Apply to win 4 Million Naira at PIND’s Peace Building Grants

PIND’s Peacebuilding Program has as its objectives, the reduction of violence as a key constraint to key constraint to economic growth in the region. The program also operates along two strands; the Integrated Peace and Development Unit and the Partners for Peace Project.
Details HERE 

The InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition for Nigerian Secondary Schools 2018

About InterswitchSPAK

INTRODUCTION

InterswitchSPAK is an annual search across high schools (public and private) in Nigeria for only SS 2 (year 11) students between the ages of 14-17 years.It is introduced to chart the ideal career path and drive the student towards full optimization of their potentials and fulfilment of their dreams (either as an inventor or entrepreneur) with a key message of revving up the interest of students; parents, teachers and other key stakeholders towards STEM education and its application in Africa.

SPAK OBJECTIVES

1. To arouse and sustain keen interest in the study of STEM in high schools across Africa.
2. To raise the standard of STEM education and reward excellence with educational grants through an unbiased competition that would promote sound education in Africa.
3. To create a vehicle that is genuinely interested in the growth, development and well-being of Africa students and teachers through various interventions including scholarship schemes for outstanding STEM students.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE:

1. This competition is open to students in SSS2 (year 11) between 14 – 17 years; attending full time Secondary Education in both Public and Private Schools in Nigeria.
2. Participation in this competition is FREE.
3. Registration to participate is strictly online via www.interswitchspak.com
4. Each School is required to present their BEST six (6) students in Science (SS2 students), irrespective of religion, tribe or state of origin, to enhance their chances of qualifying for the second round of the competition.
5. Mixed-schools are required to have at least two female students-amongst the six(6)  that would represent them.
6. There are many examination centers across Nigeria.

THE EXAMINATION

There are two main levels of the competition.

FIRST ROUND: WRITTEN QUALIFYING EXAMINATION

In this stage, all the online registered students’ (i.e. the best SIX (6) from each registered school) will write a National qualifying examination conducted by NECO at designated centers across Nigeria including FCT, Abuja.

Each school is to prepare their representatives for the qualifying exams in four subjects- Mathematics, Physics; Chemistry & Biology based on the current year 11 WAEC/NECO syllabuses.

The National Qualif

ying Exams.

100 Objective questions in 75 minutes; 25 each from the 4 Subjects.

SECOND ROUND: TV QUIZ COMPETITION

The best 81 students (with the highest scores) out of those who wrote the qualifying examination will be invited to participate at this stage of the competition. This will be recorded and transmitted on Television across Nigeria and Africa.

The overall best three students per State will be recognised.

RULES AND REGULATIONS:

1. The SPAK National exam will hold on Saturday April 21st, 2018 across Nigeria, please check the list of centers on www.interswitchspak.com.
2. Students must come to their designated examination centres by 10am for accreditation with their Registration slip duly signed and stamped by their school principal.
3. Latecomers will not be allowed to write the examination.
4. Students are to come along with only HB pencil, eraser, ruler and statistical table, NO CALCULATORS WILL BE ALLOWED.
5. Students must conduct themselves in an orderly manner
6. Any act of misconduct will lead to disqualification of the student.
7. All students MUST come to the exam venue in their School Uniform.
8. Please refer to examination centre list o check for the centre nearest to you.
9. The competition is open to SS2 (year 11) students ONLY.
10. Each school is to prepare their representatives for the qualifying exams in Physics, Chemistry, Biology & Mathematics based on the current SS2 WAEC/NECO syllabuses.
11. The decision of the organizers/ NECO is final and we shall not enter into any correspondence with anyone regarding the conduct of this examination.

PLEASE NOTE

1. Students are advised to check their results via the online platform that will be made available to them from May 21st 2018.
2. We strongly recommend that students sit for the examination at centres nearest to them·
3. Only qualified students will be contacted for the second stage (TV quiz) of the competition.
4. The InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition is to discover Nigeria’s best science student.

1. Only qualified students will be contacted for the second stage (TV quiz) of the competition.
2. The InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition is to discover Nigeria’s best science student.

