ITC, Arizona State University and Norwegian Refugee Council deliver digital opportunities to refugees in Kakuma (en)

(Arizona/Geneva) - The Refugee Employment and Skills Initiative (RESI) in Kakuma, Kenya is partnering with Education for Humanity, an initiative under the Arizona State University, to deliver capacity building digitally in the Kakuma refugee camp.

RESI provides training and market access support for refugees and hosts to work as online freelancers. In Kakuma, RESI is delivered with implementing partner Norwegian Refugee Council, focused on training participants in digital marketing. Education for Humanity are contributing to the project by providing a digital training in English language as part of the training programme.

'ASU is very proud to partner with ITC and NRC to better prepare refugee learners to access and succeed in the digital economy' said Nicholas Sabato, Director, Country Programs, Education for Humanity under Arizona State University.

'This innovative tripartite partnership leverages the strengths of our respective organizations and ultimately provides refugee learners with the quality training they desire' he said.

The RESI training programme is focused on digital marketing, life skills and entrepreneurship, to equip participants with the technical and soft skills needed to be self-employed and engage with international clients online. The programme starts with a one-month English language course, which helps participants advance professionally, for example in job deliveries, job applications, and client communication.

Education for Humanity provides online courses to refugee communities across the world with in-person support from humanitarian partners. They delivered their first training under RESI when the project was launched in Kakuma in 2019. At this time, the training was delivered in-person, but the training has since been adapted to the Covid-19 situation by transitioning to online or hybrid delivery, as with other trainings in the programme.

After the training programme, participants are offered a remote mentorship programme, led by ITC that provides test jobs, facilitates access to online work platforms and provides one-on-one technical mentorship to help new freelancers connect to clients and start earning online for a career in the global gig economy.

About ITC

The International Trade Centre is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. ITC assists small and medium-sized enterprises in developing and transition economies to become more competitive in global markets, thereby contributing to sustainable economic development within the frameworks of the Aid-for-Trade agenda and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

For more information on RESI, visit https://www.intracen.org/resi/

For more information on Education for Humanity, visit https://edforhumanity.asu.edu/

For more information, visit www.intracen.org.

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Press Contact : T: +41 22 730 0626 E: press [at] intracen.org (press[at]intracen[dot]org)