Employment for Women and Girls in Uganda
Over 60% of the population in Uganda is below the age of 30, and 74% of Ugandans between the ages of 15-25 are unemployed. The majority of them are young women who have either dropped out of school or did not acquire quality education due to poverty. Even if they are able to attend school, the education offered by public schools does not offer digital skills education. Thus, classes in STEM for women in Uganda are not often accessible. These skills enable learners to benefit from the global shift towards technological jobs. This lack of skills and access to quality jobs excludes women and girls from the labor force or traps them in vulnerable or low-quality employment.
Women in Technology Uganda Offers Technical Skills Training
Women In Technology in Uganda (WITU) works to improve the lives of women and girls in Uganda. WITU’s technology and entrepreneurship classes empower women with market-relevant skills. Further, they support women in starting their own businesses and help connect them to work opportunities.
Team4Tech Impacts Software Access and Technical Curriculum
In 2019, Team4Tech supported WITU in launching Kampala’s first community maker space. This space provides women access to a 3D printer, design software, and VR technology. As a result, women are now getting access to better jobs, internships at multinational companies, and starting their own businesses. Subsequent projects continue to support WITU in building out its STEM and entrepreneurship curriculum to reach even more women. To date, Team4Tech has helped support the following projects:
- 2022: 14 Zendesk volunteers collaborated with WITU to enrich their computer science curriculum, designed a hackathon guide and low-tech activities to increase girls’ engagement and retention in STEM, created marketing guidelines to increase WITU’s online visibility, and explored ways to create a WITU-specific job platform for students to find internships and job opportunities.
Get Involved with Team4Tech and Our Partners:
If you would like to learn more about our work, subscribe to the Team4Tech mailing list. You can read about more projects involving STEM for women in Uganda and sub-Saharan Africa. Then, you can follow the progression of other international projects and hear from the experiences of corporate and non-profit partners alike.