World Affairs Challenge
WAC Africa Regional Competition
Frequently Asked Questions
WorldDenver is thrilled to host the Africa Regional Competition (ARC), a preliminary round of the World Affairs Challenge exclusively for high school teams on the African continent!
Why an Africa Regional Competition?
The objective of the WAC ARC is to facilitate wider participation in the World Affairs Challenge across one of the world’s largest and most diverse continents, to encourage ingenuity and friendly competition among participating teams in the region, and to celebrate and build upon the hard work, creativity, and enthusiasm of our participating African teams thus far. The ARC serves to underscore the importance of Africa on the global sustainability stage, to encourage youth engagement with the UN SDGs, and to highlight innovations among young people in the region.
Benefits of the Africa Regional Competition?
- Any interested team of students in Africa ages 14-18 can participate free of charge.
- Top teams continue onto the World Affairs Challenge Global Championship to potentially earn some grant funding for their project.
- Opportunities for local volunteers to participate in judging.
- Connection to another African team for conversation or a project peer review activity.
When will the ARC be taking place?
To allow teams the appropriate planning time for a trip to the US, the Africa Regional Competition will begin annually in early October (official start date announced each year) and conclude in early December (specific judging dates announced annually). Selected members from the top team from the ARC competition will travel to the US for the May WAC Showcase.
How does ARC connect to the larger WAC program?
The ARC serves as a preliminary round of the World Affairs Challenge program. The other round (the WAC Open Competition) will begin in January. ARC teams will have all of the same program elements included in their preliminary round, including the option to connect to an international team for a peer review activity and a program-wide virtual collaborative activity.
The top-scoring 20% of teams from the ARC preliminary round will be invited to present a more detailed action plan and video along with all WAC Open teams during the virtual Global Championship in March. The overall top three teams in the Global Championship are eligible to apply for grant funding from WorldDenver to assist in the implementation of their projects.
What happens at the end of the ARC preliminary round?
Judging will take place virtually in December, with judges from the region watching team video presentations and tuning in for a live Q&A with the teams. Judges are trained by WorldDenver and submit their scores using a rubric. WorldDenver will tabulate the scores and determine the team with the highest score.
Regardless of whether your team scores in the top 20% after the preliminary round, we encourage all teams to keep working on their projects using the WAC Roadmap and to share updates as they go for the ARC page on the WorldDenver website and social media channels!
How do teams register for the ARC?
Please register for the ARC via the WAC website using the ARC Registration button. Registration will officially be open during the month of September, but we encourage you to begin recruiting interested students (and other interested teachers or community leaders) so teams are solidified by the time registration opens. Please have the number of teams and the number of students (ages 14-18) on each team finalized as much as possible when you register – we recommend between 3 and 10 students per team. Teams may join from a high school or community-based organization, and while each team is not required to have an adult team leader or mentor to support their participation, it is highly encouraged.
While there are no entry fees for teams to participate in the ARC, we are asking each team to recruit 3 volunteers to serve as judges, whom you will be asked to identify at the time of your registration. Volunteers are required to watch a training video and complete an evaluation prior to being approved as official WAC judges, and they must have access to a Zoom-compatible device and a reliable internet connection to attend their assigned Q&A sessions in December. Please note that these judges will NOT be judging a team with which they have an existing relationship.
IMPORTANT: ARC registration is only open for one month and space is limited, so make sure to sign up soon!
Is participation in ARC required for any African team wanting to join the World Affairs Challenge?
The ARC is merely an opportunity and is not mandatory for high school teams from the African continent. Should you prefer to join the WAC Open Competition that begins in January, we welcome your participation but we cannot guarantee that entry fees will be 100% subsidized in the Open Competition.