500 Women in Tech - Ukrainian Women Joined the Project

IDP women from Ukraine also took part in the "500 Women in Tech" project of the University of Business and Technology and in the employment forum.

Ukrainian women who came to Georgia because of the war are studying digital marketing and digital product testing with full funding within the project. They also participated in the Employment Forum, which is part of the project and was conducted by BTU together with UN Women.

As the rector of the University of Business and Technology Nino Enukidze explains, at this stage, about 60 Ukrainian beneficiaries are being retrained.

"During the project, the war started and Ukrainians had to flee to Georgia. That is why we have created an additional group at the initiative of the UN in the ongoing process of the project. They are women who had a profession and a successful life in their homeland but had to leave their place of residence and work because of the war.

Now they are being retrained and I am sure they will be successfully employed. They are in Georgia temporarily, but the charm of technology is that the knowledge we give them will be used even after returning to their homeland or anywhere in the world. In the second stage of the project, the number of Ukrainian beneficiaries will also increase," said Nino Enukidze.

For the Ukrainian beneficiaries, participation in the project turned out to be a new opportunity to be able to get a job and become economically stronger even during the war and being displaced to another country. One of them is Olena Pikstirova, who notes that the project was an opportunity for them to start a new life.

"Today there are many Ukrainian women here who worked in their homeland, had a favorite job, a family, and lived a peaceful life. We planned, set a goal and achieved this goal, but at one point everything changed radically. Everything we planned stopped making sense in 1 minute. Now we have to start life again. Being an IDP away from home, relatives, and friends is not easy. Most of us found it difficult to find a job in the field we worked in Ukraine. We do not ask for mercy and compassion because we are not weak. We want to work and feel needed. That is why BTU courses are a very important opportunity to start a new life. We were given the opportunity to choose and study an interesting field for us. Classes are conducted by experienced teachers who provide us with theoretical and practical knowledge," said Olena Pikstirova.

The employment forum, in which Ukrainians participated, is part of the "500 Women in Tech" project, and 50 companies operating in the local and international markets took part in it. The representatives of the private sector introduced various vacancies and employment opportunities in the local and global market to women interested in the field of technology.

The project "500 Women in Tech" serves to increase the involvement of women in the field of technology. It is part of the women's economic empowerment component of the project "Good Governance for Gender Equality in Georgia", which is implemented by UN Women with the support of the Norwegian government.