An employer partner is presented with a certificate of commendation, December 2nd 2009, Nairobi Kenya

Nairobi, Kenya. The African Centre for Women Information Communication Technology (ACWICT) in partnership with the International Youth Foundation on Tuesday, December 2, 2009 hosted a breakfast meeting for employers and partners.

The meeting was to share ACWICT’s experiences, both successes and challenges, in engaging employers, finding information about the local labor market, and identifying internship, volunteer, and job opportunities for young people trained under the Samsung Real Dreams program. The meeting also sought input from employers and stakeholders on the skills training being offered through the program in relation to the labor market. The meeting was hosted under the Samsung Real Dreams program and brought together over thirty employer partners from the private sector and representatives from the USAID, the International Labour organization, and the International Youth Foundation.

Speaking during the meeting, the General Manager, Mobile Division, Samsung East & Central Africa, Ms. Patricia King’ori said Samsung was partnering with three local NGOs to implement the program in Kenya with the aim of training 1000 under privileged youth and engaging them in employment, educational and entrepreneurship programs.

“We would like to commend ACWICT’s efforts in developing an under-emphasized and under-resourced sector, namely women in ICT. We also acknowledge the support, inputs and opportunities that have been availed to ACWICT and the beneficiaries of of the Samsung Real Dreams program either in form of material support, training, internships, employment and even advice on the program content by the various employer partner organizations.” Said Ms. King’ori

The executive Director for ACWICT Ms. Constantine Obuya said the forum would go along way in determining the possibility of continuing with the program through expansion to other parts of the country whose ICT strength is challenged.

“This platform gives us an opportunity to get feedback from employers who have worked with our project trainees and also help us to work on the potential of expanding the program”, said Ms. Obuya.

The Samsung Real Dreams program, as implemented by ACWICT, seeks to improve employment and economic prospects for young women, ages 18-35 years residing in the informal settlements in Kenya by equipping them with marketable skills for relatively new- level positions in Kenya including those as IT technicians, remote support technicians, depot technicians, network professionals and network system administrators; skills on how to provide quality customer service and administrative back-office services in the growing business process outsourcing sub-sector in Kenya.

ACWICT targets a total of 160 young women, 60 of whom will be trained under the Cisco networking curriculum while 100 will be trained in the Business Processing and Outsourcing (BPO) and Lifeskills. At least 50 percent placement of the trainees should be placed in quality employment. To date, 116 young women have been trained under the program with 50 percent being placed in both internships and gainful employment. 

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