1. Only qualified students will be contacted for the second stage (TV quiz) of the competition.
2. The InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition is to discover Nigeria’s best science student. REGISTER YOUR SCHOOL

World Youth Essay Competition (WYEC) for International Students 2018

Deadline: March 31, 2018
Description:
The WYEC 2018 gives you the unique opportunity to write about a subject that interests, motivate…s and inspires you the most! There is no topic restriction and you are free to write about topics such as aspects of society, environmental issues, science and technology, global affairs, and more. The essay has to be between one to eight pages in the English language. You can also use pictures and graphics in your essay to visualize your words. Please submit your essay as PDF file (preferred). The WYEC 2018 jury judges each essay individually based on various criteria which may include creativity, writing style, knowledge skills and more. The WYEC 2018 Finalists will answer three short questions towards personality and achievements: The jury selects the winners based on your essay and your personality!


Eligibility:
All high school and university students are welcomed to submit his essay. Because WYEC 2018 wants to encourage students from certain countries, the jury gives special attention to submission from these countries: Nepal, India, Germany, Thailand, Myanmar, Gambia, Philippines, Kenya, Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Liberia, Zambia, Indonesia, Morocco, France, Brazil, Pakistan, USA, Ukraine, Egypt, Vietnam and More. If you are from one of these countries, you have a great chance to become a finalist and we highly encourage you to participate in WYEC 2018!

Benefits:
The jury receives many outstanding submissions from all around the world. The WYEC awards honor a variety of excellent essays from exceptional youths and students.

WYEC Grand Prize 2018
The overall best submission receives the WYEC Grand Prize 2018 of 1700 USD. The exceptional student that receives the WYEC Grand Prize will be invited to Germany for a special winner ceremony with all flight and accommodation expenses covered! In Germany, you will meet with current international leaders and professionals.
WYEC 2. Prize and 3. Prize
The second and third best submissions receive the WYEC 2. prize and 3. prize of 2018. The award honors your extraordinary writing style and your creative mind. The 2. Prize and 3. Prize Winners will also be featured in one of the world’s most notable youth journals: You will be interviewed by journalists towards your motivation to inspire other youths around the world!
10x Award of Excellence

The jury selects ten submissions for exceptional creativity, knowledge or language skills. You will receive the WYEC Award of Excellence to obtain encouragement and honor for your future achievements and professional career.

All Finalists
All finalists will receive a special WYEC finalists certificate with honorable jury notes.
 All Participants
All participants will receive a WYEC 2018 participation certificate.


Application Process: Click HERE to submit your essay.

UNICEF INNOVATION FUND (Funding Opportunity for Tech Start-ups)

Application deadline: February 28th, 2018:

The UNICEF Innovation Fund is looking to make $50-90K equity-free investments to provide early stage (seed) finance to for-profit technology start-ups that have the potential to benefit humanity.

If you’ve got a start-up registered in one of UNICEF’s programme countries and have a working, open source prototype (or you are willing to make it open-source) showing promising results, the UNICEF Innovation Fund is looking for you.

Who we’re looking for?

We invest in frontier technologies that exist at the intersection of $100 billion business markets and 1 billion person needs. Examples of these include, but are not limited to:

Blockchain: Using distributed ledger technologies to reduce the cost and to increase the speed, transparency, identity and accountability of financial transactions.

Drones: Developing software modules that can improve drone operations, data processing and sharing or supply chain management systems for testing drones in areas with low connectivity.

Virtual and Augmented Reality: Providing new, immersive ways that can enhance our learning experience expand our understanding of complex systems and improve how we interact with one another

Data Science: Compiling and analyzing large data collections where they are scarce, allowing the visualization of large amounts of data in intuitive ways, or creating new machine learning models and frameworks for using data more effectively.

Artificial Intelligence: Using AI tools (such as optimization or pattern recognition) or the newest Deep Learning or Transfer Learning techniques to address social or environmental problems.

And + Our funding is not necessarily limited to the above. We are interested in companies that apply tech in new, groundbreaking, ways that are scalable and globally applicable. If you are aligned with our general criteria, we want to hear from you.

Visit the official homepage here to apply.

InterAction’s Photography 2018 Contest for Humanitarian and Development Work ($1,000 USD prize)

What Is InterAction's Photo Contest?

Each year, InterAction’s photography contest focuses on incredible humanitarian and development work.

We encourage you to submit your most powerful photos that illustrate innovative, effective, and inspiring efforts in international relief and development. Examples of empowering women, youth potential, self-reliance, innovative technology, shared values, and partnerships are encouraged, though entries are not limited to those areas. All images should be of work done outside of the United States.

