Cyber Girls Fellowship launches in Nigeria
CyberSafe Foundation has launched a fellowship programme called CyberGirls. The one-year fellowship programme will equip girls between the ages of 15 and 21 with globally sought-after cybersecurity skills, positioning them to start a career in cybersecurity and seize work opportunities within Nigeria and across the world.
During the one-year fellowship, beneficiaries will be progressively exposed to training in digital literacy, cybersecurity fundamentals, soft skills and career specific paths in cybersecurity, etc. Career specific paths will include Networking, Cyber and IT Security Audit, Incident Analysis/Response, Penetration/Vulnerability Testing, Security Intelligence, Web Application Testing and Cloud security. CyberGirls fellows will also enjoy hands-on training experience, mentorship from female cybersecurity professionals, as well as internship opportunities and entry level job placements during the last three months of the fellowship.
Confidence Staveley, Founder/Executive Director of CyberSafe Foundation, urges Nigerians in the public and private sectors as well as other Non- Governmental Organisations to collaborate and provide in-kind and in-cash support needed to ensure these girls have all they need to achieve the task ahead. She is also inviting prospective employers to support this initiative and signup as job placement partners for the purpose of providing paid internship or job placements for CyberGirls Fellows upon graduation from the fellowship.
“We are calling on individuals and organisations across all sectors to partner with us on this great initiative that aims at improving the socio-economic well-being of girls living in underserved communities in Nigeria. Investing in these girls and empowering them with globally sought-after cybersecurity skills will lift them and their families from poverty, contribute to combatting cybercrime, address gender disparity and skills gaps in cybersecurity and fight youth unemployment/underemployment," Staveley says.
“To enable us to actualise this project, your in-kind support and partnership will go a long way in changing the lives of our beneficiaries and their families for years to come," she adds.
The fellowship officially launched this week with 120 girls living in underserved communities across Nigeria given places.
