Right now, I’m at the Mo Ibrahim Foundation Forum in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania about to announce the 2009 ONE Africa Award winner: “Slums Information Development and Resource Centers” (SIDAREC) of Kenya.

Founded by a group of young people from the slums, SIDAREC focuses on lifting the standard of living of the youth living in Kenya’s slum communities by tapping into their skills and talents. The slums that SIDAREC operates in were spared the violence after the 2007 elections in large part because residents had an outlet for getting their voices heard through SIDAREC. Innovative approaches include the use of drama,
art, and Ghetto 99.9 FM radio to reach residents with development-oriented information.

You can learn more about SIDAREC and other outstanding ONE Award applicants here.

This is our second annual ONE Award-a onetime prize worth US$100,000 designed to recognize innovative African efforts to tackle the Millennium Development Goals. We received 170 applications in total and narrowed the field to eight final candidates, including the winner, all of whom are featured on our website.

-Edith Jibunoh