codeHive

codeHive targets young women from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds. These young women are those that have completed high school but due to financial constraints are unable to further their education. Essentially, this program aims to develop their capacity and skills in computer literacy, computer programming & hardware, graphic design and entrepreneurship.

The adoption of ICT in general by women in Kenya has been low despite the general increase of technology application and usage. In the past few years, the ICT Sector has emerged as a steadily growing contributor to the Kenyan economy. Currently, technology contributes 24% of the total GDP growth and 5% to the overall country GDP. This has been largely due to the major advancements in infrastructure, favorable government policy, as well as an active and innovative private sector. Technology has been a male dominated field over the years with major contributors and consumers being men and very few women (15%) actively involved in the sector. A November 2014 research study commissioned by AkiraChix supports this by reporting that even though women constitute slightly over half (50.3%) of the entire Kenyan population, the near equal split does not reflect in the uptake of opportunities between the two genders as would be expected. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics)  fields and careers still suffer from a minimal engagement by women. There are several reasons for this, but most significant are socio-economic challenges women and girls  face more than their male counterparts. Essentially, lack of access to financing, training and appropriate mentorship, lack of role models and lack of exposure are some of the contributing factors.

AkiraChix has developed programs to empower women and girls especially in ICT and Entrepreneurship, which is in line with the Sustainable Development Goal 5 - “Achieve Gender Equality and Empower all women and girls”. As a capacity building effort we aim to deepen our intervention for the women in the technology arena whilst also mobilizing communities and partners to invest in girls’ education as this helps them venture into careers that revolutionize the communities they hail from.

Though women make over half the African population, the key decision making roles they hold are not representative of this quantity. The gender gap originates from dis-empowerment through existing structures. From the onset, girls are equated to property and therefore most vulnerable to risks such as poverty. Once they begin school, gender slurs are used to insinuate that they are not intelligent and are discouraged from pursuing Science courses. This has translated too few women transitioning into STEM careers. AkiraChix has created a space with an agenda to provide leadership and STEM training to vulnerable girls and young women.

Unemployment among females has been high. The proportion of females with a job, formal or informal, is lower than that of males for all ages. Females’ relative disadvantage in accessing informal jobs is worst at around 25 years of age. In the case of access to formal jobs, the disadvantage simply widens throughout the entire youth period. Despite the increased primary and secondary enrollment by girls, this wide gender gap persists in labour participation especially in STEM related occupations in Kenya. AkiraChix is keen on addressing this gap, through training, outreach to school students and engagement with women in technology.

AkiraChix will train 100 young women in 3 years, ages 18 to 24, in entrepreneurship  and information technology. The project will follow a year long curriculum with internships during the months of April and August.

By equipping young women with leadership and tech skills, they will possess both the confidence and competence to find financial independence and escape from the endemic trap of poverty as well as develop innovations that reflect their own and their community’s needs. Our work is to cultivate compassionate and capable leaders and the skills they develop will last a lifetime and produce a multiplier effect.

Assessments of the beneficiaries’ understanding of content taught - Training Program targeted to reach 25 young women from impoverished backgrounds per year

Analysis of beneficiaries economic activity - Facilitate job placements for the

beneficiaries of the training program

We have one goal to equip girls and young women with the knowledge and skills they will need to advance their life and career trajectories. To do this effectively our organization identified gaps that can be closed. Inasmuch as there are many girl focused initiatives, most focus on health. STEM focused jobs continue to increase in demand. Girls and young women do not get the support they need to tap or leverage such opportunities . We see our strengths positively challenging socio-cultural norms because ‘when you educate a girl, you empower her community’.

Technological innovation and IT as a whole provides platforms for socio-economic development. With the right support, women have the potential to play a significant role in the development agenda .Therefore, if technology is key to the advancement of a society, then integrating women in technology is fundamental to development as well.As a capacity building effort we aim to deepen our intervention for the women in the technology arena whilst also mobilizing communities and partners to invest in girls’ education as this helps them venture into careers that revolutionize the communities they hail from

AkiraChix admits 25 underprivileged promising young women from different slums in Nairobi to train. The girls go through a selection process, once qualified the girls are fully funded to attend the training for a period of one year, they’re provided with laptops, materials , food as well as trainers. Within each training year, students are trained, mentored and coached to prepare them for and be placed in the workforce. Trainers, mentors and coaches are drawn from industry experts.

AkiraChix believes that moving strategically towards sustainability leads to innovation, new opportunities, reduced costs, and dramatically reduced ecological and social impacts. AkiraChix runs a  paid class, holiday boot camps for primary and high school students , that have means to pay. Through the training, AkiraChix aims to empower the young women to be the future policy makers in the country. This will allow them be in a position to air their experiences and highlight the need for additional support both from the local government and organizations that seek to empower women.

• Our capacity which sometimes is inadequate to sustain an effective project.
• Limited funds that prevent us from executing our projects effectively
• We have to grapple with a political economic culture with a high corruption index;
• Economic shocks, which may affect the exchange rates or changing the cost in soft and tangible services.
• In-country risks such as political instability and systemic violence.

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Over the years, AkiraChix has developed a model that has proven to be replicable not only in Kenya, but in other parts of Africa. We are ready to scale and are hopeful that solve will be instrumental in linking us with  resources and expertise  to see this come to fruition. We believe with Solve we will be able to access  a community of industry experts who come on board as trainers, speakers and mentors to the beneficiaries of AkiraChix. Additionally, through solve  resources, there will be a boost towards developing an accredited curriculum in partnership with government and education institutions.

• Forum Syd
• Segal Family Foundation
• Google Kenya
• Us Embassy Kenya
• Amadeus
• Sida Stockholm

Nairobits

African Centre for Women & ICT

Moringa School

Andela