At 19, Amal Lahham, a Syrian refugee, is a software engineer at a reputable information technology company in Jordan. Like many young graduates of the RebootKamp (RBK) “durable skills accelerator program,” she learned high-demand technical skills and landed a job in less than a year.
Coding bootcamps like RBK’s program in Jordan have emerged in numerous countries as a strategy that both provides jobs for young people and creates a work force better trained in the technical skills that employers in the digital sector need. (See a related article, “A ‘Coding School’ Seeks to Create New Opportunities in Morocco.”)
RebootKamp’s focus on refugees as part of its targeted population makes its work in Jordan especially important: The kingdom is home to more than three million Palestinian and Syrian refugees, according to Anera, a U.S.-based development organization that has partnered with RebootKamp to extend its training to young Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. (See two related articles, “Job Creation Efforts in the Middle East Hit a New Snag: Covid-19,” and “Helping Refugees Rebuild Their Lives in Host Countries.”)