Ms. Mihoko Kumamoto, Director of the UNITAR Division for Prosperity, expressed her excitement that the programme is one of the largest conducted by UNITAR in sub-Saharan Africa, with 7,000 women and youth participants from 24 sub-Saharan African countries. She commended the participants for their passion to continue learning and cultivate entrepreneurial skills and mindset. She hoped they would enhance their employment opportunities, strengthen their professional careers and meet the needs of the digital economy.
Ms. Monicah Wangeci, Africa Programme Coordinator, Division for Prosperity UNITAR, highlighted the importance of promoting digital skills and technologies and digital literacy to transform economies and bridge the digital divide. She explained how upskilled African women and youth could create innovative digital services, drive social change and sustainable economic development and benefit the African continent.
H.E. Ken Okaniwa, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan in Kenya highlighted that collaborations between Japan and UNITAR have covered topics from the SDGs to peace and development and that it was significant the new programme addressed the digital divide in Africa and the digital divide between genders. He gave examples of Kenyan companies that were successfully leveraging digital technologies and businesses started by youth or women in Kenya, in some cases receiving investments from Japanese companies.
The participants then joined webinars to learn more about the tracks they will be pursuing in the training programme. Participants have been split into the Microsoft or IBM track based on their interests. Each track will go through self-paced learning, a self-led project, a boot camp, webinar or hackathon and a community and sustainability workshop. The webinars featured overviews of the Microsoft and IBM Learning Pathways, a SkillsBuild registration and demo, and question-and-answer sessions.
Mr. Michael Adalla, Project Lead, UNITAR Division for Prosperity, closed the orientation and thanked everyone who participated. He reiterated his hopes that participants would embrace the opportunities offered by this robust training programme. He expressed UNITAR’s gratitude towards our programme partners for their participation in the development activities.
