Italy, led by the UN Refugee Agency and the Accenture Foundation, has developed "ReadyForIT: Labour Pathways for Refugees," a pilot program to train refugees.

A new project to integrate African refugees into the local IT employment market in Italy has been established, with help from the International Trade Centre (ITC).

Italy, led by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Accenture Foundation, has developed "ReadyForIT: Labour Pathways for Refugees," a pilot program that recognises the importance of training and work in restoring dignity and confidence to individuals who have had to leave everything behind.

Refugees with professional skills can enter Italy with a valid work visa under the Work Corridors for Refugees program.

However, the new pilot ReadyForIT project will help the unskilled, the first 25 refugees from diverse sub-Saharan countries who are currently being accommodated in Uganda.

They have been selected to participate in online training that enables them to acquire software programming skills through Java and SQL, and to learn Italian.

After passing a final test, they will safely and formally migrate to Italy with a work contract in the IT sector to work for companies such as Accenture, Aubay, Btinkeeng, Gruppo SCAI, OverIT, Reale ITES and Valuetech.

According to the UNHCR, to date, more than 120 million people worldwide have been forced to leave their homes due to conflict, persecution and human rights violations.

Very often, in the first host country, refugees do not find the opportunities to rebuild their lives with dignity.

This initiative, UNHCR said, recognises the value of training and work as essential tools to restore dignity and confidence to those forced to flee their homes.

Through the Work Corridors for Refugees, refugees’ skills potential is matched with the need for workers in Italian companies, generating mutual benefit, said the UN agency.

The ITC identified the local partner in Uganda, Refactory, to prepare the candidates for their technical interviews with employers and complemented their IT training delivered by DevelHope with onsite tech coaching and in person training on Java.

The Refactory is an academy focusing on reskilling African tech talent.