KEYNOTE; Luciano Calestini, Deputy Head of Office, UNICEF Kosovo

UNICEF Innovation Lab in Kosovo

Kosovo is the “youngest” region in Europe, with some 53 percent of its estimated population of 2.2 million under 25 years of age. UNICEF established its first Innovation Lab in 2010 in partnership with the local University of Pristina. The goal was to empower youth to play a role in solving the problems of their new nation and setting the agenda for their generation.

Mission:
1- introducing technological innovations
2- benefiting the region’s children and youth: By Youth for Youth (BYFY)

Objectives:
• Engaging youth to develop solutions urgently needed
• Building connections to innovation within and outside of Kosovo
• Leveraging existing technology platforms and new thinking
• Building capacity and expertise

Presenting:
• Context for development and the role of the youth
• Activities currently underway at the Innovation Lab and future plans
• Successes and challenges in starting up the Lab

BIOGRAPHY

Luciano Calestini was born to a Kiwi mother and an Italian father, he was educated in New Zealand and Australia. Since the mid-1990s Luciano Calestini has worked in some of the most unstable parts of the world both for UNICEF and a number of other NGOs. His overseas aid work has taken him to Southern Sudan, East Timor, Kosovo, Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.