Dakar, Senegal, May 13, 2022 - The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), in collaboration with the Government of Senegal and UN-Women, is organizing its 4th African girls coding camp from May 13-15 in Dakar, Senegal.
Approximately 100 Senegalese girls aged 12 to 25 are participating in person in this camp in Dakar.
This training, which is part of the ECA initiative called "Coding Camp for Young African Women Connected", aims to promote access to ICTs for these girls, to provide them with a good basis for achieving long-term success in their employment, business creation, or further education, and to build important partnerships.
In his speech at the launch of this Coding Camp, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Telecommunications of Senegal, Mr. Isaac Sissoko, representing the Minister, said that his department is "committed to working with ECA so that this initiative can flourish”.
The Secretary-General of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Telecommunications of Senegal also urged the girls participating in this training "to make this virtual environment a beneficial environment" for their professional development.
For his part, the Director of Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resources of ECA, Jean-Paul Adam said that since the launch of this initiative in 2019, "ECA has already trained 15,000 girls across the continent”.
"These girls have created 178 innovative projects and 40 of these projects have been recognized as contributing to the resolution of socio-economic problems of our continent," added Jean-Paul Adam.
The Director of the Sub-Regional Office for West Africa, Ngone Diop, said that the "current situation requires us to accelerate our efforts towards the acquisition of knowledge in the digital field by young people”.
This Coding Camp for Senegalese girls covers technical areas such as Animation, Gaming and Web Development, Robotics and the Internet of Things, and 3D Printing.
It also includes generic cognitive processes such as project development, design thinking, and the role of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM).
For more information, please contact: Tahirou Gouro, Communication Officer, CEA- BSR/AO Email: gouro2@un.org,