Power Learn Project Links Refugee and Host-Community Youth to Tech Skills

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.

“I encourage all the young people who have successfully enrolled to the Power Learn Project to work hard and do their best so they can become part of the digital economy,” said Mr Nathif Jama Adam, the Governor of Garissa County. “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.”

Mr Adam said this programme brings practical digital learning to local communities while creating pathways that can translate skills into employment, entrepreneurship and sustainable livelihoods. “We are honoured 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,” he said.

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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,” said Mumbi Ndung’u, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Power Learn Project Africa. “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.”

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 1,000 applications received from Garissa – with women making up 35% 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.

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