The inaugural Africa Children Summit was not just an ‘attend and go’ summit. It was a platform for children and partnering organization to showcase their work, creativity, and solutions towards creating a better world for children.
With the budding SDGs Academy for Children, Arigatou International could ill-afford to miss this opportunity to promote it’s through the SDGs Academy for Children.
At the summit, we established a child-friendly innovations hub, which took a miniature form of the physical hub of the Academy, complete with the 5 hubs (Knowledge, Dialogue, Capacity, Faith and Fun, Innovations and Solutions) equipped with informative materials corresponding to the hubs.
The innovation hub served not only to portray how a physical space of the Academy looks like but also took participants (both children and adults) through an overview of Arigatou International and what it does with a specific focus on the SDGs Academy for Children.
In droves as well as in their numbers, children as well as adults frequented the innovations space as they were moved by the amazing story and model of the Academy and the breathtaking set up of the space. Further, the array of SDGs related informative materials as well as fun and media related resources pulled participants to the space, with most of them visibly posing for photos with their favorite SDGs, designed as posters.
“It’s very important that as children we start working on the SDGs as soon as possible because they are actually meant for a better future for children. The SDGs should actually be part of our curriculum” Brian, Child, Kenya.
The innovation space further served as hosting space for breakout sessions during the summit, one of which was one media and technology. Children in the session called for the need to have their parents, caregivers and teachers enlightened more on media and technology with regards to best ways to keep children safe on online spaces as well as support them meaningfully use such spaces to learn.
Aside from the innovation hub, we set up a booth through which participants got a first-hand brief about the SDGs Academy for Children among other key areas of Arigatou International.
As we accelerate efforts in promoting the Academy and cementing its footprints and imprints, the Africa Children Summit provided a huge platform towards entrenching the Academy as one of the available meaningful children participation spaces; with the Academy focused on providing a safe space and programme for children’s participation, learning and action on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the Agenda 2030 in general.
Arigatou International was one of the 23 partnering organizations for the Africa Children Summit and presented the SDGs Academy for Children as a safe space for children to participate in coming up with solutions to create a better world around them.
“We at Arigatou International are excited to see the outcomes of this summit, and the impact that your ideas and actions will have on Africa and the world, and we are committed to support your efforts in any way we can – especially though our Arigatou SDGs Academy for Children” expressed Fred Nyabera, Director, Arigatou International – End Child Poverty.
