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COMMENT | NANTEZA SARAH KYOBE | Throughout last week, UNICEF Uganda, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Sports and the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, held innovation boot camps in the Greater North and Eastern regions. This, in anticipation of this year’s World Children’s Day celebration, which is scheduled for November 20th under the theme “my day, my rights”. Officials engaged young people from previous celebrations to act as change agents and advocates through regional boot camps, enabling children to gain knowledge, develop, and share solutions that benefit their communities. The regional boot camps began in Arua for the Great North, followed by the Eastern region, then the Western region, and will conclude in the Central region. The boot camps are organized under the theme “Invest in Uganda’s children for a better future.” I participated as part of the team responsible for the digital promotion of the boot camps. I was particularly impressed by how the youth identified various issues, proposed solutions, explained how these solutions would benefit their communities, and outlined strategies for sustaining these solutions. The innovation boot camps are part of the broader I-UPSHIFT initiative, aimed at equipping young people with skills in social innovation and entrepreneurship. The camp for the Greater North was held in Arua district, with representatives from Yumbe, Madi Okollo, and Terego districts attending from their schools, including Edena Primary School in Madi Okollo, Eleke Primary School in Yumbe, and Lygbari Primary School in Terego. The focus here was on school children who are currently enrolled. The young innovators used their problem-solving skills to tackle real-world challenges, turning ideas into sustainable, commercially viable solutions. It was truly inspiring to see creativity and purpose manifesting in their efforts. Initially, the children were guided through the stages of pitching, detailing what they would be doing and the methods involved. Subsequently, the practical component commenced with pitch preparation on Tuesday, the 20th of October 2025, referred to as the mock pitch, followed by the final pitch on the 21st of October 2025. Lugbari PS, originating from the Terego District, was declared the winner to represent Greater North at the National Finals on World Children’s Day. This achievement followed their exceptional pitch, which earned them a score of 77.6 points with the Ever-Ready Club, thus securing the 1st position. In contrast, the Smart Life Skills Club finished in 2nd place with a score of 69 points. Following our conclusion with Greater North, we proceeded to the Eastern region in the Soroti district, where the emphasis was on out-of-school children. The Eastern Region boot camp included participants from the Napak, Amudat, Kotido, and Nakapiripirit districts. Similar to the Greater North, participants from the Eastern region were also guided through the pitch criteria after presenting their pitch ideas, which outlined the issues they aimed to tackle. Initially, the participants had not put in more energy in the pitch, but upon informing them that the two winning groups would be travelling to Kampala, I observed a notable concentration in their pitching preparations. In fact, some groups chose to remain for several additional hours to refine their pitches. The youth pitched their ideas, identifying the problem, proposing a solution, demonstrating how the solution would benefit the community, and ensuring the sustainability of the solution. After the pitches concluded, the judges declared Napak district as the winner, with team Leopard achieving first place, while team Lion earned second place, both set to represent the Eastern region at the National finals in honour of the 2025 World Children’s Day. During the boot camps, young participants expressed their concerns about significant issues impacting their lives, including school drop-out rates associated with poverty, the unavailability of sanitary pads affecting girls’ school attendance, restricted access to water, early marriages, deforestation, and unemployment, while promoting change through innovative strategies. Nanteza Sarah Kyobe works with Uganda Media Centre
