Launching the eldoret Community Technology Learning Center

The African Centre for Women, Information and Communications Technology (ACWICT) has entered into a partnership with Microsoft to intensify its employability program targeting young women in informal settlements of Eldoret town.

Having successfully trained 3,320 young women and placing over 50 percent of them in jobs, internships and community service over the last three years, ACWICT aims to transform lives of over 1,000 women in Eldoret this year.

The employability program conducted under ACWICT’s flagship program ‘Reaching the Un-reached’, aims to enhance usage of technologies by women in the information age. It will thus open three Community Technology Learning Centers in Eldoret, a fast growing town in Kenya’s Rift Valley Province.

“The ‘Reaching the Un-reached’ program is designed to enable young women in the country to apply ICT-enabled entrepreneurship skills and training to generate employment and community development opportunities,” said Ms. Constantine Obuya, ACWICT’s Executive Director.

She said the community-based capacity-building initiative conducted with support of Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential grant, trains women to work in their communities, thus contributing to improved social and economic livelihoods for their families.

Ms. Betty Radier, Microsoft East and Southern Africa Marketing Manager says the Unlimited Potential program aims to reach the next 1 billion people globally by 2015 by exploring solutions in areas that are crucial to developing sustained economic opportunity.

“By partnering with ACWICT to train the young women, Microsoft is focusing its efforts on transforming education, fostering local innovation, and enabling jobs and opportunities,” said Radier.

ICT training will be delivered using the Microsoft Unlimited Potential Curriculum while ACWICT will train the women on Entrepreneurship Skills based on a Business Management curriculum that the organization’s experts have developed.

“With Unlimited Potential, Microsoft is committed to helping all people to benefit from information and communications technology that is accessible, affordable, and relevant to their needs,” said Betty Radier, Microsoft East and Southern Africa, Marketing Manager.

Microsoft recognizes that it should through partnerships continue to make substantial contribution, towards enhancing capacity for development, so that Kenya can exploit its potential said Radier. “Our over-arching goal, together with our partners, is to make sure that technology supports and accelerates progress towards the Millennium Development Goals and sustainable development in Africa,” she said.