Prizes

One Grand Prize Winner will receive $1,000 USD and the Effective Assistance Photography Certificate. The winning photo will also be showcased at InterAction's 2018 Forum, June 12-14 in Washington, D.C.

Three Categories winners (best youth potential photo; best women's empowerment photo; best photo taken with a mobile phone) will receive $100 USD and have their photographs displayed on an online gallery at www.interaction.org.

Six Honorable Mentions will have their photographs displayed on an online gallery at www.interaction.org.

Contest Rules

Dates for submissions are Friday, February 2, 2018 to Friday, April 6, 2018 at 11:59pm EST.  All eligible entries must be submitted between these dates.

Entries are limited to three (3) photos per person.

Entries should be 300 dpi or larger at a size no smaller than roughly 3” x 5” (file sizes less than 8MB please).

All entrants must hold copyright to the photographs they submit and by entering are claiming such ownership. If it is determined an entrant has fraudulently claimed ownership of their submission, the entry will immediately become void and ineligible. All images should be of work done outside of the United States. Selected photos will be posted online and made available for download. Photos failing to meet the judging requirements will not be posted publicly. InterAction reserves the right to suspend or cancel the Contest or modify these rules at its discretion. 

For any persons appearing in the photograph, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the photograph, the express permission, written, verbal, or otherwise, necessary to permit the exhibition and use of the photograph. If any person appearing in any photograph is under the age of majority in their state/province/territory of residence, the express permission, written, verbal, or otherwise, of a parent or legal guardian is required.

By entering a submission, entrants agree to make their photo available to the public under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC) license. Copyright holders shall retain all rights to the original photo.

The “License Deed” for CC BY-NC is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/, and the full text of CC BY-NC is available online at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode.  Instructions for marking your work with CC BY-NC can be found at https://wiki.creativecommons.org/Marking_your_work_with_a_CC_license. The photo credit shall appear as follows: Photo [photo URL linked to photo title] By: [photographer name] is licensed under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license. 

Entry is open to all, with the exception of current InterAction staff.

Culture Trip Search for Freelance Writers in Africa 2018

Application Deadline: Ongoing

Eligible Countries: London – Paris -Belgium – England – Scotland – Wales – Ireland – Germany – France – Italy – Croatia – Montenegro – Slovenia – Austria – Switzerland – Poland – Spain – Portugal – Turkey – Greece – Hungary – Bulgaria – Romania – Czech Republic – Slovakia – Russia – Sweden – Norway – Finland – Iceland – Denmark – Baltic states – New York – Washington, DC – Miami – Boston – Chicago – Orlando – Texas (Austin) – Nashville – New Orleans – California – West Coast, USA – Canada – Mexico – Hong Kong – China – India – Sri Lanka – Japan – Korea – Taiwan – Malaysia – Singapore – Indonesia – Cambodia – Maldives – Philippines – Vietnam – Burma – Thailand – Australia – New Zealand  – Pacific Islands (Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Tahiti) – Israel – UAE – Jordan – Oman – Iran – Lebanon – South Africa – Morocco – Egypt – Tunisia – Ghana – Nigeria – Kenya – African Islands – Puerto Rico – Cuba – Brazil  – Colombia – Bolivia – Uruguay / Paraguay – Peru – Chile – Argentina – Ecuador – Costa Rica – The Carribean

To Be Taken At (Country): London, UK

About the Award: Founded by London-based, former academic psychiatrist Dr Kris Naudts, Culture Trip is a highly ambitious and fast growing, global tech/media startup with offices in London, New York and Tel Aviv and a vast global contributor network of writers, videographers, photographers and illustrators around the world. The company was recently featured in Forbes as one of five fast-growing businesses to watch in 2017.

After a few years of bootstrapping and experimenting, the start-up received a seed round of $2M by top media/tech investor in summer 2015. This was followed by a $20M Series A in summer 2016. Since then, the company has ramped up its technological capabilities and editorial output and built initial sales teams in London and New York. From only 12 employees in summer 2016 it has grown to more than 120 in-house staff, hiring top talent from Google, Facebook, Buzzfeed, Condé Nast, The Guardian and ITV. The company sees itself as a tech company at its core with media and creative work as its output. We’re passionate about bringing compelling content to every corner of the world through our global community of writers, videographers and photographers, and illustrators.

