APPLY: IPA tables $800,000; invites African innovators to solve remote learning challenges amid COVID-19
The International Publishers Association (IPA) is offering financial support for African publishing entrepreneurs to overcome the staggering impact of COVID-19 pandemic on education in 2020 and beyond.
Under a four-year USD 800,000 fund administered by the IPA in partnership with Dubai Cares, the UAE-based global philanthropic organization, the grants for 2020 will be directed towards locally-owned, digital learning innovations to help African students continue their education.
This narrowed focus seeks to address the overnight predominance of homeschooling and remote learning amid the pandemic which, according to UNESCO, has forced 190 countries to close down schools and universities, affecting more than 1.5 billion school-aged children and youth, which represent around 90% of the world’s student population.
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The winners will be selected by the IPA Africa Publishing Innovation Committee, comprising senior publishing leaders from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia and South Africa.
The group is chaired by IPA Vice-President, Bodour Al Qasimi, who said:
“The COVID-19 pandemic has sent young learners and parents scrambling to find workable remote learning solutions with little guidance or support. It is critical that students don’t get left behind, especially in African countries where infrastructure and technological challenges are greatest. With the Africa Publishing Innovation Fund the IPA has an opportunity to help improve this picture, by enabling local innovators to provide learning solutions that African schoolchildren and university students need.”
Commenting on the correlation between the publishing industry and education at the current challenging times, the Chief Executive Officer at Dubai Cares and Member of its Board of Directors, Dr. Tariq Al Gurg, said:
“The publishing industry plays a pivotal role in education throughout the world, and in such challenging times where COVID-19 has heavily affected education, this role will be eroded if we do not put forward innovative solutions that provide easy access to learning resources. As an organization that focuses on providing access to quality education, we believe we have a critical role to play in ensuring equitable access to distance learning and the necessary resources for all children and youth in the world, especially during emergencies and crises. Through our support to IPA’s Africa Publishing Innovation Fund, we seek to encourage entrepreneurs to develop innovative techniques to help students and teachers connect to information reliably and equitably, so learning and teaching practices are transformed because of COVID-19 academic institutions closures.”
The Committee will issue a formal call for applications on 1 June 2020. It will subject applicants to a rigorous vetting process involving a written application, in-person interviews, presentations and multiple feedback sessions.
The number of grantees and amounts awarded are at the discretion of the Committee.
These will be the second bursaries awarded under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in May 2019 between Dubai Cares, part of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, and the International Publishers Association (IPA), the world’s largest trade association for publishers.
In 2019, five African projects each won $20,000 from the fund, while a library restoration was allocated $50,000. Currently, half of these awards have been paid, with the remaining funds to be released when the pandemic is over.
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The IPA Africa Publishing Innovation Committee members are:
Akoss Ofori-Mensah (Ghana); Managing Director, Sub-Saharan Publishers ; Member of the Council of Management of African Books Collective, Oxford, (UK); Brian Wafawarowa (South Africa), Chief Content and Product Officer at Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd, Chair of the IPA Inclusive Publishing and Literacy Committee; Gbadega Adedapo (Nigeria), President, Nigerian Publishers Association ; Chairman of Nigeria Book Fair Trust ; CEO Rasmed Publications Limited; Lawrence Njagi (Kenya), Chairman, Kenya Publishers Association; Founder and Managing Director, Mountain Top Publishers (Kenya); Treasurer and board member, African Publishers Network (APNET); Mohamed Salah Maalej (Tunisia), General coordinator of Tunisia’s International Book Fair ; President of the Arab and International ExhibitionsCommittee in the Arab Publishers Association and CEO of Kounouz Publishing.
What you should know about the IPA and partners on this project:
The IPA is the world’s largest federation of publishers associations with 83 members in 69 countries. Established in 1896, the IPA is an industry body with a human rights mandate.
The IPA’s mission is to promote and protect publishing and to raise awareness of publishing as a force for economic, cultural and social development.
Working in cooperation with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and numerous international NGOs, the IPA champions the interests of book and journal publishing at national and supranational level.
Internationally, the IPA actively opposes censorship and promotes copyright, freedom to publish (including through the IPA Prix Voltaire), and literacy.
Dubai Cares:
Since its inception, Dubai Cares, part of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, has been working towards providing children and youth in developing countries with access to quality education through the design and funding of programs that aim to be integrated, impactful, sustainable and scalable.
As a result, the UAE-based global philanthropic organization has successfully launched education programs reaching over 20 million beneficiaries in 59 developing countries.
Dubai Cares is playing a key role in helping achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4, which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030, by supporting programs in early childhood development, access to quality primary and secondary education, technical and vocational education and training for youth, as well as a specific focus on education in emergencies and protracted crises.
In the UAE, Dubai Cares engages residents through a series of volunteer, awareness and fundraising initiatives that are linked to its global mandate.
These initiatives include the annual Walk for Education, Volunteer Emirates, Volunteer Globally and Ramadan Campaign.
