Niamey – In the weeks leading up to International Youth Day on August 12, IOM with its partner Terre Solidali, organized five different training sessions in the cities of Niamey, Zinder and Tahoua in Niger, for close to 250 migrants and community members, delivered by young entrepreneurs from IOM’s project “Initiatives for the Development of the Enterprise” (IDEE).

Between 6-7 August, at IOM’s transit center for migrant women in Niamey, local entrepreneur Rachidatou Abdou organized a two-day training on homemade skincare products for more than 40 young girls and women, as they waited for their return to their country of origin through the Assisted Voluntary Return and Reintegration (AVRR) programme, under the EU-IOM Joint Initiative for Migrant Protection and Reintegration.

Rachidatou, 29, decided to create her enterprise Foyer Annour Aicha in 2016 when she had a hard time finding a job in Niamey. Since she had always been passionate about cosmetics, Rachidatou opened a business selling homemade skincare products such as soaps, body lotions and perfumes.

Since becoming an IDEE beneficiary in January 2019, Rachidatou has not only improved the packaging of her products and her marketing skills, but has also delivered training sessions for women in Niger, Gabon, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Once back in their countries of origin, the women at the transit center can use their newly acquired skills as a starting point for an income-generating activity.

On Thursday (08/08) last week, at IOM’s transit center for unaccompanied minors and families in Niamey, local enterprise Digital Mind delivered a one-day training on textile printing for the more than 30 unaccompanied migrant children hosted at the center, with support from the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).

Digital Mind is a communication agency based in Niamey, and the product of three young entrepreneurs from Benin and Niger. After settling in Niger in 2016, Lisa and Ben decided to open Digital Mind to provide their future clients with high quality communication products.

Thanks to the IDEE project, they have been able to widen their client base and buy new printing machines. At the end of Thursday’s training, the migrants were able to print their own Youth Day t-shirts with a serigraphy machine, as a fun and creative way to end the day.

To refresh the children’s knowledge during summer holidays, on August 10, local enterprise Niger Digital delivered two training sessions on math and French for the 40 children enrolled in IOM’s summer art camp, in the neighborhood Karadjé, in the outskirts of Niamey.

Niger Digital is a start-up specializing in digital marketing, including the creation of websites and mobile applications, which focuses on current social issues and the development of IT tools that can respond to the needs and specificities of the local context.

The sessions were delivered using the newly developed and solar powered box School+. This innovative tool can be particularly useful in rural areas, where there is no electricity or internet connection to provide students with high quality interactive content. Thanks to the headsets provided by the enterprise, the children were also able to experience virtual reality for a few hours while learning about science, the human body and marine life.

Between 5-9 August, local start-up Sonete in Zinder organized a one-week training on photo and video editing for 26 young men and women with limited educational background. These newly acquired skills will help them obtain contracts in the local market, for events such as weddings or other celebrations.

In Tahoua, Sadit Technologie provided for three weeks training sessions on OfficeSuite for 100 young people active in local associations. “A lot of companies in the region require their employees to know Microsoft Word and Excel, but most young people in Tahoua are lacking these basic skills,” says, Ibrahim Maman Sani, founder of Sadit Technologie. “Through these trainings, the participants can not only gain valuable job skills, but also network and find new business opportunities.”

International Youth Day celebrated on August 12 coincides this year in Niger with the religious holiday Tabaski (Aïd-El-Kebir) and was therefore celebrated at IOM’s six transit centers across Niger with feasts, concerts, dance shows and debates.

“The five training sessions organized this month highlight this year’s theme for International Youth Day, Transforming Education,” said Barbara Rijks, IOM’s Chief of Mission in Niger. “Youth today are our leaders of tomorrow, and thus it’s crucial to encourage them to acquire news skills or showcase the ones they have already.”

For more information, please contact Monica Chiriac at IOM Niger at Tel: +227 8931 8764, Email: mchiriac@iom.int.