Online bootcamp

ILO hosts bootcamp to support the Domestic Worker Center, winner of the 1st Skills Challenge Innovation Call

A five-day online bootcamp was organized from 16 to 20 November 2020 in collaboration with ILOITC.

The ILO launched the 1st ILO Skills Challenge Innovation Call on January 29th with the topic: “Finding solutions to skills mismatch”. 473 participants from 96 different countries submitted proposals on a wide variety of solutions. The Call was won by the Domestic Worker Centre, an initiative of the Domestic Workers Association of Zimbabwe, for a proposal to provide specialised training in required set of skills for domestic skills to improve their employability. This proposal will become now a reality.

Mendy Lerato Lusaba, Founder, Domestic Workers Association of Zimbabwe
A Skills Innovation Lab has been set up to accompany the Domestic Workers Association of Zimbabwe through its innovation journey. As part of the Lab’s activities, an online bootcamp took place from 16 to 20 November to provide technical advice, coaching and mentorship to empower the DWAZ to further refine its idea and implement its project. The bootcamp was conducted in collaboration with ITC-ILO and benefitted from the participation and contributions of experts in skills development and domestic workers, as well as ILO Constituents, other UN agencies, research institutions, academic and implementing partners, local partners and potential beneficiaries.

1st ILO Skills Innovation bootcamp
Over 25 participants came together for the first day of the Skills Innovation Bootcamp. Srinivas Reddy, Chief of ILO Skills and Employability Branch, partook the first and last day of the bootcamp to deliver his words and vision for ILO innovation strategy. Tom Wambeke, ITCILO Chief Learning Innovation, played a key role in the design and facilitation of the bootcamp.

On the first day of the bootcamp, participants were invited to redefine the Domestic Workers Center’s design challenge, map potential stakeholders involved in the project, and generate additional insights to integrate into the original project’s mind map.

The objective of the Skills Innovation Facility is to provide opportunities for people anywhere in the world to be able to propose and develop ideas that contribute to skills development. This project started as an experiment but we were very thrilled that our first Skills Challenge Innovation Call attracted 473 applications from practically all parts of the world.
Now, we are in the mid-way of the process and this bootcamp is a very important step because it will support the winning idea, proposed by DWAZ, to become an innovative model that is replicated in many parts of the world."

Srinivas Reddy, Chief of Skills Branch

    The second day of the bootcamp started with reflections, teamwork and honest exchanges. Participants finalized the mind map and stakeholders map drafted in the first day of the bootcamp and generated an empathy map for key stakeholders to get deeper insights into the entire project.

    The third day of the bootcamp further reinvigorated the creative and collaborative energy amongst participants. The session focused on two topics: accessibility and digital inclusion, introduced by Professor Tim Unwin, UNESCO Chair in ICT4D, and networks and partnerships, presented by Alice Vozza, project manager at ILO Harare.

    Miro

    On the fourth day of the bootcamp, Lewis Durango, TVET Consultant and Paul Comyn, ILO Senior Skills Specialist, provided key insights and practical suggestions for the development of a training curriculum for domestic workers.

    The final day of the bootcamp wrapped up a week of dynamic discussions and inspiring insights. Claire Hobden, ILO Domestic Work Specialist, shared some innovative entry points on behavioural insights. Moreover, participants contributed to construct a project roadmap for the implementation of the Domestic Worker Center.

    Everybody invited to the bootcamp had something important to contribute. I am so grateful that so many people took time out of their busy schedules to be able to come and join our bootcamp. I feel supported and I am really greateful. They really assisted us in taking our project from a vision to reality."

    Mendy Lerato Lusaba

    The online bootcamp is just one of the building blocks of the Skills Innovation Lab. Spin-off groups and bilateral sessions will be organized after the bootcamp for specific topics, such as curriculum development, design of an online training platform for domestic workers, care economy, etc.