GE’s healthymagination, Miller Centre, graduate second cohort on maternal, child health

NaijaAgroNet:

GE’s healthymagination Mother and Child Programme has graduated its second cohort of social entrepreneurs who completed training and mentorship that is designed to scale impact, thereby improving maternal and child health outcomes in Africa, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The graduation of the second cohort, NaijaAgroNet gathered, builds on the success of the 1st group of entrepreneurs, all of whom have reported a notable impact of the programme on their businesses.

One such entrepreneur, NaijaAgroNet reports, is Dr. Steve Adudans whose HewaTele has attracted over 2 Million USD in additional investment since completing the programme in March 2017.

“The skills and practical knowledge we received has enabled us to transform our business model for greater impact. Thanks to the programme, we managed to secure investment from global development partners for the expansion of 2 additional oxygen plants which will increase access to affordable, safe and quality life-saving medical oxygen in Kenya” Dr. Adudans said.

The Executive Director, New Growth Markets, Business Innovations at GE, Robert Wells said they are proud of the major strides that the first cohort of enterprises have made since they graduated, and are thrilled that a second stellar group of passionate entrepreneurs is now better equipped to expand their reach and save the lives of more mothers and children across the continent.

“GE is committed to continue partnering with Social Entrepreneurs to support sustainable healthcare development especially through capacity building and skills transfer” he said.

NaijaAgroNet notes that after a rigorous evaluation process, the social enterprises selected to feature in the second cohort of the healthymagination Mother and Child Programme attended a three-day, in-person workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa followed by a six-month online accelerator program that included weekly in-depth mentorship from Silicon Valley-based executives and local GE business leaders.

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Africa ranks second in global hungry people with 243m victims

NaijaAgroNet:

The African continent has been ranked second in the number of hungry people in the world which the United Nations (UN) said was 815 million, reports NaijaAgroNet.

The UN in its latest hunger and food security key numbers made available to NaijaAgroNet, which has overall number at 815 million, saw Asia continent with 520 million, over 100 per cent of African quota.

Also, NaijaAgroNet gathered that in the top three continents in the hungriest people in the world included Latin America and the Caribbean with 42 million.

The global hungry population as shared in percentage, NaijaAgroNet gathered showed that Asia has 11.7 per cent; Africa has 20 per cent with eastern Africa lone scoring 33.9 per cent, while Latin America and the Caribbean got 6.6 per cent.

NaijaAgroNet further gathered this was the first time that UNICEF and WHO join FAO, IFAD and WFP in preparing The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report. This change reflects the SDG agenda's broader view on hunger and all forms of malnutrition.

The UN Decade of Action on Nutrition, established by the General Assembly, is lending focus to this effort by motivating governments to set goals and invest in measures to address the multiple dimensions of malnutrition.

The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2017 has been re-geared for the SDG era and includes enhanced metrics for quantifying and assessing hunger, including two indicators on food insecurity and six indicators on nutrition.

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GE, Miller Center launch second cohort healthymagination

NaijaAgroNet:

The General Electric (GE) and Santa Clara University’s Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship has launched the second cohort of the healthymagination Mother and Child Programme in effort to accelerate health innovations in Africa, reports NaijaAgroNet.

This programme, NaijaAgroNet reports selected 14 African social entrepreneurs who will benefit from training and mentorship aimed at improving maternal and/or child health outcomes.

NaijaAgroNet also reports that the healthymagination Mother and Child Programme would avail selected enterprises to receive training and mentorship aimed at improving and accelerating maternal and/or child health outcomes in Africa.

According to the Executive Director, healthymagination, Mr. Robert Wells, the winners emerged after a rigorous application and evaluation process, and accelerate maternal health outcomes across Africa with impact areas including, Benin, Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zimbabwe and more.

The second cohort of entrepreneurs, he said, are currently attending a three-day, in-person workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The workshop, NaijaAgroNet gathered is packed with core business principles into a powerful forum facilitated by senior-level Miller Center mentors and GE business leaders.

Mr. Wells also said that the programme is designed to help the organizations acquire business fundamentals, improve their strategic thought processes, and articulate business plans that demonstrate impact, growth and long-term financial sustainability.

“Solving local health challenges calls for locally-adapted interventions and innovations, and Social Entrepreneurs in Sub-Saharan Africa are playing a major role in this regard. The healthymagination Mother and Child programme will continue to provide them with mentorship and in-depth training, accelerating health innovation and furthering our goal to increase the quality, access and affordability of maternal and child health,” he said.

Executive Director of Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship, Dr. Thane Kreiner, said “GE’s mission to work on better health for more people is evidenced by our continuing partnership to help social enterprises scale their impact. This cohort’s impact aligns with the target indicators for United Nations Sustainable Development Goal #3. Miller Center is honored such amazing social enterprises applied to this Mother & Child accelerator program.”

The kick-off workshop will be followed by a six-month, online accelerator programme with in-depth mentorship from Silicon Valley-based executives and local GE business leaders. The accelerator and mentorship programme will culminate in a “Premier Pitch” event in Africa where the 14 organizations will present their respective enterprises to an audience of potential investors.

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