Youth Alive Foundation floats Digital Skills Training for 500 Women

By Uwakmfon Dan

The Youth Alive Foundation (YAF) Africa has flagged off a nine-months Digital Skills Training for 500 women in Akwa Ibom State.

The launch of the training which would also cover women with disabilities, held at the Watbridge Hotel, Uyo, last week Tuesday.

Interacting with newsmen shortly after the event, the Executive Director of YAF Africa, Dr. Uduak Akpan, disclosed that the programme is designed to accommodate 500 women who will be trained in 3 batches.

Dr. Uduak Akpan said the initiative is aimed at encouraging more women acquire digital skills in order to boost their businesses and stem the tide of gender-based violence in the state.

“According to statistics, we have more men using digital devices and the internet. Right now, women have issues of funding and capital to invest in business, so we feel getting digital skills will empower and protect them.

“A lot of gender-based violence are targeted at women who are disempowered, poor and dependent, so this training will empower them, both economically and for their protection.”

“This training is supposed to be for 500 women. That is a huge number and we just don’t want to do a show, but skills transfer, so we break them into batches. This is the first batch of 100 women”, she said.

Dr. Uduak Akpan explained that beneficiaries will undergo a three months physical training on some labour-driven skills, including videography, digital marketing, data analysis, among other courses.

“It is going to be physical for three months. This is not one of those quick one week trainings. It’s going to be face-to-face coaching and mentoring.

“We selected popular courses, about ten of them and asked the women to select when they were applying. The five skills we’re doing is as a result of their selections. We’re doing videography, digital marketing, the fundamentals and we’re doing data analysis. These are skills that the market is asking for”, Dr. Uduak Akpan added.

To make it more impactful, the YAF Executive Director hinted that successful trainees will be further placed on a six-months coaching support and internship roles that will expose them to job opportunities.

“We are going to place each trainee that completes classes on an internship role that they can use their skills. Then, we’re going to build a community of these 500 women and other people in the tech sector, so announcements and links to jobs online can be available to that community.

“There is that after-training support. They will continue to receive coaching individually, whether you want to use it for business, education or to empower yourself. We will keep giving that one-on-one coaching for six months”, she said.

Earlier during the event, the Brand Manager of Airtel Nigeria, Uyo Branch, Mr Onwuka Aki who promised his company’s support to the beneficiaries through the provision of free SIM cards and data to aid their training, further spoke on the need to bridge the digital divide by ensuring equal opportunities for all.

He further urged the young women to enhance their training experience, by trapping into available digital opportunities, pledging that Airtel Nigeria will continue to empower young people by equipping them with digital tools they need to succeed in the 21st century.

Some of the beneficiaries who spoke with TheMail Newspaper, thanked YAF Africa, for the training and promised to make good use of the opportunity.

The event was also graced by the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Brand Management and Marketing, Mr. Raphael Edem, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Entrepreneurship Development, Mr. Ime Uwah, as well as the Personal Assistant to the Governor on Data Warehousing and Artificial Intelligence, Ms Lucie Ekong, among other dignitaries.

Highpoint of the event was a panel discussion on “Empowering Women through Digital Skills: Opportunities and Challenges.”