Garissa Refugee Youth Get Digital Skills Training

Young people from refugee and host communities in Garissa are gaining practical digital skills for the digital economy, as Power Learn Project (PLP), the International Labour Organization (ILO), Microsoft and the Garissa County Government mark the rollout of a digital skills and employment programme at Garissa County Headquarters.

Supported by the Government of the Netherlands under the PROSPECTS Partnership, the programme targets 1,700 young people across Garissa and Turkana counties through a 25-week blended learning model combining digital and workplace skills with certification and career pathways into economic opportunity.

PROSPECTS, short for the Partnership for Improving Prospects for Forcibly Displaced Persons and Host Communities, is a multi-year initiative funded by the Government of the Netherlands. It brings together the ILO, UNICEF, UNHCR, the IFC, and the World Bank to expand education, skills training, economic inclusion, and protection for refugees, other forcibly displaced people, and the communities hosting them. Within the partnership, the ILO’s role centres on economic inclusion and decent work, linking these communities to market-driven skills training and pathways into employment, which is the piece funding and anchoring the Garissa rollout.

“I encourage all the young people who have successfully enrolled to the Power Learn Project to work hard and do their best so that they can become part of the digital economy. As a county, we recognise that the future of work is increasingly digital. Our young people must have access to the skills and opportunities needed to participate in that future. This program brings practical digital learning to our communities while creating pathways that can translate skills into employment, entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihoods. We are honored to partner with the ILO, Power Learn Project and Microsoft in ensuring that both refugee and host community youth in Garissa are not left behind in Kenya’s digital transformation,” said H.E. Nathif Jama Adam, Governor, Garissa County.

 Power Learn Project is leading that shift from learning to livelihoods, backing learners with career readiness, employer engagement and ecosystem linkages that open pathways into employment, entrepreneurship and remote work.

“Talent is universal; access to opportunity is not. Our work with the ILO and Microsoft in Garissa is about correcting that imbalance by building the skills, infrastructure and pathways that allow young people, regardless of geography or circumstance, to compete, create and earn in the global digital economy. That is what meaningful digital inclusion must ultimately deliver: not simply access to technology, but access to economic agency,” said Mumbi Ndung’u, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Power Learn Project Africa

Learners are progressing through foundational and advanced pathways, specialising in cloud computing, artificial intelligence and data analytics. Microsoft is providing up to 1,000 globally recognised certification vouchers for graduates across the programme, covering credentials including Azure Fundamentals, Azure AI Fundamentals, Power BI Data Analyst and Microsoft 365 Fundamentals.

This programme has already enrolled over 700 learners, drawn from over to 1000 applications received from Garissa – with women making up 35 per cent of the applicants. Sixteen of the programme’s 37 partnered digital hubs across Garissa and Turkana are already onboarded and delivering training.

The Garissa rollout builds on the programme’s launch in Kakuma, Turkana County, in June 2026, extending market-relevant digital skills, recognised certification and pathways to economic participation across Kenya’s refugee-hosting communities, reflecting the ILO’s broader focus on inclusive, decent work in a digitalising labour market.

“Digital transformation is reshaping labour markets faster than policy can keep pace. For refugee-hosting communities, the risk isn’t being left behind, it’s being excluded altogether from the opportunities now defining economic participation. Investing in market-relevant, internationally recognised digital skills for these communities is sound labour market policy, and a commitment that no one is shut out of the opportunities that digital transformation creates, “ concluded Caroline Njuki, Chief Technical Advisor, ILO Kenya

As implementation continues across Garissa and Turkana, government, development and private-sector partners remain focused on one shared objective: turning digital skills into tangible economic opportunities for the young people they serve.