4YBY Open Contest

Youths (aged 14–24 years) in Nigeria face an increased risk of new HIV infections but do not receive necessary HIV prevention services. In Nigeria, essential services to reduce HIV and STIs — such as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), HIV self-testing (HIVST), sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing, and linkage to youth-friendly clinical services — are not widely used or accessible. We can change this!

It is time to put (YOU)th front and center as they lead solutions to lasting HIV self-testing. Since 2018, the 4 Youth by Youth (4YBY) team has partnered with youths, communities, clinics, and policymakers to ensure these tools are co-designed and delivered by the youth. We actively engage youth:

• In deciding what and how to create lasting tools over time.
• In learning how activities and opportunities provided by such services have reduced HIV and STI risks.
• In leveraging youth assets to enhance their professional development, research, and community engagement skills.

To ensure the continual use of these services, we are looking for young people to work in partnership with certified community-based organizations (CBOs) in Nigeria to share their ideas, experiences, and perspectives on how CBOs can sustain or make HIV self-testing (HIVST) and youth-friendly preventive services last, especially for at-risk adolescents and young adults.

4YBY uses a four-pronged approach to actively engage youth as leaders and build on the strengths and capacity of youths in Nigeria.

• Step 1: Launch a nationwide open crowdsourcing contest to collect ideas for sustaining HIV self-testing and prevention services over a period of 7 weeks.
• Step 2: Host a designathon where youth teams develop prototypes of their strategies with guidance from experts in HIV research and implementation.
• Step 3: Conduct a 4-week Bootcamp where selected teams work with industry experts and mentors to refine and finalize their strategies for sustaining HIVST and other prevention services.
• Step 4: Support finalist teams to implement and test their solutions among youth in their communities.

Since 2018, we have engaged over 8,000 youths in Nigeria through four crowdsourcing contests, three designathons, two innovation bootcamps, one pilot trial, and one clinical trial that followed over 1,500 youths for 24 months. This has demonstrated the huge potential of youth engagement in developing youth-friendly HIV self-testing services.

We are calling on young people in partnerships with community-based organizations (CBOs) in Nigeria to use creative ideas to help us find the best ways CBOs can make HIV prevention services — such as HIV testing, STI testing, and the use of pre-exposure prophylaxis — last. Youths are brilliant, creative, and innovative, and CBOs are equally capable of leading lasting change. With this contest, you can collaborate with others to create impactful solutions for your communities through essays, storytelling, letters, videos, or any creative expression.

• Youths aged 14–24 years residing in Nigeria.
• Certified community-based organizations (CBOs) serving young people or addressing youth health.
• Teams of up to 4 people (with at least one person aged 24 years or younger) working with a CBO to co-design innovative strategies.

Applications will be reviewed by the 4 Youth by Youth Team and affiliated partners. Up to 15 of the most promising teams of young innovators will be chosen to participate.

• A clear description of the creative idea.
• Desirability of the idea to youth.
• Innovation and originality of the concept.
• Feasibility of using the creative idea to sustain HIV prevention services under 4YBY.

All entries are judged anonymously. Please do not include identifying information such as names or organizations on your entry.

• 1st Place: ₦500,000
• 2nd Place: ₦300,000
• 3rd Place: ₦200,000

• Open Call Entries: February 1st, 2024 – March 10th, 2024
• Announcement of Successful Entries: March 18th, 2024
• Designathon Event: April 3rd–7th, 2024

Submissions that have been published elsewhere, submitted elsewhere, or accepted for publication are not eligible. This includes any appearance in print or online, such as newspapers, newsletters, magazines, anthologies, books, websites, blogs, or social media. This rule applies regardless of publication size or circulation.

Failure to comply with these rules will result in disqualification at any stage of the review process.

If interested, apply using the link below no later than March 10th, 2024, at 11:59 PM WAT.

For additional information or questions, please call or text +234 909 049 6884 or email sustain.4yby@gmail.com.

Be sure to review our website’s open contest page and FAQs before submitting. If something is unclear, please reach out via email or phone.