and requires capacity building training in ICT thus according to a feasibility study conducted in Yei in April 2021 by Center for Advocacy, Relief, and Development.

South Sudan is the world’s newest country. It is a landlocked oil-dependent country that became independent on July 9, 2011, after a six-year transitional period (2005 – 2011).

Access to digital infrastructure is only limited to the capital city with 82% of the communities living in remote regions with no access to digital infrastructure and ICT training opportunities.

What is your solution?

The proposed project seeks to address the above challenges through establishing a community ICT center well equipped with digital infrastructure (computers, a V-Sat, and ICT training hall) to provide low-income, remote, and returnees’ communities’ access to digital infrastructure and safe, affordable internet and access to affordable ICT training for those lacking knowledge and skills in ICT targeting 3,000 beneficiaries selected from ten sub-districts.

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

The proposed solution targets the following beneficiaries, low-income, remote, and returnees’ communities’ including youth, students, unemployed youth, and women entrepreneurs.

Before the project design, the Center for Advocacy, Relief, and Development (CARD) conducted an assessment of needs in the areas of access to ICT infrastructure and training needs. The assessment outcome indicated 46 % of the population have knowledge of ICT but face difficulty accessing the internet due to lack of ICT infrastructure in the project area while 14% have access to the internet from their work places mainly those working for international NGOs, while 40% do not have ICT knowledge and skills.

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Provide low-income, remote, and refugee communities access to digital infrastructure and safe, affordable internet.

Explain how the problem you are addressing, the solution you have designed, and the population you are serving align with the Challenge.

Our problem, solution, and our target population are aligned with the goal of the MIT Solve program. Our solution covers the provision of ICT infrastructure and ICT training. We are committed to empowering our beneficiaries to lead a dignified and productive life

The main project beneficiaries are students, returnees, self-employed and small scale women entrepreneurs, and community members who lack ICT knowledge and skills

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

Yei, South Sudan

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Pilot: An organization deploying a tested product, service, or business model in at least one community.

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution.

The project to be implemented by the Center for Advocacy, Relief, and Development seek to address the above challenges through establishing a community ICT center well equipped with digital infrastructure (computers, a V-Sat, and ICT training hall) to provide low-income, remote, and returnees’ communities’ access to digital infrastructure and safe, affordable internet and access to affordable ICT training for those lacking knowledge and skills in ICT.

It will be tested in South Sudan particularly in Yei River County targeting 3,000 beneficiaries.

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

Mawa David Kwaje

Solution Team:

David Mawa