top of page

ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM FELLOWSHIP - CLASS OF 2020

United Nations Academic Impact and MCN are proud to partner on the Millennium Fellowship. In the three months the application was open in 2020, 15,159 young leaders applied to join the Class of 2020 on 1,458 campuses across 135 nations.  80 campuses worldwide (just 6%) were selected to host the 1,000+ Millennium Fellows.  The Class of 2020 is bold, innovative, and inclusive. 

unaimcn.png

UNITED NATIONS ACADEMIC IMPACT AND MCN PROUDLY PRESENT JAPHETH ODHIAMBO ORIENY, A MILLENNIUM FELLOW FOR THE CLASS OF 2020.

Kenyatta University | Nairobi, Kenya | Advancing SDG 1 & UNAI 1

FELLOW.jpg

" I am so excited to be a Millennium Fellow because the opportunity will provide me with a unique experience in terms of developing skills and creating networks and relationships that will be of great importance in the future of not only my project but also the society at large. Being a Millennium Fellow will give me access to the kind of information that I do not have right now. It will also be a good platform to learn more about my fellow MCN fellows. The interactions with like minded young individuals at MCN will help me in generating more ideas needed in the successful running of this project. "

Millennium Fellowship Project: Taka Mali Afrika Incorporated

The project's sole purpose is to turn waste (Taka) into wealth (Mali) while trying to make the environment cleaner, the community more aware and responsible of their solid waste and in the process empowering them economically in order to help them generate income on their own. It will involve training of local communities on how to carry out sustainable waste management and utilization and together developing a social enterprise that will be locally lead. The National Solid Waste Management Strategy (2015) by the National Environment Management Authority will be incorporated to help guide the enterprise. The project will provide a bridge between the local waste collectors at the grassroots and the various organizations that engage in waste management, use and Reuse. The various wastes will be used in different ways to generate more income for the communities. They want to help create a clean & resilient community that is mindful of its ecological footprint. They will organize and host a series of training sessions that will be used as a platform for developing waste management knowledge and skills and building capacities of the interested locals. Each meeting will be aimed to reach 30 people who will be educated on how to be environmentally responsible and why they need to do so. The aim is to help community members set up social enterprises that will have a maximum of ten people and these individuals will be trained on how to invest the income they generate from waste collection, separation and utilization in other business ventures and community welfare programs.

About the Millennium Fellow

Orieny Japheth Odhiambo is a 4th year student studying Environmental Studies and Community Development at the Kenyatta University in Kenya and the founder of Taka Mali Afrika Incorporated. He is passionate about the environment and Sustainable Development. He is also a Volunteer with the Greenpeace Africa. Growing up in the Slums of Mathare, he witnessed first hand the high level of solid waste pollution, its effects and the poor living standards of the residents in the area. These pushed him to be able to find a way to turn this challenges around and help community members utilize the resources around them.

bottom of page