UBA Foundation, the corporate social responsibility arm of United Bank for Africa Plc, joined the rest of the world to celebrate women in March, with various activities aimed at empowering young women and promoting gender equality.
Specifically, the foundation organised a two-day empowerment programme tagged ‘Women Digital Workshop, where scores of young women were trained by professionals on various tech skills at the UBA Academy in UBA House on the 24th and 25th.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the UBA Foundation, Bola Atta, who addressed participants at the beginning of the workshop, emphasised the bank’s commitment to upholding the pillars of the foundation, which are education, environment, and economic empowerment.
She said, “At UBA, we understand the need to give back to everyone, especially young women in African communities, towards catalysing sustainable socio-economic development, and we are totally committed to women’s empowerment as we continue to champion women’s causes in our business and through our work.”
Atta noted that as the world becomes increasingly global, the UBA Foundation aims to ensure that females are given the opportunity to be properly trained and acquire the necessary skills that allow them to effectively train others.
Continuing, Atta said, “One of the things we are keen on is to touch lives, especially those who do not have, and this is what we have tried to do with this free workshop that we have organised to give these women the opportunity to acquire skills that they can later share with others so that they can continue to enjoy the natural progression of growth. I am glad that you all are keen to come for this workshop to commemorate Women’s Month.”
She added that, bearing in mind the importance of training and retraining, which has become even more crucial as the world becomes a global village, the facilitators for the various courses at the workshop have been carefully selected to ensure that they impact the much-needed knowledge of the participants.
The workshop included breakout sessions where participants were trained on their preferred courses, including phoneography, video editing, Microsoft Excel, content creation, and graphic design using Canva.
The facilitators included data and HR analyst Eniola Ogunoma, who taught participants Microsoft Excel; creative designer Omololu Oluwatoyosi took the training on graphic design using Canva; photographer and videographer Edward Eniang taught participants all about phoneography and video editing; and digital media specialist Omotoyosi Jaiyesimi trained participants on content creation.
The students were also given the opportunity to practice most of what they learned, and they all agreed that it was a rewarding experience for them.
One of the participants, Kaosara Ayanda, who was full of praise for the UBA Foundation for the free training, said the workshop was very timely and had helped her learn the basic skills of Microsoft Excel, which she will use to further strengthen her business.
Adaobi Okonkwo, who learned graphic design using Canva, said it had always been her passion to learn the course, and she intended to build on this knowledge to start her own outfit. She took time to appreciate UBA and the UBA Foundation for the opportunity.
The UBA Foundation, the CSR arm of the UBA Group, is committed to the socio-economic betterment of the communities in which the bank operates, focusing on development in the areas of education, the environment, economic empowerment, and other special projects.