Within the last 6 months, the company has experienced triple digit growth across its social media accounts, now with more than 4 million followers. Its Facebook account is now ranked as one of the top three travel brands on the platform worldwide. Over 10 million people visit Culture Trip’s website each month (up from 2.5 million MUVs only 6 months ago) and more than 400k people have installed our app. We are set for yet more explosive growth and are going through a major recruitment drive for our editorial, commercial, technology and social teams around the world. Our vision is bold: we aim to create the world’s largest media company, powered by a global community and cutting-edge technology.

Eligibility: Culture Trip is looking for an experienced freelance writer to produce local content covering a range of genres: travel, food, art, fashion, literature, film, TV, music, architecture, home & design, tech, health & wellness and sports. You will be remotely managed by a Culture Trip Commissioning Editor based in our London office. Candidate must be with:

• At least 1 year of experience writing for a variety of online publications on a freelance basis
• A varied portfolio, preferably with a focus in travel and arts & culture writing
• Specialist knowledge of specific locations or areas within your country
• Ability to maintain an authoritative editorial voice across all content
• Ability to work quickly yet thoroughly, producing a large amount of quality content to tight deadlines
• Excellent organizational skills are an absolute must
• Strong understanding of what makes a great piece of content
• Strong understanding of the differences between social media- and search engine-optimized content
• Working knowledge of WordPress is essential

Number of Awards: Not specified

How to Apply: Email on freelance@theculturetrip.com, attaching your CV, a short cover letter and providing writing samples or a link to your portfolio.

• In your cover letter, make sure to indicate which specific regions or cities within your country that you’re most familiar with, and how.
• Please also state your current salary/freelance rate and any notice period in your email.
• Make sure you include ‘[Name of Region] Writer’ in the subject line.

Please note we will not be considering incomplete applications.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Culture Trip

Goi Peace Foundation/UNESCO International Essay Contest 2018 for Young People (USD1,000+ Prize and Fully Funded to Japan)

Application Deadline: June 15, 2018 (23:59 your local time).
The Goi Peace Foundation annual essay contest is organized in an effort to harness the energy, creativity and initiative of the world’s youth in promoting a culture of peace and sustainable development. It also aims to inspire society to learn from the young minds and to think about how each of us can make a difference in the world.
*This program is an activity of the UNESCO Global Action Programme (GAP) on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

Requirements:
1. Essays may be submitted by anyone up to 25 years old (as of June 15, 2018) in one of the following age categories: a) Children (ages up to 14) b) Youth (ages 15 – 25)
2. Essays must be 700 words or less in English, French, Spanish or German, or 1600 characters or less in Japanese, excluding essay title and cover page. Essays may be typed or printed.
3. Entries may be submitted by postal mail or online.
* IMPORTANT: To send your essay online, you must go to the online registration page and follow the required steps.
Entries submitted by postal mail must include a cover page (free format) indicating
(1) category (Children or Youth) (2) your essay title (3) your name (4) address (5) phone number (6) e-mail (7) nationality (8) age as of June 15, 2018 (9) gender (10) school name (if applicable) (11) word count.
Teachers and youth directors may submit a collection of essays from their class or group. Please enclose a list of participants’ names, ages and the name and contact information of the submitting teacher or director.
* Entries missing any of the above information will not be considered.
* Goi Peace are unable to confirm receipt of essays.

Essays must be original and unpublished. Plagiarized entries will be rejected.
Essays must be written by one person. Co-authored essays are not accepted.
Copyright of the essays entered will be assigned to the organizer.
If you have questions, please consult the FAQ section below.

Prize:

The following awards will be given in the Children’s category and Youth category respectively:
1st Prize: Certificate, prize of 100,000 Yen (approx. US$880 as of January 2018) and gift … 1 entrant
2nd Prize: Certificate, prize of 50,000 Yen (approx. US$440 as of January 2018) and gift … 2 entrants
3rd Prize: Certificate and gift … 5 entrants
Honorable Mention: Certificate and gift … 25 entrants
* 1st prize winners will be invited to the award ceremony to be held in Tokyo, Japan on November 23, 2018
and will receive the Minister of Education Award. (Travel expenses will be covered by the organizer.)
* Additional awards (Recognition for Effort, Best School Award, School Incentive Award) will be given if applicable.
* All prize winners will be announced on October 31, 2018 (Japan time) on this website. Certificates and gifts will be mailed to the winners in December 2018.
* We are unable to answer individual inquiries concerning contest results.

