The United Nations (UN) in South Africa has partnered with Finland-based mobile learning service Funzi to launch a course aimed at delivering relevant and factual information during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ‘Covid-19: Adapt and thrive’ course, which will help South Africans cope and thrive during the crisis, is based on content from the World Health Organisation and Doctors of the World, focusing on the immediate impact of Covid-19.

“This initiative is just one of the many ways the UN is responding to the impact of Covid-19. This initiative was created in collaboration with Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator, supported by the Solidarity Fund, and is rolled out as part of the national initiative to reach three-million young people during the lockdown,” said UN South Africa resident coordinator Nardos Bekele-Thomas during a briefing on April 22.

The education initiative includes four topics that cover what Covid-19 is, what an individual can do, how to stay healthy and resilient and how to maintain social and financial wellbeing.

The course launched on April 7 and currently has a course completion rate of 18% and a course module completion rate of between 49% and 71%.

The second phase of the Funzi Covid-19 response will see the launch of the Funzi Future Pack, comprising four high-quality mobile courses aimed at fighting the long-term impact of the crisis, added Funzi founder Aape Pohjavirta.

The courses include ‘Get that future’, ‘Sustainable world’; ‘Founder 101’ and ‘Get that job’ and aims to develop skills for futures thinking, how to build a better tomorrow after the crisis and skills for a better livelihood as an entrepreneur or a more skilled employee.

“We are also looking forward to exploring other online and digital tools as we respond to Covid-19. We are working with many businesses and companies, leveraging on their innovations, skills and technologies as we attempt to combat the effects of the pandemic Covid-19,” Bekele-Thomas commented.

“We hope that through these partnerships and innovations, we can find some solutions to the triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequality,” she continued.

The UN in South Africa is encouraging local entities, civil society groups, community organisations and the private sector to join this campaign.

The courses are available on funzi.mobi through any kind of Internet-connected mobile device.