Event Information

Bilan Codes

4/20/2018

Arab states, Somalia, KM4, Mogadishu, Somalia

11 participants

Bilan Codes trained young Somali girls to commemorate Girls In ICT Day 

On April 26, 2018 marks Girls in ICT Day which is celebrated annually to encourage young girl to consider a career path in technology sector. More than 166 counties are celebrated every year and more than 300,000 girls and women have taken part worldwide events that took place every year in technology. To commemorate that international Telecommunication Union’s Girls in ICT Day, Bilan Codes has organized and facilitated five days long parallel training from 21st to 26th of April on mobile application development and graphic designing for 11 young Somali girls in Mogadishu.

The main objective of the training was to support global girls in ICT movement and help Somali girls code and program. The ongoing advances in ICTs effectively make digital literacy a prerequisite for employment and entrepreneurship opportunities and are leading to a projected shortage of at least 2 million ICT employees worldwide by 2020. Bilan Codes is striving for gender parity in both ICT and technology.

During the training sessions, young girls were divided into groups and each group was assigned for a special trainer that helps them convert their ideas into a reality. Finally, two successful mobile apps were created:

  1. Application 1: Sustainable Development Goals in Somali language

Young girls chose to translate the SDGs in Somali and then they developed a SDGs mobile application in Somali language. This application will be available in Play Store very soon and when it is available we will communicate promptly. The main reason why Bilan Codes and its students chose the development of this app is that public awareness on Sustainable Development Goals is needed by Somali youth. In Somalia, especially Mogadishu and its surrounding areas SDGs is unfamiliar topic. This application will make possible for young Somalis understand the learn more about SDGs in a simple and understandable language.

  1. Application 2: Learn Somalia's regions and districts

This app ‘Learn the country’s regions’ is for Somali young kids living in abroad who have no idea about the districts and regions of the country - Somalia. This App will the help them attach their hearts to back home. Like the other app, this application will appear on Play Store in the coming days!

Coming back to the closing ceremony of the two hands-on training that Bilan Codes coincided with Girls in ICT Day, both mobile app development and graphic design teams showcased their works and projects on stage and shared their experiences while they were in the training sessions.

#GirlsCanCode #SomaliGirlsCode #GenderParity #GenderEquality #BilanCodes