For further inquiries concerning the International Essay Contest for Young People, please contact essay@goipeace.or.jp

Organized by
The Goi Peace Foundation

Endorsed by
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan
Japanese National Commission for UNESCO, Japan Private High School Federation
Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education, Japan Broadcasting Corporation, Nikkei Inc.
Supported by
FELISSIMO CORPORATION, SEIKO HOLDINGS CORPORATION

For More Information: Visit the Official Webpage of the Goi Peace Foundation/UNESCO International Essay Contest 2018

ABO CAPITAL ESSAY COMPETITTION 2018 - ALL EXPENSES PAID TRIP TO ANGOLA!

Africa is a continent bursting with economic opportunities. Under the right
circumstances, it could become a global leader across industries including
technology, sustainability, and agriculture. Show us how you can change Africa to
change the world.

In 500 words or less, demonstrate your knowledge of Africa and explain your deep
conceptual ideas for tapping into its economic potential and bettering the
continent. These ideas could be your own or showcase your support of projects
already in development. The Grand Prize essay will win a scholarship for one full
semester of college, up to $30,000. The top three essays will win a 5-night
all-expenses paid trip to Angola.

• Entries will be due February 28, 2018
• Finalists will be notified by March 31, 2018

Participants can submit their essays to scholarship@abocapital.net. Must be 18
years or older and currently enrolled in undergraduate, graduate, or university
program to enter.

Please attach the essay as a word document. Include contact information, proof of
enrollment, declared major, and age.

Visit ABO Scholarship page for more Information.

Enter Nigeria Energy Forum (NEF) 2018 Africa Energy Ideas Competition for early-stage business ideas.

Application Deadline: February 20, 2018

The NEF 2018 Africa Energy Innovation Competiton is set to accelerate the development of early-stage energy firms across Africa. Across Africa, the main energy challenge is to rapidly deliver modern energy services to millions of households and businesses using sustainable and affordable energy technologies. This competition challenges early-stage energy entrepreneurs from Africa to collaborate with local research institutions or industries to develop a prototype model of a key device/equipment for a social energy enterprise or energy management system using local resources.

Competition Guidelines
Your proposed prototype model submission must not exceed 1-side of an A4 page and should include the following:
Project Title
Your solution (250 words)
Partner Institution or Industry
Expected impact (50 words)
Short abstract (50 words)
Design tools and method (50 words)
Problem Statement (50 words)

Eligibility requirements:
Young professionals between the ages of 18 and 35 years from Africa are invited to participate in the competition and nominate a relevant local research institution or organization.
Applications may be submitted by a team of up to three people.
At least 1 member of the team must be from the local research institution or industry.
Teams may be formed across different schools, institutions, companies, countries etc. Individuals or teams may submit multiple applications.

Prizes:
The finalists and winners will be selected by a panel of academics and experienced development professionals from public and private sector institutions. Winners of the competition get the opportunity to:
Pitch their proposed prototype model at the 2018 Nigeria Energy Forum, in Lagos, Nigeria, using a poster and short video.
Benefit from unique networking opportunities with other young leaders as well as some of the most senior decision-makers in government, international development, academia and the private sector.
Attend a range of business development workshops, receive support from a dedicated start-up incubator and a cash prize of up to $3,000 to demonstrate the proposed solution.


Application Process:
Estimated costs and timeline (50 words)
Submissions must be in Microsoft Word or PDF format by email to info@thenef.org .
The subject line of the email should follow the format: [Country] Title of the Project.
Submissions that exceed the word count may be disqualified. Shortlisted submissions would be invited to participate in the
final round by submitting a 1-page poster to summarize their design, with a detailed budget, 2-page Design Brief, and a Short
2-minute video to describe a prototype model of the proposed solution.

Timeline
Deadline for proposal submission: February 20, 2018
Announcement of submissions selected for the final round: March 4, 2018
Deadline for final submissions: March 23, 2018
Announcement of winners: April 17, 2018.

Click to download the NEF 2018 Africa Energy Innovation Competition Guide

For More Information:
Visit the Official Webpage of the NEF 2018 Africa Energy Innovation Competiton