Digital skills technology is one of the most sought after soft skills in the 21st century by employers of labour and captain of industries. The growing need for a digitally incline employees in the workplace is a factor in today's labour market and also a very strong criteria to ascertain employee's employability. Hence, it is very imperative to equip every individual, most especially young people (men and women) with this soft skills to meet up with the demand of today and in future. It is of essence too, to teach young people (men and women) digital skills so that they can use these skills to create jobs for themselves and be self reliants. Studies have shown that 1 in every 5 young persons (men and women) is not in any form of education, empowerment or training. And this is very worrisome to us as an organization that is youth focused. It is in this regard, that Children and Young People Living for Peace (CYPLP) embarked on this journey to initiate the "NEET PROJECT" (Not in Education, Empowerment or Training Project), to train vulnerable population of young people (men and women) between the ages of 15 - 35 years in local communities and across schools in Kaduna state, Nigeria so as to create a platform for knowledge transfer, access to information and provide digital facilities and services to these target populations, so that no one would not be left behind. The "NEET PROJECT" have so far trained over 5,000 young people (15 - 35 years) and we are aiming at scaling up our social impact to train 10,000 youths (men and women) annually at the community level with digital skills technology and innovative skills to create an avenue for them to earn decent living and for sustainable livelihood. Statistics has shown that women are 4 times less likely than men to have advanced ICT skills. As digital skills become a defining workforce asset, we need to ask ourselves, are we using technology to advance gender equality? Or instead, are we allowing them to widen the gender gap? We must come together and work on closing all gender divides in digital skills. It is the digital gender gap which isolated women and particularly rural women, during the COVID -19 pandemic. The representation of voices from rural communities was neglected in the transition to holding conversations online on digital platforms since many women did not have access to digital forums. Digital engagement played a critical role during COVID-19, yet we saw a gender digital divide. A study shows that boys are 1.5 times more likely to own a mobile phone than girls, which limits girls' agency to access digital services and respond during crises. Too many women are held back by bias, norms and expectations influencing the education they receive and the subjects they study. Yet, it is through education how we can change this. Because women can be everything they dream and do everything they wish. The path to gender equality runs through education. Careers have no gender. Technology and digital tools can play an important role in enabling quality, inclusive education for all. Women and girls, particularly those impacted by conflict and climate change, face many barriers accessing quality education. Providing digital tools is one potential solution underscored in "learning from disrupted learners". Leveraging digital technology to empower women's business can help drive economic growth. We need to break down the barriers to digital learning to ensure access to quality education and a better future for all. Therefore, we at Children and Young People Living for Peace (CYPLP) are poised to stand in the gap through our "NEET PROJECT" to bridged the digital divide by empowering girls and women with digital skills literacy for women economic empowerment. The "NEET PROJECT" tends to achieve resolution A/RES/70/1 of the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Nigeria by 2030.
THE NEET PROJECT (NOT IN EDUCATION, EMPOWERMENT OR TRAINING) FOR GIRLS AND WOMEN IN KADUNA STATE.
MY POLICY ADVOCACY STATEMENT TO DUTY BEARERS ON THE NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF DIGITAL SKILLS LITERACY FOR GIRLS AND WOMEN IN NIGERIA.
My journey into the technological space spans over ten years of professional working experience, using the various digital tools for social change to create social impacts in my community. As a social influencer, activist and a development expert, the technological space and digital tools has created a platform for me to amplify my voice to be heard, hold duty bearers and institutions accountable and for global visibility. This platform has enable me to build synergy, collaborations and networks from across the globe with professionals from diverse cross sectoral fields of endeavours which has helped build my capacity, increase my knowledge base through information and knowledge sharing, transfer and exchange for a lifelong learning. The technological space has created a laudable platform for social interaction, access to information, businesses and friendship across the globe. It immense benefits to humanity cannot be overemphasize. Hence, there is a greater need for all and sundry to be on board so that no one would be left behind. This brings to the fore, the need for girls and young women in local communities in Nigeria to be educated on digital skills literacy and tools to help them leverage on this platform for social advancement, economic empowerment, education, job opportunities and to create wealth for themselves through the technological space. The successes so far in my sojourn in the technological world has recorded significant milestone achievements and successes through my initiative the "NEET" project (Not in education, empowerment or training) which has trained and empowered over 5000 vulnerable girls and women in local communities in Kaduna state with life copping skills, digital and ICT skills for sustainable livelihoods. This is also followed by the yearly celebration of the lnternational Girls in ICT Day on 28th April to raise awareness on the need for girls and young women to thrive in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The lessons learnt in my social works on empowering young girls on digital skills is that many young girls need safe spaces to learn, reliable access and knowledge of the internet and digital tools in remote communities. We must all work together to develop sustainable solutions and ideas for lowering barriers, social norms to access to technology to girls and women, because careers have no gender, improve their safety online and knowledge of digital tools and the internet so as to bridged the gender digital divide, so that no girl and woman would be left behind, and to achieve the United Nations global mandate of achieving gender equality by 2030.
