Introduction:
The 3rd Youth Capacity building took place under the theme: ‘‘Advancing young African women in Entrepreneurship and Leadership” from 26th to 29th November 2019, in Accra, Ghana. The workshop brought together 49 young participants representing the following African Union Member States: Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cabo-Verde, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo Brazzaville, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Egypt, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Equally amongst the participants was Mr. Moti Daba, winner of the online Quiz organized by the AU/CIEFFA during the celebration of the International Day of the Girl child.
Background of the 3rd Youth Capacity-Building Workshop
Mrs. Simone Yankey-Ouattara, Senior Policy Officer, provided the backdrop of the workshop by outlining the selection process, the objectives and outputs of this capacity-building workshop. She added that in order to achieve the Aspirations of agenda 2063, it was important to involve a number of key stakeholders, especially the youth.
Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony was chaired by the Coordinator of the AU/CIEFFA, Dr. Rita Bissoonauth.
In her opening remarks, Ms. Vigdis Cristofoli, Education Counsellor at the Royal Norwegian Embassy to the AU, expressed how Norway was proud to partner and collaborate with AU/CIEFFA in promoting girls’ and women’s Education in Africa. She stressed that for the future of Africa’s socio-economic development to be ensured, African Youth needed be capacitated with the best set of skills and competencies and that this workshop was responding to these needs.
On behalf of H.E. Prof. Sarah Anyang Agbor, HRST Commissioner, AUC, Dr Mahama Ouedraogo, Director HRST, explained how happy he was to be among the crème de la crème of the African Youth, as representatives of the Africa we want. In the fight against an intergenerational cycle of poverty which denies girls and women their basic Human rights, he saluted AU/CIEFFA’s work with the support of development partners, in the empowerment of girls and women through their Education in line with key legal frameworks amongst others such as the AU Gender strategy, STISA and CESA. He also appreciated the theme of the meeting, which offers the ideal framework for achieving the agendas of Gender and Education whilst empowering young people with crucial competencies to combat harmful practices and attitudes.
Hon. Gifty Twum Ampofo, Deputy Minister of Education and TVET of Ghana, highlighted the numerous activities that the host country was undertaking in the area of Education, namely, free access to secondary cycle Education, expanding TVET and improved international standards for teacher training.
Hon. Cynthia Mamle Morrison, Minister of Gender, Youth and Social Protection congratulated the participants for making it on the crest of such a continent-wide and competitive process. She appreciated investments made by the AUC through this capacity building workshop which promotes the necessity for Youth-driven entrepreneurship as key to the betterment of African societies.
Mr. Victor Mensah briefly outlined the different steps of creating a project proposal: identify the purpose of the project, its key components and the differences between managing and finalising a project. He pointed out that one of the outcomes of the workshop was to come up with a group project on issues relating to girl’s and women’s education.
Module 1: Girls’ and Women’s Education in Africa
Under the session on “Understanding the dynamics of Girls’ and Women’s Education in Africa”, Ms. Daphne Chimuka, enabled the participants to better interpret key various concepts and terminologies of gender and to understand how aspects of Gender as social construction of norms and attitudes impact negatively on the universal rights of women and girls such the right to education. To demystify participants’ perception on gender based myths and stereotypes, she clarified the different levels of intervention.
Module 2: Girls and women in TVET male dominated areas
In the session on “Gender Stereotypes in TVET: Assessing the facts, challenging the myths”, Dr. George Afeti, provided an overview of the gender dichotomy in learning and vocational choices into TVET. He explained that the current gender gaps are often attributed to influential factors such as society, culture, tradition and religion. He also provided data on enrolment and female participation in TVET.
A Panel Discussion ensued following this presentation on: “Dynamics and Factors Influencing the Educational and Career Goals of Girls and Women” comprising of five panellists: Espoir Mebi Djam (Cameroon), Erick Ouko (Kenya), Tiewa Noel Coulibaly (Cote d’Ivoire), Ngozi Nkulula (Zambia) and Zineb Ayadi (Algeria).
