Aren’t women great?!
This year has been a tough one for all and we have seen some amazing women doing some amazing things, including UK based charity Educating The Children (ETC). Celebrating their tenth anniversary this year, the UK-registered charity are continuing their mission to empower women in East Africa by providing education and training which leads to formal employment. With their Code Queen team (piloted in 2019) continuing to train unemployed women in Uganda to gain in-demand job skills, the female focused charity have started their Christmas campaign to get all women involved in sharing their work.
Code Queen allows young girls in East Africa to learn code and connects successful graduates to an ecosystem of partners that includes businesses, head-hunters, universities and youth-based organisations. As schools have been forced shut, Code Queen has still allowed students to continue to help themselves through online learning. Students even recently showcased their talents through completing a hackathon which solved a real-life business challenge for Safe Boda, known as the ‘Uber of Uganda’.
Code Queen are celebrating their success
They are celebrating the success of this with a challenge for women and girls – including you! They are asking women to kick a ball, pair of socks (or whatever you can get a hold of!) in the air five times, donate £5 to ETC then post on social media and tag five other amazing women to give it a go (fails are also valid!).
Although Africa has only around 1% of the total reported deaths and 3% of cases, it will have 50% of the global population being pushed aggressively below the poverty line as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) predicts 29 million Africans could be pushed into extreme poverty. Given that so far the crisis in Africa is more economic than it is health, such programmes have become even more necessary. With UN projections showing Africa as having the world’s largest potential workforce, larger than both India and China, education and training are critical to ensuring the future of not just the continent, but the interconnected world we live in.
Code Queen is an opportunity for the unemployed in Africa to empower themselves by taking part in the growing global digital economy, regardless of location. With the remote working trend continuing – the demand for global tech talent is set to rise. Software engineering is now one of the world’s most in-demand professions and there remains an acute shortage of ICT professionals, especially women.
Here’s how you can help
ETC are asking for social/online support by getting women and girls to get on their sporty socks and have some fun for charity! Here are the rules:
- Film yourself doing the challenge (even if you fail!)
- Donate £5 to www.etc.education
- Copy this text and post with your challenge video on social media, tagging five women to do the same #GivingTuesday #5KicksForCoding #CodeQueen
Women are amazing! This year has added many challenges to their daily lives and yet they continue to succeed. This is a time to celebrate and support women around the world so they can have the best opportunities possible. The £5 will support an unemployed Ugandan woman to continue learning online and gain the skills she needs to secure employment. Here is a short video explaining how to get involved.
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Written by Jasmine Hodge
Illustrated by Francesca Mariama
