Youth for Technology Foundation (YTF) believes that training Nigerian girls in globally in-demand 3D printing skills will be a powerful catalyst for girls to create their own businesses, access employment throughout the world, escape poverty, and experience true freedom. The 3D printing industry is estimated to grow from $3.1B (2013) to $30B (2022)one of the fastest-growing income generation businesses and an excellent opportunity to break the cycle of poverty and abuse.
Through this commitment, YTF will train 6,000 out-of-school girls in five Nigerian states who are at risk for, or have survived, human trafficking in leading-edge technology skills. Over the next three years, training will occur at YTF and community facilities during the day or after school and will be led by YTF master trainers, the majority of whom are women, including 3D printing experts, entrepreneur mentors, and local partners who will teach sexual and reproductive health and rights. Girls will also be connected to local YTF-trained women entrepreneurs and online women entrepreneursparticularly those in the textile and garment-making industry for apprenticeships, internships, job shadowing, and mentorship.
YTF and its local- and state-level government, NGO, and corporate partners will create and implement this project. Participants will gain skills, education, and training that lead to higher education, more advanced employment skills, new career paths, and enhancements to entrepreneurial business skills. YTFs external evaluation results show that 96% of program participants go on to university within two years of graduating from YTF programs.
This program will be focused on four main pillars: 1) Education through training for in-demand 3D printing skills using human-centered innovation principles (problem-based approach) while integrating environmental considerations; 2) Employability through training that results in trade certification, employment-ready competencies and skills, and mentorship through employment in entrepreneurial settings; 3) Entrepreneurship through training in financial skills, business capabilities, leadership, and business development skills for employees, as well as global access to steady employment through online marketplaces (e.g., Amazon, Etsy, eBay, Jumia, etc.) ; and 4) Empowerment through training to increase personal agency through sexual and reproductive health and rights education, shape a personal voice through advocacy activities, and instill personal responsibility that results in control over income and decisions.
YTFs practices of local buy-in, participation, use of local management committees, and awareness-raising at the community level. These efforts will be critical to overcoming expected challenges, such as low enforcement of human trafficking and a cultural preference within families for sons over daughters for continued education.
Partnership Planning (Q3/Q4 2016, Q3 each year)
- Hold quarterly advisory council meetings
- Hold monthly working task force meetings
- Annually review partnerships and recruit new partnerships
Project Planning (Q4 2016, Q2/Q4 each year)
- Attain input from local management committees, schools, and other partners
- Conduct community-level awareness-raising activities with local management committees, parents and families, schools, village/community leadership, faith-based organizations, other civil society organizations, chambers of commerce, government agencies, and politicians.
- Collect participant baseline data including academic needs, digital literacy, sexual and reproductive health and rights awareness, and 2) community-level baseline data including educational levels, academic proficiency, rates of human trafficking; Develop evaluation tools
- Establish program schedule, activities, and curriculum
Outreach/Enrollment (Q4 2016, Q2/Q4 each year, ongoing)
- Collaborate with local social affairs offices, schools, Red Cross, and Anglican Diocese to identify and recruit girls for participation in the project
- Prepare and distribute outreach materials throughout each community and in schools
- Conduct ongoing community-level outreach to identify and recruit hard-to-reach girls
Program Implementation (Q1 2017, ongoing)
- Conduct participant pre-surveys, assessments
- Implement programming
- Showcase application and use of skills in various industry settings
- Incorporate onsite and virtual presentations by guest experts
- Conduct ongoing project sharing and showcasing
- Provide training in financial literacy, business capabilities, and entrepreneurship
- Establish online marketplace accounts
- Arrange apprenticeships through YTF and CGI partner business network
- Conduct family and community showcases
Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (Q1 2017, ongoing)
- Teach human trafficking laws and rules, identify responsible agencies
- Conduct training with public health nurses on sexual and reproductive health and rights
- Teach safe advocacy with potential sexual partners, spouses
- Teach self-expression and voice: blogs, artworks, music, etc.
