INTRODUCTION OF PHILLIP KWENDESA

“I will participate in the ISA program because I have the opportunity to develop a project that supports young girls in their fight for their sexual rights and reproductive health. I see great potential here in technology-supported and data-driven solutions.” 

Phillip Kwendesa is a young Zimbabwean with a Masters in Network and Systems of Telecommunications working as a Director of Innovations and lecturer at the Catholic University in Zimbabwe. He is also a PhD fellow in ICT at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology in South Africa.

Inspired by human-centred design and guided by the youth themselves, he explores how young girls in primary education across Zimbabwe can get digitized access to sexuality and health rights. Since adolescence is characterized by exploration, innovation and creativity: this provides the best traits most needed to design ground-breaking new approaches to improve SRHR solutions to the challenges that young girls face through game and animation development. Thus, Phillip’s project focusses on understanding young girls’ multiple SRHR needs and questions by modelling healthy behaviour’s and challenging gender inequality using data-driven solutions and technology which are both sustainable and scalable.