New technologies
Malawi, Kenya, Jordan: when refugees are trained in digital professions
Audio 02:12
The Konexio association wants to fight against digital exclusion (illustration image).
© CC0 1.0 - Pixabay
By: Dominique Desaunay Follow
3 mins
To develop their IT systems, companies around the world rely heavily on freelancers.
But these "digital freelancers" are struggling to meet the demands of companies engaged in the race to dematerialize their activities.
This is why a French association has decided to enhance the potential of unemployed people, but also that of people who have taken refuge in several countries, through training in digital professions.
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The training modules for jobs and the use of digital technology delivered by
the Konexio association
aim to promote sustainable socio-professional integration among people who find themselves far from employment and to combat digital exclusion which continues to grow in the world, according to
the latest report from the United Nations
.
The association provides its training programs internationally to refugees or displaced persons.
This initiative
is supported by numerous NGOs, private partners and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Training always takes place as close as possible to vulnerable populations in the countries.
The first sessions began in 2019 in Malawi in the Dzaleka camp and were renewed in 2022 to give birth to
the third class of learners
.
Other modules are being rolled out
in Kenya
to specifically train 240 refugee women.
And from July, it will be in Jordan, for refugees, but also people excluded from the labor market, explains
Jean Guo, founder of Konexio
.
“
In order to adapt these training courses as well as possible, we always start with a diagnosis of the basic skills of our learners to understand what jobs they would like to occupy.
This then allows us to help them through the whole training process.
Our lessons can concern the technical fields of digital professions, data processing, up to the computer coding of information systems or being able to create new applications for online business services. Our students can also train in office tools to find a job or more simply learn to write emails.
»
Stepping up the fight against digital exclusion
“
Concretely, Konexio's role is to provide all the educational tools and materials that our local partners need to organize these training courses in the countries.
Our goal is to help our learners gain financial independence.
This social inclusion using digital technology will also benefit their loved ones or families.
We often cite the example of Stan, a refugee in a camp in Malawi who recently became a trainer himself. The computer skills he obtained provided him with his first economic opportunities: he got married and bought his home... And that is exactly the objective we are pursuing with these training courses: to offer a perspective to all the excluded digital in the world.
»
Konexio also campaigns for the recognition of a universal right to digital training.
The association also notes that most local labor laws in the countries in which it operates are not always favorable to refugees or migrants.
It also recalls that its training programs are aimed without distinction at all marginalized people and regardless of their country of origin.
And in order to intensify its actions,
Konexio
intends to establish itself over the next 5 years in 10 countries and 40 cities bearing the brunt of this global scourge of digital exclusion.
► If you have any questions or suggestions, you can write to us at
nouvelles.technologies@rfi.fr
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