Aisha, a young woman from Nigeria, finds computer tasks such as creating an excel spreadsheet or sending an email to be difficult. With 13.9 million unemployed youth, Nigeria is concerned about rising insecurities and potential luring of youth to extremist groups.
With a ‘whole of society’ approach, GCERF began its investment in Nigeria in 2016. This approach encompasses engagement with civil society and government and additionally focuses on leveraging the potential of private sector to make a meaningful impact. This approach also responds to the GCTF good practice to engage with the private sector to improve the technical capacity of youth as underlined in the Abu Dhabi Memorandum on Good Practices for Education and Countering Violent Extremism | Arabic | French.
Recognizing the potential of the private sector, GCERF developed an MOU with IHS Towers, a telecommunications infrastructure provider in Nigeria, to train youth participants of Action Aid Nigeria grantees in basic information and communications technology (ICT) skills. With the goal of increasing employability and providing access to tools required in the modern world for various exam- and job-related online applications, the training certified 120 young people over four days in Kano State.
Thanking GCERF, IHS, and Action Aid for the training, Aisha said that she learned digital skills such as creating word documents, presentations, spreadsheets, and sending emails.
This collaboration with the private sector demonstrates how interventions can be scaled up and made sustainable. GCERF plans to increase these types of partnerships to encourage and equip its youth beneficiaries with skills and confidence that will directly benefit them and their communities.
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GCERF is a GCTF Inspired Institution. The Inspired Institutions are independent organizations that complement the Forum’s mission and reinforce the practical use of GCTF resources across the globe.
Photo Credit: Action Aid, GCERF grantee in Nigeria