UNICEF Green Innovations Hub

Green Internships 20 Organisations have provided young interns with the oportunites to implement environmentally sustainable and greening projects in their businesses. The 20 interns were trained on effective work habits, problem solving, business etiquette and ICT skills as well as being trained on and recieveing certificates for the ISO Environmental Management Systems and implementation ISO14001:2015 offered by the Standards Association of Zimbabwe. An example of a project implemented by an intern includes a water management plan implemented at Tongaat Hullet. Green Innovations 29 environmentally sustainable and renewable energy innovations have been funded and implemented by youth innovators. An example includes the reusable menstruation kit which was designed by Chipo Chikomo, aimed to reduce the amount of menstrual waste, cut the cost of sanitary prodcuts and boost local employment. Green Schools 20 grants were awarded to environmental clubs within schools to implement innovative green schools projects. 1026 pupils participated in the projects and examples include installing solar geysers in a boarding school on the outskirts of Gweru, installing a drip irrigation system for a market garden at a school in the lowveld and building a weather station at a school near shabanie. This weather station is now connected to the national weather system to enable the transfer of data and the children take an active interest in taking the weather measurements and understanding the impact the weather has on thier lives. A Policy Brief on'Leveraging Green Innovations in Zimbabwe to Contribute to Youth Employment' was developed.    

Funding of SEK 7000 000 has been made available to this programme. In the face of increasing social economic hardships youth and children are the worst affected. This is in addition to the on-going and future impacts of global climate change, which have turned communities into desperation. A growing body of work is emerging around community-based responses to multiple vulnerabilities to climate change and socio-economic woes. This project therefore seeks to tap into the innovation of young people and turn ideas into practical solutions to these challenges. The project will increase the knowledge of young people, rural communities, policy makers and programmers on environmental sustainability and renewable energy so they may become competent contributors in the development policies that will affect their lives. Such scalable solutions to climate change have the potential to transform social innovation models and can rescue millions of youth from poverty through strategic green enterprises and increasing employability. Objectives of the programme include: To provide support to a new generation of social entrepreneurs in Zimbabwe conscious of the environment.To facilitate innovative debt financing methods through proactively engaging with local banks to develop new debt financing methods to enable bank loans for climate-tech innovations.To contribute towards the creation of an enabling legal and policy framework for climate change adaptation and mitigation in Zimbabwe through the provision of a model for youth involvement.To encourage and motivate young innovators to devise solutions for emerging environmental and energy challenges in the country.To facilitate attachment students to further develop their employment skills in sustainable business by providing Green Job placement opportunities through proactively engaging with non-governmental organizations and private sector partners interested to green their value chain through this special GiHub facility.