The panelists outlined different factors such as culture which influence the educational paths and careers of young women. They also added how sexual harassment in particular, impacts women’s and girls’ educational and professional achievement especially in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
Module 3: Financial Literacy
Ms. Nadira Bayat, facilitated the session on “Advancing Gender Equality and the Sustainable Economic Empowerment of Women under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)”. She highlighted that gender gaps still exist due to discriminatory laws, limited access to land, and lack of access to social protection services, resulting in unpaid work and labour for women. She encouraged participants to seize this trading opportunity of AfCFTA and to work with young girls and women entrepreneurs to tackle gender-related concerns and constraints gender based violence and norms as well as lack of access to finance and self-confidence.
Module 4: Linking Entrepreneurship in STEM & TVET
In the session on “Entrepreneurship”, Ms. Brinda Hunziker presented some key projections and statistics on the evolution of the job market on the continent. She explained that by 2040, 47 % of actual jobs will have vanished according to a research by the Oxford University. In retrospection, she also explained although the youth in Africa constitute 75% of the working age population, they only represent 60% of the jobless persons in Africa. Ms. Hunziker highlighted the importance and benefits of venturing in Entrepreneurship, while cautioning for some of the challenges to be encountered. She also provided the participants with the skills required to become an Entrepreneur and how to prepare a business plan.
Ms. Brinda Hunziker also moderated a panel Discussion on “Sharing best practices on Entrepreneurship in the areas of TVET and STEM”. The panelists were: Kelahloko Mashiloane (South Africa)¸ Dior Fall Samb, (Senegal), Kadio Niang (Mauritania), Merveille Tia Ngolo (Congo) and Eden Tadesse (Ethiopia). They discussed the main challenges faced by young entrepreneurs on the continent in the areas of STEM and TVET and provided some feasible adaptable solutions/avenues to address the recurring issue of limited funding.
Module 5: Leadership in STEM
During the session on “Personal branding and values”, Ms. Naadiya Moosajee from WomEng, explained the key concepts of Personal Leadership branding and used a “Values vault” exercise to identify core values, impressions and postures of Leaders. She stressed on the necessity to cultivate a network and use networking opportunities. She presented the “Elevator pitch”, where participants had one minute to brief a potential investor on their work.
Ms. Moosajee also explained that as long as their projects were sustainable and helping the community, investors would be interested to come in.
Module 6: Digital Literacy
Ms. Wanjira Kamwere from Microsoft Africa, presented the session on “21st Century Skills and the future workforce”. She began by encouraging participants to contribute to increase the number of youth-owned companies, as a driver for transformation of African societies. She explained the need for digital skills to keep up with innovation and competitiveness on the African job market.
Mr. Stewart Samkange, Representative of Microsoft gave some tips on how to use LinkedIn for job-seekers. An online quiz was also administered to strengthen participants’ capacity in digital skills.
Module 7: Community Engagement
Mr. Victor Mensah explained the core components of community engagement: identification of target group, brainstorming of ideas, community assessment, collaboration for action and change. He also added that community engagement rests on inclusivity, participation, civic intelligence and leadership and that it happens at different levels: individual, interpersonal, community, organizational and policy levels.
Module 8: Presentation of projects
Six projects were presented at the end of the workshop:
Setting up a multimedia company
Advancing women’s and girls’ Education under the AfCFTA
Developing a multi local language app
Knowledge Hub in STEM
Alternative Education app
Engaging men in Girls and Women’s Education.
Throughout the workshop, participants in their groups used a project template, and exchanged views and ideas to finalize their project.
Closing
Mrs. Constance Swaniker, CEO and Founder, of “Accents and Arts”, shared her experiences and the challenges of working in a male-dominated field. She explained her career path in in the construction sector, often perceived as a male-dominated area.
In her closing remarks, Dr Rita Bissoonauth requested the participants to take up their roles as advocates for girls and young women to access and complete their education. A certificate was awarded at the end of the capacity-building workshop.
