Dynamic Female Youth Leaders in Technology – The Promise of Da Nang’s Future
© UNICEF Viet Nam
Nguyen Thi Huu Nhi, a 3rd year student in computer science at Duy Tan University in Da Nang, has been actively involved in the Healthy Cities for Adolescents project (HCA) since its very first co-creation phase activities.
At the pre-meeting with adolescents and youth to prepare for the consultation event on the impacts
of COVID-19 on 27 October 2020, Nhi was an enthuasiastic and supportive participant among more than 50 other peers from different ages and backgrounds.
Participating in the discussion group about online safety issues due to COVID-19 at the pre- meeting workshop, it was her first time taking part in such a workshop. Nhi shared that she liked how the activity promoted teamwork and the opportunities to brainstorm and solve problems together.
“I was very surprised and impressed with the younger kids who are very thoughtful and already have a good understanding of the problems. I learned about new challenges caused by COVID-19 and different perspectives and angles to examine them that I had not previously come across.”
Nhi (in the middle) and her discussion group at the pre-meeting workshop with adolescents and youth to brainstorm ideas and suggestions to the city to mitigate COVID-19 impacts. © UNICEF Viet Nam
As the managing director of the Hult Prize on campus at her university – a competition that funds students with the best business ideas that seek to address community issues, Nhi felt inspired after coming back from the pre-meeting session. At the second Hult Prize workshop with students on finding entrepreneurship ideas to solve the city’s food challenges on 8 November, Nhi actually adopted the pre-meeting format to encourage creativity and synergy.
Nguyen Thi Huu Nhi as the managing director of the Hult Prize. © UNICEF Viet Nam
“I really like the format of the pre-meeting workshop. So I decided to adopt such participation model and divided people into different teams. Each team picked one among the eleven food problems in Vietnam to come up with a business model in response. I find that when people are put into teams, they will eventually find a way to together come up with solutions in one way or another” – Nhi shared.
Despite her hectic schedule, Nhi still made commitment to attending both the consultation event with youth and adolescents on COVID-19 impacts on 27 October and the launch of Situation Analysis on children and adolescents in Da Nang on 17 November. She was glad to see the interactive dialogue between youth and the city leaders and expressed her wishes that with all the challenges and solutions proposed by young people at the consultation event on 27 October, the city would be clearer and firmer on which follow-up action they would implement and take the ideas of young people in earnest.
“It was great that the event enabled interaction and ideas sharing between youth and the city officials. I would just love to hear from the city leaders what they would put into concrete action based on our recommendations and perhaps have a more positive response when we proposed ideas and suggestions.”
Nhi shared that the city had done a great job in controlling the COVID-19 outbreaks. However, there are also many other challenges in addition to COVID-19, such as forced child labor and the need to focus more on children in disadvantaged situations.
“The majority of children nowadays have access to technology. I would like to see some beneficial applications of technology in creating a healthy means for children to play and have fun instead of
having to focus solely on academic all the time.”
Nhi is passionate about contributing ideas to the HCA project, especially in the field of technology, and acting as mentors and role models for younger adolescents. In addition to managing the Hult Prize initiative at Duy Tan University, Nhi is also the leader of the Developer Student Club on campus. She has built great connections with the Google Developer Group, a team of IT experts and professionals who are committed to providing support and resources to improve student skills in technology and software development.
Talking about her hopes and dreams, Nhi shared that she wants to become a social entrepreneur who creates values for people and the communities. She is already onto her next project with the nationwide Hackathon initiative.
“I rushed to the launch of SITAN event right after finishing my English examination. I enjoyed the HCA events and wouldn’t want to miss any.”
These words suffice to sum up her dedication and commitment to contributing to making Da Nang become a healthy place for children and adolescents. Young and dynamic leaders like Nhi play a vital role in guiding and supporting other adolescents and youth (aged 10-18) to capitalize on their technology skills and innovations to co-create solutions to the city problems and be the active agents of change that will help bring about success to the HCA movement.
© UNICEF Viet Nam
Pham Vu Hanh Dung
