UNIDO, HP launch new training centres in Africa and Middle East to expand the GET-IT education programme

The new centres, part of the HP Graduate Entrepreneurship Training through IT programme (GET-IT), will operate in Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.

The total number of GET-IT centres will now reach 33 in ten countries in Africa and the Middle East.

The GET-IT programme provides training to unemployed youth and graduates between the ages of 16 and 25, and helps potential entrepreneurs acquire IT skills with the aim of becoming better placed to create and run their own businesses. GET-IT courses teach practical IT solutions for daily business challenges in areas such as finance, management, marketing and technology management.

"The UNIDO-HP partnership aims at addressing the high level of unemployment among young people in developing countries by integrating them into the labour market through successful entrepreneurship,"

said Kandeh K. Yumkella, UNIDO Director-General.

"HP and UNIDO have been working together to provide IT technology and training to promote innovative uses of information and communication technologies to support entrepreneurship, help encourage economic development and create new business opportunities. It is essential to keep expanding this initiative to reach as many communities as possible and to continue assisting countries in Africa and the Middle East in educating their young generation in IT," he added.

John Hoonhout, Managing Director for HP Middle East, added:

"HP believes that entrepreneurship is vital for the economy and that young people can play a major role in creating their own businesses and their own jobs. The GET-IT training courses combine entrepreneurship education with practical hands-on experience in using IT to enhance young people's professional skills."

Through its extensive field office network in Africa and the Middle East, UNIDO identifies non-profit organizations who are eligible to become GET-IT partners and monitors the activities of these partners to ensure the sustainability of the GET-IT programme.

GET-IT is part of HP's social investment strategy aimed at innovating teaching and learning to help young entrepreneurs in achieving success in their future careers. The programme provides IT equipment, a cash donation, training as well as training of trainers for the respective local partner organizations.

HP and its partners have now rolled out the GET-IT programme in nearly 100 centres in 30 countries in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, reaching out to more than 43,000 people through online and offline training courses.

HP and its partners plan to grow GET-IT even further to reach over 500,000 young people by 2010. Those who do not live close to a GET-IT training centre will be able to access some of the courses online. HP and its partner MEA-I have created a web portal where any young entrepreneur in EMEA can log on for training and advice.

To maximize the impact of their youth entrepreneurship programmes, UNIDO and HP will establish linkages between GET-IT and UNIDO's Entrepreneurship Curriculum Programme and the Enterprise Development and Investment Promotion Programme. These new linkages will help to increase the scope of the GET-IT programme.

The following institutions are benefiting from the UNIDO - HP partnership in 2009:

• Nahdet El Mahrousa, Cairo, Egypt
• The Suzanne Mubarak Women's International Peace Movement, Cairo, Egypt
• Business Enterprise Support Tools Foundation, Giza, Egypt
• General Federation of NGOs and Foundations (GFNF), Cairo, Egypt
• Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
• Dubai Women's College, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Entrepreneur Business Village, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, Saudi Arabia
• Institut de Formation Professionnelle (IFP), Algiers, Algeria
• Institut National Spécialisé de Formation Professionnelle (INSFP), Algiers, Algeria
• PlaNet Finance, Casablanca, Morocco
• Youth Agenda Consortium (YAC), Eldoret, Kenya
• Tears Group Kenya, Nakuru, Kenya
• ALTAAWON Trust, Nairobi, Kenya
• Africa Leadership Forum, Ota, Nigeria
• University of Uyo, Uyo, Nigeria
• School Leavers Opportunity Training (SLOT), Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
• Umsobomvu Youth Fund, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.