UNICEF and "Zhan" Asian Society for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities teach digital skills to visually impaired adolescents

ALMATY, October 18, 2021 – Certificate Award Ceremony for adolescents with visual impairment who are the first graduates of the project “Developing digital skills for visually impaired adolescents”, took place in Almaty. The project is a joint initiative of the Public Association “Asian Society for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities “Zhan" and the Representative Office of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Kazakhstan.

The project aim is to form digital skills, skills for employment, social and business entrepreneurship skills among adolescents from 10 to 19 years old with visual impairment.

For more than two months, young people have been trained to work with digital technologies to become independent in working with programs and devices. In a few days they will be able to join the second training session to acquire the next set of skills ("soft" skills) that contribute to a successful start of adulthood, employment and entrepreneurship within the framework of the project launched by UNICEF, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the NGO "Community of Youth Workers".

Children from the special boarding school №4 for blind and visually impaired children named after N. Ostrovsky are taking part in the project. The project was supported by EPAM Kazakhstan and the State Fund for the Development of Youth Policy of the City of Almaty.

"Children from vulnerable groups of the population, namely children with special educational needs, often have less access to education and the acquisition of new skills. Our task is to change this situation and to guarantee the protection of the rights of those children who, for various reasons, are deprived of the opportunity to grow and develop on an equal basis with others. The digital skills learned by adolescents through the partnership with the NGO "Zhan" will give them a chance to succeed in the future and expand their employment opportunities,” said Arthur van Diesen, UNICEF Representative in Kazakhstan.

Adai Altynai, Igenova Kymbat, Nasukai Dinmukhamet, Habibullayeva Durdona, Nurmukhambetova Sofiya, and Shestakova Sofiya were given awards at the Certificate Awarding Ceremony for the successful completion of the course.

“Today the Certificate Awarding Ceremony for the successful completion of the course on digital skills, which will help the students master new areas with the help of technology, took place. It is important for purposeful youth to desire and strive to achieve something, to define themselves, to find themselves, to reveal their talents and develop. Above all, the most important thing is to have faith in yourself! We really hope that this project will help our children make their dreams come true!”, said Alma Auganbaeva, the director of the State Fund for the Development of Youth Policy of the City of Almaty.

Children will now be able to become more independent, thanks to special navigators on their phones, and will have access to any digitized literature.

Upon completion of the project, the adolescents have also learned how to type with the ten-finger method, work with the Google Chrome browser, and Zoom conferences.

With their new skills, they can now download books, text via WhatsApp and other messengers, use a navigator and a voice assistant, and call a taxi online.

“I am very glad that we are giving children the opportunity to explore another world, the world of digital technologies, limitless opportunities and knowledge. Thanks to our partners, children get a "ticket into a future life" where they have zero restrictions," said Fatkulin Ilyas, the project manager.