- Teach self-protection communication, body language, and self-defense
Social Advocacy (Q1 2017, ongoing)
- Implement ongoing awareness-raising
- Train teachers on human trafficking by YTF-trained peer leaders
- Conduct scorecard analysis of government agencies
- Create awareness-raising materials, websites, and traveling exhibits
Volunteers (Q1 2017, ongoing)
- Identify and recruit volunteers and conduct training
- Provide guest speakers, video observation and job shadowing, coaching and mentoring
- Provide apprenticeships, internships
Assessment/Evaluation (Q1 2017, ongoing, Q4 2019)
- Conduct baseline, pre-post, sustained-point surveys
- Document participant before/during/after stories
- Report ongoing progress, make improvement recommendations
- Report to advisory council, CGI partners, task force
- Submit CGI annual progress report
- Write/submit end-of-project evaluation report
- Disseminate project results with stakeholders
Sustainability (Q3 2016, ongoing, post-project)
- Create/implement fundraising plan with CGI partners
- Conduct ongoing social media awareness, donation campaigns (goal: $500,000)
- Request corporate employee volunteer donations, matching gifts
- Arrange for and conduct traveling exhibits
- Expand project to 3-5 additional Nigerian states
Girls in Nigeria face formidable and growing obstacles to economic and social freedom, and many are destined for poverty. Nigeria has the highest out-of-school rate in the world, with estimates indicating 20% of school-aged youth, or 11.5 million children, are out of school (UNICEF). The country also has the poorest quality education in the world; Nigeria is rated 140/140 in the world for the quality of primary education (World Economic Forum). Even those who have the privilege of accessing education are rarely taught the necessary skills for employment; according to UNIDO, only 12.5% of university graduates are able to find gainful employment upon graduation.
Furthermore, human trafficking persists and is increasing by a rate of 48% annually, according to the Nigeria National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons. It is the third most common crime in Nigeria yet it often goes unnoticed by many Nigerians and most of the world. One relatively unknown phenomenon is that of baby factories, illegal maternities full of kidnapped young girls who are forcibly impregnated by hired men. Investigations show that girls are usually locked up in small inhospitable rooms, not allowed human contact, and subjected to all manner of forced labor, servitude, drugs, and threats, in addition to suffering sexual violence. Newborns are commodities sold to the highest bidder who either illegally adopts or resells them. After giving birth, girls are frequently re-impregnated (Daily Times Nigeria Editorial). Reportedly, at least 10 children are sold every day (Obaji, Nigerian Newslive).
Interventions such as awareness-raising campaigns and training in vocational skills, entrepreneurship, sexual and reproductive rights, self-image, and decision-making would help to provide freedom and hope for girls in Nigeria. At the same time, the local context is evolving to offer greater opportunity. Nigeria recently attained 100% wireless coverage and 92% of residents now own a cell phone, giving them access to the Internet for the first time. In addition, Nigerias Vision 20: 2020 economic and employment strategic plan seeks to address national environmental needs and ensuring that Nigerians are trained with in-demand engineering skills.
YTF is looking for funding opportunities through donation campaigns and grants in order to expand the program across Nigeria, fund the necessary equipment (ongoing and continuous need), provide investment capital for student-created inventions, and fund general operating expenses. In order to do so, YTF is looking for potential partners willing to participate in shared fundraising activities.
YTF also is searching for implementing partners to participate in awareness-raising campaigns on human trafficking and integrate sexual and reproductive health and rights education in the program. To implement the program and its content, YTF is looking for corporate employee volunteers, women experts in technology or engineering fields to provide presentations and to mentor participants, global experts to mentor secondary and university teachers on integrating technology into instruction, and attain online marketplace mentors to support participants in creating their own online shop.
Once implemented, YTF is looking for advocacy partners who can assist with advertising and publicity by posting YTF blogs on partner websites with donation language, include commitment activities in eblasts, newsletters, and websites, develop shared articles, conference/forum sessions, blogs, and, finally, conduct ongoing media campaigns.
YTF can offer expertise in technology and entrepreneurship training programs for youth and womens income generation purposes, teacher training on integrating technology in instruction, and 3D printing, innovation, and engineering skills.
In addition, YTF can share best practice information to potential partners on effective monitoring and evaluation strategies, provide ongoing collegial problem-solving, program development and leadership discussions, and can share capacity building and community involvement strategies. YTF can also share expertise on how 3D printing can revolutionize entrepreneurial endeavors, education, and income.
YTF can also support potential partners looking for collaborative in-country and regional assistance for conference-organization for youth and girls or those willing to conduct joint fundraising activities or use media and publicity to increase their visibility.
