The Changemaker LAB innovation laboratory developed by Girl MOVE Academy activates local Mozambican talent and, in partnership with companies, develops solutions to respond to the real challenges faced by communities. In 2022, the solutions that will be designed are in the areas of renewable energies and mobility, circular economy, peace, agriculture and nutrition, sanitation, health, digital literacy and financial literacy.
Girl MOVE has increasingly reinforced its position as an Academy that creates value and real impact in the world through the design and implementation of processes for co-creating solutions. Changemaker LAB was created to this end, being an innovation programme that contributes to accomplish the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda. An intensive 4-month programme where Girl MOVERS – young Mozambican graduates work in Nampula communities to test and validate ideas to solve economic and social challenges in Mozambique.
“We are activating local talent and strengthening entrepreneurial leadership to develop effective impact solutions that are tested and adapted to the real needs of these communities.”, explains Inês Moreira Barreto, coordinator of the Changemaker LAB at Girl MOVE.
In 2022, 9 new solutions designed by true Mozambican Changemakers will be presented that respond to the challenges proposed by the partner companies of this project in the strategic areas of operation and main investment: renewable energies and mobility, circular economy, peace, agriculture and nutrition, sanitation, health, digital literacy and financial literacy.
In addition to boosting Mozambican female talent, the Girl MOVE Academy has privileged access to local communities in Nampula, which enables the collection of information to create/adapt business models and assess their social and financial sustainability. The value proposition for problem solving is based on collaboration, creativity, experimental learning, empathy, and practical experience through field work. In 2 years, 16 impact solutions were tested. And in addition to the more than 3000 girls and women from the Girl MOVE Academy programmes, Changemaker LAB has already impacted more than 2000 direct beneficiaries who directly incorporated the solutions created into their lives and businesses, with more than 8500 indirect beneficiaries in the communities.
In 2020, with the New Masks Biz Off Grid solution, in partnership with UNHCR and funded by GIZ and German Cooperation, economic inclusion and the use of renewable energies to mitigate the negative impacts of the pandemic were promoted. 2400 masks made by women seamstresses from the Displaced Community of the Pemba Province were produced and delivered, with the donation of 200 solar sewing machines. This not only allowed the individual protection of women and their families, but also enabled future income generation. In 2021, in one of the 7 proposed challenges, the Girl MOVERS committed themselves to sustainable sanitation and hygiene in the communities and schools of Nampula. In addition to awareness workshops and training, “Fantastic Pias” schools were installed in the schools – an ecological solution designed by the Mozambican start-up SUSAMATI, which uses only 1 cup of water for each discharge (200ml compared to 10l normal discharge). As well as a model for expanding this solution to solve sanitation conditions across the country.
This programme is only possible due to the existence of an innovation network composed of multiple players, each with a key role in the process of developing and implementing the challenges, as explained by Inês Moreira Barreto, programme coordinator, “our impact network shares the view that it is urgent to bring talent and leadership closer to the community and to real challenges, in a more practical and relevant programme, starting in Mozambique, but scalable to world.”
UpNext Energies by Galp has already joined the project as an innovation partner, as well as UCP and Unilúrio. The L'Oréal Fund for Women, PLMJ, Navigator, and MWE also accepted the challenge to become partners in the Changemaker LAB 2022. There is still time to become part of this innovation network, which connects specialists, companies, talent, creativity and the new generation of Mozambican Changemakers leaders!