The MiDO Foundation launched an exciting programme called Cyber Power Girls with the objective to develop responsible, confident and resilient digital citizens who can navigate the online world safely and responsibly.
This 10-week programme, launched in Women’s Month, is exclusively reserved for female learners between age 16 and 20 years.
The MiDO Foundation is recruiting and enrolling learners from schools in the Boland, Winelands and Helderberg areas, and the anticipated 150 to 180 participants will be on board and ready to start the course.
“This programme not only creates valuable and essential technical skills to equip vulnerable girls to navigate the online world safely, it also creates an opportunity for girls who want to build a career and seek employment in the ICT sector,” said Michelle Swartland, programme co-ordinator for the Cyber Power Girls Programme.
The detrimental effect of cyberbullying demands effective solutions to equip girls with the much-needed skills to navigate cyber space and protect themselves from possible harm.
“We identified vulnerable girls in under-resourced communities as a huge risk, given the increasing cases of cyberbullying,” said Dale Simons, CEO of the MiDO Foundation.
“Our approach to reduce this risk is an ecosystem approach, where we place the problem in the centre, and invite collaborators and partners to help solve the problem.”
These partners include the Commonwealth Secretariat Africa Cyber Fellowship Programme, participating schools in the Boland, Winelands and Helderberg areas, the Western Cape Education Department, ROAR, KnowBe4 and MiDO Academy. These partners are responsible for implementing the training.