- According to UNICEF, 18.5 million children are out of school in Nigeria and 60% of them are girls. Source:UNICEF, 2022.
- This is holding girls back in achieving their educational pursuit and dreams.
- Education is key in achieving gender equality and women empowerment.
- The path to gender equality runs through education.
- Nigerian government as a matter of urgency should prioritized girl child education in Nigeria and declare it a state of emergency.
.........GIRL'S RIGHTS ARE HUMAN RIGHTS.
..........EDUCATION IS A HUMAN RIGHTS.
..........DIGITAL LITERACY IS A HUMAN RIGHTS.
BRIDGING THE DIGITAL GENDER GAP
As our daily lives becomes increasingly digitalized, gender gaps in digital access threaten to leave women and girls even further behind. Though efforts to close these gaps have led to improvements in the gender parity score, the absolute gap between men and women's access has actually increased by 20 million since 2019. Today, 63 percent of women have access to the internet, compared to 69 percent of men. Boys are 1.5 times more likely to own a mobile phone than girls. And women are 12 percent less likely to own a mobile phone, a figure virtually unchanged since before the pandemic.
.......... DIGITAL GENDER GAPS THREATEN TO LEAVE WOMEN AND GIRLS BEHIND. LET CLOSE THE GAPS BY EMPOWERING WOMEN AND GIRLS WITH DIGITAL SKILLS LITERACY AND TECHNOLOGY.
THE 9 ELEMENTS OF DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP.
In today's digital age, it's more important than ever to stay informed and engaged with the digital environment. Digital citizenship refers to the responsible and ethical use of technology, and it involves 9 key elements.
1. - Digital Access : The equitable distribution of technology.
2. - Digital Commerce : Buying and selling goods.
3. - Digital Communication : Understanding different digital technology mediums.
4. - Digital Literacy : Understanding the many forms of technology.
5. - Digital Etiquette : Encouraging responsible behaviour online.
6. - Digital Law : Complying with online policies.
7. - Digital Rights and Responsibilities : Freedom of all online users.
8. - Digital Health and Wellness : Promoting wellness while using technology.
9. - Digital Security and Privacy : Online precautions to promote safety.
..............EVERY GIRL CHILD AND WOMEN SHOULD BE TAUGHT THESE 9 KEY ELEMENTS OF DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP TO HELP THEM NAVIGATE THE DIGITAL SPACE.
The above global statistics shows that, 6 out of every 10 students are offline. A total of 1.1 billion students are offline worldwide. And 67% of this figure are girls. This informed our choice of embarking on the school tour digital skills training program in Kaduna state, Nigeria to bridged the digital skills divide.
DIGITAL SKILLS TRAINING PROGRAM FOR YOUNG PEOPLE IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA.
PROGRAM THEME: " TEENS USING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SOCIAL GOOD ".
Children and Young People Living for Peace (CYPLP) Nigeria (www.cyplp.net.ng) today, the 10th of November 2022 carry out a one day sensitization awareness campaign program held at Ebenezer Baptist School, Kakuri, Kaduna State, Nigeria on the theme: "Teens using social media for social good". The aims and objectives of this training program is to educate, inform and sensitize the students on how to use the social media and other digital tools and technologies for social good and also point out safety online measures they should take to stay safe online, protect themselves from online harm, abuses and cyber bullying. Students were also trained on digital technology soft skills such as content creation, copy writing, digital marketing and e - commerce, email marketing and graphic designs.
GROUP PHOTOGRAPH
CROSS SECTION OF THE STUDENTS AT THE DIGITAL SKILLS TECHNOLOGY TRAINING PROGRAM.
QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION
CONTINUATION OF CYPLP SCHOOL TOUR DIGITAL SKILLS TECHNOLOGY TRAINING PROGRAM IN KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA.
PROGRAM THEME: " TEENS USING SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SOCIAL GOOD ".
Children and Young People Living for Peace (CYPLP) Nigeria (www.cyplp.net.ng) today, the 11th of November 2022 carry out a one day sensitization awareness campaign program held at Halum Pyramid lnternational School, Nassarawa, Kaduna State, Nigeria on the theme: "Teens using social media for social good". The aims and objectives of this training program is to educate, inform and sensitize the students on how to use the social media for social good and also point out safety online measures they should take to stay safe online, protect themselves from online harm, abuses and cyber bullying. Students were also trained on digital technology soft skills such as content creation, copy writing, digital marketing and e - commerce, email marketing and graphic designs.
GROUP PHOTOGRAPH
CROSS SECTION OF THE STUDENTS AT THE DIGITAL SKILLS TECHNOLOGY TRAINING PROGRAM.
QUESTION AND ANSWER SESSION
BRIEF PERSONAL PROFILE OF ENOBONG EKWERE - SOCIAL ACTIVIST/ DEVELOPMENT EXPERT IN NIGERIA.
Comments
Post a Comment