Noa Ubongo' a youth learning platform in Tanzania
Summary:
In Tanzania, 800,000 youth enter labor market each year with only 35% of them having completed their secondary education. And even those who have, lack the essential skills, knowledge and confidence to start a productive independent live. As a result, a lot of young people are stuck, unemployed and barely scraping by with their potential contribution to country's economic growth being wasted each day. In response to this TBWA\KhangaRue Media, a leading SBCC creative agency in East Africa, developed an online learning platform 'Noa Ubongo' ('Sharpen Your Brain' in Swahili). The platform offers educational content on workforce readiness, financial literacy, entrepreneurship and other topics that equip youth with skills required to gain financial independence. 'Noa Ubongo' content is in Swahili and accessible across an array of online channels, including Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Whatsapp. Since the launch TBWA\KhangaRue Media has partnered with a number of organisations, with a shared mission of empowering the youth, for content co-creation. Noa Ubongo content has been viewed for over 5 million times across different channels, reaching 12% of Tanzania's online youth population and beyond. However, to counteract a limited internet and mobile phone penetration in rural Tanzania, 'Noa Ubongo' is also being disseminated through both formal and informal on the ground structures. For example, UNCDF Tanzania is using 'Noa Ubongo' content in refugee camps in Tanzania and Rwanda.
Background/Objectives:
Noa Ubongo' was launched in 2016 in response to the dire need of accessible educational content for youth, who were leaving schools and universities ill-equipped for independent decent living in an extremely competitive job market. 'Noa Ubongo's mission is empowering youth by providing them with workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills so that they can start gaining control and get on the path of their financial independence. Our content covers a range of topics representing the intersection of the biggest knowledge gaps and the areas with greatest potential for impact.
Results/Lessons Learned:
Our online community of almost 100,000 youth alongside millions of views and engagement points demonstrates the demand for educational SBCC content providing relevant information in an authentic and engaging format. To ensure it is accessible to those without access to internet we partner with on-the-ground organisations to tap into their existing infrastructure for offline dissemination. Our lessons learned in creating 'Noa Ubongo' can be summarised in the following effective educational SBCC content recipe: Understanding who you are talking to is key in ensuring appropriate cultural and demographic contextualization use stories and role models your audience can relate to; Ensure that your content inspires rather than just teaches - use peer to peer learning approach; Understand what motivates and hinders the desired behavior of your audience - use stories anchored in the universal human truths and growth mindset; Entertain whenever possible, without compromising on learning objectives.
Discussion/Implications for the Field:
Our growing network of content co-creation and dissemination collaborations demonstrates the need and the power of different development sector actors bringing their expertise together and building on instead of replicating existing solutions. By leveraging 'Noa Ubongo' online reach and content library our partners benefit from the scale that it offers, whilst working with the organisations on the ground gives us access to those who we would not reach otherwise. There is a lot to be gained from approaching SBCC product development as a collaborative effort to ensure the effectiveness of both the content and its delivery mechanisms.
Abstract submitted by:
Evelina Moceviciute - KhangaRue Media
In Tanzania, 800,000 youth enter labor market each year with only 35% of them having completed their secondary education. And even those who have, lack the essential skills, knowledge and confidence to start a productive independent live. As a result, a lot of young people are stuck, unemployed and barely scraping by with their potential contribution to country's economic growth being wasted each day. In response to this TBWA\KhangaRue Media, a leading SBCC creative agency in East Africa, developed an online learning platform 'Noa Ubongo' ('Sharpen Your Brain' in Swahili). The platform offers educational content on workforce readiness, financial literacy, entrepreneurship and other topics that equip youth with skills required to gain financial independence. 'Noa Ubongo' content is in Swahili and accessible across an array of online channels, including Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Whatsapp. Since the launch TBWA\KhangaRue Media has partnered with a number of organisations, with a shared mission of empowering the youth, for content co-creation. Noa Ubongo content has been viewed for over 5 million times across different channels, reaching 12% of Tanzania's online youth population and beyond. However, to counteract a limited internet and mobile phone penetration in rural Tanzania, 'Noa Ubongo' is also being disseminated through both formal and informal on the ground structures. For example, UNCDF Tanzania is using 'Noa Ubongo' content in refugee camps in Tanzania and Rwanda.
Background/Objectives:
Noa Ubongo' was launched in 2016 in response to the dire need of accessible educational content for youth, who were leaving schools and universities ill-equipped for independent decent living in an extremely competitive job market. 'Noa Ubongo's mission is empowering youth by providing them with workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills so that they can start gaining control and get on the path of their financial independence. Our content covers a range of topics representing the intersection of the biggest knowledge gaps and the areas with greatest potential for impact.
Results/Lessons Learned:
Our online community of almost 100,000 youth alongside millions of views and engagement points demonstrates the demand for educational SBCC content providing relevant information in an authentic and engaging format. To ensure it is accessible to those without access to internet we partner with on-the-ground organisations to tap into their existing infrastructure for offline dissemination. Our lessons learned in creating 'Noa Ubongo' can be summarised in the following effective educational SBCC content recipe: Understanding who you are talking to is key in ensuring appropriate cultural and demographic contextualization use stories and role models your audience can relate to; Ensure that your content inspires rather than just teaches - use peer to peer learning approach; Understand what motivates and hinders the desired behavior of your audience - use stories anchored in the universal human truths and growth mindset; Entertain whenever possible, without compromising on learning objectives.
Discussion/Implications for the Field:
Our growing network of content co-creation and dissemination collaborations demonstrates the need and the power of different development sector actors bringing their expertise together and building on instead of replicating existing solutions. By leveraging 'Noa Ubongo' online reach and content library our partners benefit from the scale that it offers, whilst working with the organisations on the ground gives us access to those who we would not reach otherwise. There is a lot to be gained from approaching SBCC product development as a collaborative effort to ensure the effectiveness of both the content and its delivery mechanisms.
Abstract submitted by:
Evelina Moceviciute - KhangaRue Media
Source
Approved abstract for the postponed 2020 SBCC Summit in Marrakech, Morocco. Provided by the International Steering Committee for the Summit. Image credit: KhangaRue Media via Facebook