A Ukrainian Evacuee Finds Inspiration in UNITAR Digital Reskilling Programme

“I was looking for inspiration”, says Viktoria, when she found out about the UNITAR programme “Bolstering Livelihoods: Digital Reskilling for Ukrainian Women Evacuees in Poland”. The programme was launched in October 2023 to train approximately 500 Ukrainian women evacuees in Poland in high-demand digital skills, with the ultimate goal of improving their livelihood potential. 

Viktoria has a technical education and some previous experience in the field and was impressed by the variety of courses offered. The programme participants had the option to choose from one of four tracks: data analytics, cybersecurity, geographic information systems (GIS) and digital graphics and web design. Viktoria decided to apply for the GIS sub-track, which was organized in partnership with the Japanese start-up company Eukarya. 

Viktoria was surprised by the breadth and depth of the programme. She could not imagine how, within such a short period of time, it was possible to teach people with little knowledge about the field and those who are just at the beginning of their path.

“The course turned out to be very in-depth and convinced me that with motivation and at will, it was possible to learn anything. Even though I was not a beginner, I discovered new products and upgraded existing knowledge, and saw how the industry is developing.”  - Viktoria Podvoiska, UNITAR training programme alumna (Ukraine)

After completing self-paced online training, over 40 outstanding participants were selected to participate in the final forum in Warsaw. The forum provided the opportunity for participants to showcase their skills and meet potential employers. Viktoria was among those selected for the forum and presented her final project, “Impact of geographic factors on the population resettlement network”.

Viktoria says that through the UNITAR programme, she was able to deepen her knowledge about ways to obtain new data, process it and present the results on maps using the QGIS software. While continuing to live and work in Poland, Viktoria keeps her hope of returning to Kyiv so she may apply the knowledge and skills she learned to rebuild her country.