Office of the Vice President, PCNI, ICRC and NEMA Gear Up for North-East Makeathon

In October, the Presidency’s National Social Investment Office in collaboration with PCNI, the Red Cross and NEMA will convene the first North-East themed Makeathon. A Makeathon is a process of crowdsourcing ideas around solutions open to interested persons, humanitarian actors, engineers, designers, scientists, innovators, investors and entrepreneurs in the region. The North East Makeathon is scheduled to run from October 2017 to December 2017 and will usher in the first set of incubation activities in the proposed North East humanitarian innovation hub. The hub which will be situated in Yola, Adamawa State, will address challenges confronting the region some of which include Nutrition and Food Security, Early Recovery and Economic Security, Camp Coordination and Management, Education (innovative and creative learning solutions) and Health (innovation which addresses the health issues faced by pregnant women, children and communities in the region) and innovative and preventive measures that address the protection of women and children, as well as gender-based violence.

The programme is in consonance with the federal government’s commitment to using technology as a tool of public service delivery and the Buhari Plan’s emphasis on leveraging innovation and the resourcefulness of the people of North-East in addressing the task of rehabilitation and reconstruction. For further details on the challenges and how to participate, interested persons can visit www.nemakeathon.org.