E-UPSHIFT programme empowers girls with Green Skills for the future
Supporting girls to realise their full potential
Makeni - Adama Kargbo, a 17-year-old student at St. Joseph's Girls School in Makeni, is an active participant in the E-UPSHIFT programme who describes herself as an Ambassador of Change. Adama and her team received training from the UNICEF-supported Digital Learning Hub at St. Joseph Girls School, established in 2021.
Initially hesitant about her ability to contribute to community solutions, Adama's participation in E-UPSHIFT has transformed her perspective. Now, she confidently identifies problems and spearheads solutions within her community. With two fellow adolescent girls, Monica K Kanu and Hawanatu Ngobeh, both 18, Adama is addressing air pollution in Bombali district, Kabumbeh community by organizing sensitization and awareness campaigns. Through dialogues and peer discussions, they educate adolescents, young people, and community members on the dangers of air pollution caused by the indiscriminate burning of community and household waste. They collaborate with community chiefs and leaders to advocate for clean and safe air for children to prevent asthma and other respiratory diseases.
“E-UPSHIFT allows me to think beyond the box! I am happy to come to the lab and learn how to solve problems in my community. It is a privilege to be a young person, to know a problem in a community and know how to solve them!”
Launched in 2021, E-UPSHIFT in Sierra Leone has successfully engaged over 10,000 adolescents and young people nationwide by employing a dynamic methodology that integrates workshops, mentorship, and seed funding to equip youth to cultivate entrepreneurial mindsets and innovate solutions to local challenges. This initiative not only fosters individual digital and entrepreneurial growth but also can drive education reform by enhancing technical and vocational education and training (TVET) skill sets of students and educators.
Through E-UPSHIFT's emphasis on skill and mindset development, young participants realize that grabbing opportunities and unlocking their potential can begin right away, transforming distant aspirations into immediate possibilities. Monica K. Kanu, 18 attested, “The programme helped me to improve my public speaking and teamwork through group discussions.”
Zainab Y Kanu, 17 also added, “Though E-UPSHIFT I have become a critical thinker. I have widened my knowledge and gained basic computer skills in the computer lab.”
In Sierra Leone, limited access to digital infrastructure remains a significant barrier to economic growth and the achievement of several of the Sustainable Development Goals. With only 26 per cent of the population having access to stable electricity and a mere 27 per cent with mobile internet penetration, there is a big digital gap here. The digital divide disproportionately affects those in rural areas, from poorer households, and those with disabilities, especially the girls and women in these groups, further exacerbating gender and other social disparities.
The limited electricity, internet and telecommunication infrastructure restricts access to life-saving and transformative knowledge and information and presents a missed opportunity for harnessing the great potential of Sierra Leone’s youthful population.
In Sierra Leone, over 75 per cent of the population is under the age of 35, yet approximately 70 per cent of the youth face structural underemployment. Access to 21st-century skills is crucial to facilitate the transition from school to the workforce. UNICEF Sierra Leone, in collaboration with UNICEF Finland, is working with the Ministry of Communication, Technology & Innovation (MoCTI) and other development partners to equip adolescents and young people with essential life and social innovation skills to enhance their livelihood opportunities through climate-smart education, digital literacy and entrepreneurial programmes such as E-Upshift.
"The ability of the girls to address challenges in their communities in a smart and profoundly analytical way is very impressive. The Finnish Committee for UNICEF and our partners, the Africa Giving Circle and Rovio, are pleased to invest in young people and the essential skills they need for themselves and for the socio-economic development of the country." Johanna Talvela, Corporate Collaboration Director, Finnish Committee for UNICEF.
As Adama Kargbo and the Stop Air Pollution Team and Aminata Lucy Kamara and the Safe Refuse Disposal Team awaited the results of their innovative solution pitches to the Finnish delegation, they were clear on one thing – they were both Green Champions in their quest for sustainable solutions to improve their communities.
