The Innovation and Design Thinking Academy (TIDA) in collaboration with Our Voice As Light (OVAL) is set to address problem affecting youths in Ibadan through its “Innovate 4 Impact Designathon 2.0”.
The duo said they intend to use young people with power and capacity to proffer solution to problem in their localities by focusing on four areas which are sexual reproductive health, climate change, gender based violence and mental health.
Speaking in Ibadan at a ‘Three-day Design Sprint with Young People for Communities’, the Co-founder for TIDA, Dr. Abdulhammed Babatunde said young people has capacity and power to address challenges affecting their environs.
According to Babatunde, who is also one of the Steering Committee member of Innovate 4 Impact Designathon 2.0, participants will be able to carry out the project and inspire people in other places to carry out similar project.
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He said, “This year, we are focusing on health advocacy, trying to build capacity of young people who can address key health problem in Ibadan city, we are focusing on four areas where young people are primarily been affected.
“These areas include Sexual Reproductive Health, because the prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases is higher among young people. The second one is Climate Change, because young people will live longer to suffer consequences of destruction that has been done to the climate. Another one is Gender Based Violence, particularly now that we have many cases of adolescent and young girls that are been sexually abused. And lastly, mental health, because young people now have highest rate of mental diseases.
“We want participants to have design thinking and understanding on actual problem and how to address the problem, know stakeholders to work with and resourceses to use to carry out this project clearly.
“The project has 20 participants, five in each team, we have four facilitators who are mentors and have done this things before, and we have four experts who are people with decades of experience of working in these areas. The team also comprised of five steering committee members who are the primary organisers and three volunteers.”
In his remark, an associate Professor at the Department of Psychiatric, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan (UI), Dr. Jubirl Abdulmalik lauded the programme, saying management of the institution on its own are very proactive in terms of mental well being of students.
He said the institution is ready to support and partner with programme particularly in the areas of mental health, adding that many mental health problem start at youthful age, and management of the institution don’t want anything that will hindered academics of the students.
One of the participants at the event, who is also an advocate for mental health, Rest Essence stated that him and his team members are ready to tackle the stigma around mental health youths in Ibadan are facing.
He lamented that there is a stigma around mental health generally, saying insighful research by his team has shown that the workload pressure by academic curriculum in Nigeria participation UI students has put alot of pressure on many of the students.
He however advocated for health solution that will make all students to understand stress management awareness, saying many students don’t have a good work life balance.
He also said his team want stop stigma around mental health because some students have depression and anxiety and don’t talk about it but later think of committing suicides which according to them is the best option.