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UN Women, grounded in the vision of equality enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations, works for the elimination of discrimination against women and girls; the empowerment of women; and the achievement of equality between women and men as partners and beneficiaries of development, human rights, humanitarian action and peace, and security.
UN Women through its Liaison to the African Union (AU) and United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) engages with the AU and its various organs, the UNECA and civil society organizations, as well as the diplomatic community. Through the office, UN Women provides technical support to the Member States and the AU in the adoption, implementation, and monitoring of commitments on gender equality and women’s empowerment (GEWE), as per the entity’s mandate.
African Union’s Science, Technology, and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024) declare “an enabling environment for STI development on the African continent” as one of the pillars for achieving the vision for Agenda 2063. (1) AU through STISA aspires to raise Africa’s role in global research, technology development and transfer, innovation, and knowledge production.
UN Women contributes to the implementation of this strategy, among others, through its continental flagship program, the African Girls Can Code Initiative (AGCCI). The African Girls Can CODE Initiative (AGCCI), a partnership between UN Women, Africa Union Commission (AUC), and International Telecommunications Union (ITU) aims to train and empower young girls aged between 17-25, across Africa to become computer programmers, creators, and designers, placing them on track to take up studies and careers in the information, communication, and technology (ICT) sector. Moreover, it promotes the implementation of national media campaigns involving role models (e.g. women in ICT, female teachers in schools) and utilizes an online platform to enhance networking among the girls, trainers, and mentors. The program aims to close the gender gap in the tech world, and overall, the gender digital divide. (2) The initiative also aims to ensure AGCCI learners contribute to the realization of the AU’s “One Million by 2021” on Employment, Entrepreneurship, Education, and Engagement by investing in a new generation of successful African Girls Coders and through private sector partnerships.
In the context of the AGCCI, through a biennial project, UN Women in partnership with the African Union Commission and the Government of Belgium aims to support the coordination of the project activities in five selected countries including 3 French-speaking countries (Burundi, Niger, and Mali), on English speaking country (Tanzania) and one Portuguese speaking country (Mozambique). More concretely, the partnership will support the organization of 10 coding camps in the five countries (2 camps per country) bringing together young girls of 17-25 years for a two weeks training. The partnership will further support the revitalization of the AGCCI online platform which will help girl coders to continuously update their skills and connect with a supportive online community to share ideas and opportunities. Moreover, they will have the skills, confidence, and the resolve to tackle barriers, overcome gender stereotypes and challenge institutional cultural practices and social norms that keep them away from jobs and from pursuing higher education. Through the partnership, UN Women aims to strengthen advocacy with African Union Member States to accelerate mainstreaming of gender, coding, and ICT in national curricula for sustainable and inclusive development.
ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRAINING
UN Women in partnership with AUC and in close collaboration with ITU, ECA, UNESCO, and UNICEF will be launching the 2nd phase of the initiative in March 2022 in Tanzania. The launch will be preceded by a 3-day Training of Trainers (ToT) which aims to create a pool of trainers who will provide training in two-week-long national coding camps to young girl coders on an array of coding courses in the selected priority countries in 2022 and 2023. The TOT will also ensure that training modules and teaching systems are standardized.
Thus, UN Women proposes to select 60 trainees from 10 countries namely Mali, Niger, Mozambique, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa, Senegal, and DRC (6 trainees per one country) in a competitive process to attend the TOT. The training will enable trainees to acquire skills and knowledge in coding and ICT and be able to support national coding camps in their countries.
RESPONSIBILITIES OF TRAINEES
The trainees will:
– Attend full 3-days Training of Trainers and a half-day launch of the Programme.
– Contribute to the development of a roadmap to guide planning and the conduct of the national coding camps in their respective countries
DURATION OF THE TRAINING
The selected trainees will be required to attend the 3 days training of trainers from21st to 23rd March 2022 and half-day project launch on the 24th of March 2022 and provide training to young girl coders in the coding camps that will be organized in 2022 and 2023 under the AGCCI program. UN Women will cover all travel costs including economic air tickets, per diem, accommodation, visa during the 3days of training, and half-day for the launch of the program. A certificate certifying completion of the TOT will be provided to trainees following the training they deliver at coding camps in their respective countries.
1 AU’s Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA-2024)
2 http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/fs34-women-in-science-2015-en.pdf
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