I recently had the opportunity to participate in a discussion with UNICEF Uganda Deputy Representative, May Anyabolu. Anyabolu gave a passionate presentation about Uganda’s history of conflict, the realities of everyday life, and UNICEF’s various programs and initiatives.
Among many other initiatives, UNICEF and partners have created programs to reduce school drop-out rates, reach children in Uganda’s most isolated areas, and establish youth networking organizations. In addition, the installation of ‘Digital Drums’—rugged computers made from locally available oil drums—have served as a way to promote sustainability and make youth friendly content, along with games and reading materials, accessible to young people. Through mTrac, a nationwide SMS-based disease and medicine tracking system, community health workers as well as everyday citizens can text to a hotline to report theft, corruption and shortages.

Warmly hosted by the UNICEF Malawi staff, recently a group of U.S. Fund for UNICEF staff and supporters visited the country to see the great breadth of UNICEF’s work and meet the children who are benefitting.
One of the most striking moments was when we visited the schools that UNICEF has helped to develop. By establishing child-friendly schools in the most rural areas of the country, UNICEF is able to demonstrate a commitment to have all kids attend school. The K.I.N.D. Project—Kids In Need of Desks—that was initiated by Lawrence O’Donnell of MSNBC has proven to be extremely successful.

The annual Social Innovation Summit is a private forum dedicated to exploring solutions for some of the world’s toughest social problems through collaborative efforts and innovative business models. In November Rajesh Anandan and I led an interactive roundtable titled “Scaling Innovation through Partnerships.” We shared UNICEF’s key learning’s from our Technology4Devlopment work and attendees to tell us what they’ve learned about how to scale innovation at the Bottom of the Pyramid.

Thomas Edison once said “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” That sentiment was alive and well when the U.S. Fund recently hosted FailFaire NYC, a convening that highlights Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D) projects gone awry. The goal in airing our dirty laundry? Sharing what doesn’t work in order to move the community more quickly toward what does work.