The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) today announced that it is to sign a strategic partnership agreement with HP to work together on the HP “Graduate Entrepreneurship Training through IT” (GET-IT) programme in Africa. The programme will provide young unemployed people across Africa with ICT training to help them start their own businesses.
After the initial roll out in six African countries (Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, and Uganda), UNIDO and HP plan to expand this programme further throughout the African continent. Both partners are committed to providing essential entrepreneurship and IT skills for youth to help alleviate poverty and make a positive contribution to the Millennium Development Goals.
The GET-IT programme provides training to unemployed youth and graduates between the ages of 16 and 25. The purpose of the programme is to help potential entrepreneurs acquire IT skills and become better placed to create and run their own businesses. GET-IT training courses teach practical IT solutions for daily business challenges faced in areas such as finance, management, marketing and technology management. The programme was launched in 2007 in 18 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Through the partnership with UNIDO the programme will be further expanded to Africa with an initial focus on Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia, and Uganda. UNIDO will be collaborating with local non-governmental organisations to establish 10 GET-IT training centres over the coming months. Each organisation will receive the IT equipment needed for the training, in addition to curriculum material and professional guidance courses for trainers. The grants are worth ,000 (€25,866)(1) per organisation.
UNIDO Director-General, Mr. Kandeh K. Yumkella, commented on the partnership, “By providing IT technology, curricula and training for entrepreneurs, we aim to foster jobs and opportunities in Africa. HP and UNIDO will work together to promote innovative uses of ICTs that support entrepreneurship, help encourage economic development and create new business opportunities.”
He continued, “It is essential that UNIDO assists developing countries in Africa in educating their young generation in information technology and creating achievable prospects. Facing such a complex undertaking, UNIDO needed a partner who could share their vision as well as deliver the managed infrastructure, technology solutions and training expertise. For these reasons HP is the ideal partner for us.”
Ms. Gabi Zedlmayer, Vice President of Corporate Marketing and Global Citizenship, HP EMEA said, “HP believes that young people can play a greater role in micro-enterprise development, which is one of the best ways to create jobs. This training will offer them a taste of professional life, making the transition from education to business much easier.” She added, “We are delighted to have formed this partnership with UNIDO as our objectives around GET-IT are closely aligned with UNIDO´s mission to facilitate economic development in emerging markets.”
For more information on the GET-IT Programme please visit http://www.graduate-training-through-it.net/ 
UNIDO is a specialized agency of the United Nations system that works towards improving the quality of life of the world’s poor by helping countries achieve sustainable industrial development. UNIDO views industrial development as a means of creating employment and income to overcome poverty. It helps developing countries and economies in transition to produce goods they can trade on the global market. It also helps provide the tools – training, technology, and investment – to make them competitive. At the same time, it encourages production processes that will neither harm the environment nor place too heavy a burden on a country’s limited energy resources. UNIDO has 172 Member States and has its headquarters in Vienna, Austria. More information is available at www.unido.org .
HP focuses on simplifying technology experiences for all of its customers – from individual consumers to the largest businesses. With a portfolio that spans printing, personal computing, software, services and IT infrastructure, HP is among the world’s largest IT companies, with revenue totalling 7.7 billion for the four fiscal quarters ended Jan. 31, 2008. More information about HP (NYSE: HPQ) is available at www.hp.com.
(1)Based on currency exchange rates for the U.S. dollar and the euro on 6 May 2008.
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05/2008
