Mary Nnah
A youth-led national development organisation, Education Sustainability and Vocational Development Initiative (ESVDI), has launched the basic digital Literacy skills project for youths. The project, facilitated by youths, will be implemented in over 30 participating African countries by over 300 selected Ambassadors.
The Global Education Ambassadors Programme (GEAP) will leverage creative communication, training, storytelling, and presentation by ambassadors in marginalised communities, rehabilitation centres, schools, care homes, orphanages, and prisons to empower more youths.
The project was launched to contribute to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 4, 5, 8 and to rewrite the current research data of UNESCO, African Union, and World Bank report on digitally literate Africans.
At the ambassadors’ orientation, the Executive Director of ESVDI, Vivian Ubani, described the project as one that aims to increase collaboration and cross-cultural learning and build a network of youths from diverse backgrounds that would bring about transformational change in our world.
Following Ubani’s remarks, the founder of Sustainable Higher Education Internship Programme (SHIP) India Dr. Smriti Pahwa, the partner organisation on the project; Coordinator American Spaces Calabar, Ann Mesembe; Co-founder & COO UNIPLAT Switzerland, Dr. Takahisa Karita; founder CZITApp downloader, Mr. Anthony Amadi amongst other partners have continued to support the project.
The project implementation, which began in June to the end of September for the first cycle, will include activities such as Ambassadors training, visitation to partner institutions, organisations, communities, and so on, depending on the participating audience and empowering them using customised training curriculum designed by the organisation.
The project will engage young women and men, graduates, undergraduates, persons with disabilities, employed and unemployed between the ages of 15 – 35 years with more interest in women and girls.
The modules on the curriculum include but are not limited to working with computers, communicating and interacting with computers, maintaining safety online and social media engagement, working with computer applications, and professional development courses on CV writing, presentations, etc., in preparation for the future of work.
Ubani, a young graduate of the Cross River University of Technology, Global Education ambassador, and pacesetter, has continued to be a voice for Transformational Education began the initiative in 2019 as an undergraduate during the industrial strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities to provide education in schools to schools in rural communities through volunteers.
She encouraged youths to continue actively contributing to nation-building through civic engagement in building the Africa of our dreams.
