UNIMA Empowers Young Women with Digital Design Skills

As technology continues to advance, the digital world is creating countless opportunities for people to earn a living. Yet, despite the rising number of digital tools available, many young people, especially young women, have limited access to training that would equip them with essential digital skills.

It is against this background that the Department of Computer Science at the University of Malawi (UNIMA) launched a two-day digital skills training on 28^th and 29^th November, 2025   aimed at empowering young women with practical technological abilities that can help them generate income and thrive in an increasingly digital world.

The training, was conducted under the Inclusive Digital Transformation for Malawi (IDT4M) initiative, with support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The bootcamp focused on building competence in Canva, a widely used digital design tool.

Speaking during the opening session, Dr Chipo Kanjo, who also serves as the IDT4M Coordinator at UNIMA, emphasised the importance of equipping young people, especially young women, with digital skills.

She noted that ICT programmes often attract more male participants, which creates a gender gap in technology fields.

As such, the department designed this specific training to encourage and provide opportunities for female students to acquire digital skills.

“We have different digital skills programmes targeting students, staff, and surrounding communities. Some of these are specifically tailored for girls because statistics show that ICT trainings tend to be dominated by boys,” she said.

Associate Professor Kanjo added that the department hopes the participants will share the knowledge with others, helping to transfer digital skills more widely across the community.

“This bootcamp gives young women a chance to build skillsnot only for personal use, but also to earn somemoney through freelance jobs such as designing cards or flyers, especially during holidays,” Kanjo said.

The bootcamp attracted over 100 female students from various study programmes across the university, signalling strong interest in acquiring marketable digital skills.

One of the participants, Alinafe Vinyo, a second-year Bachelor of Arts in Film Production student, expressed her excitement about the programme, saying she will use the knowledge acquired to design various graphic elements which can earn her some money.

“When I heard about this training, I was eager to join,” she said. “My plan is to keep practicing and improving my skills. After graduation, it is not guaranteed that we will find employment right away, but these skills can enable us to create opportunities for ourselves. We can even open businesses, collaborating with our fellow male students.”

Through this initiative, UNIMA’s Computer Science Department continues to champion digital inclusion by ensuring that young women, who are often left behind in ICT fields, gain the skills they need to participate meaningfully in the digital economy having conducted similar trainings both within UNIMA and in surrounding communities as part of its commitment to narrowing the digital divide.