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GENEVA / WAM
The International Publishers Association (IPA) is offering financial support to African publishing entrepreneurs to overcome the staggering impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on education in 2020 and beyond.
Under a four-year $800,000 fund administered by the IPA in partnership with Dubai Cares, the UAE-based global philanthropic organisation, the grants for 2020 will be directed towards locally-owned, digital learning innovations to help African students continue their education.
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, Sheikha 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 do not get left behind, especially in African countries where infrastructure and technological challenges are the 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.”
Dr. Tariq Al Gurg, CEO at Dubai Cares and Member of its Board of Directors, said, “As an organisation 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 the children and youth in the world, especially during emergencies and crises.â€
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 academic institutions being closed due to Covid-19.”
The committee will issue a formal call for applications on 1st 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 signed in May 2019 between Dubai Cares, part of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, and the IPA.
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.