PCF10 Sub-theme: Fostering Lifelong Learning // The barriers to the gainful employment of youth and girls are many and amongst many others includes the lack of employable skills, business and life skills commonly known as soft skills. The stiff competition in both the employment market and business world leaves them reliant on social networks and those without such networks face an uphill struggle to find gainful employment and lucrative businesses. Many youths were forced to seek skills that would enable them to earn using technology such as coding, web and app development among others during the Covid19 lockdown. With these skills youths can play a big role not only in ecommerce but in sectors such as service sector, Manufacturing, ICT-based Services, Tourism, Transport, and Agriculture and take advantage of opportunities due to the speed at which the country is undertaking large infrastructure developments. // The current skilling programs have helped girls stay in school, gain interest in mathematics and science subjects as well as gaining other skills such as critical thinking, creativity, typing and writing skills, and has helped the youths who have so far participated to reach their full potential with some of them able to write outstanding CVs, excel in job interviews and secure parttime and full jobs. // For the youth who lack minimum qualifications to join universities other programs should be introduced to enable them to learn relevant skills as they search for the certifications required to join institutions of higher education as a way of encouraging them not to give up on searching for knowledge. These programs need to be marketed through multichannel marketing methods such as social media, on-air marketing, email marketing and scaled up to reach out to millions of youths in all universities, high school students and those out of school in Uganda and in the East African region. Since these skills are not acquired through one off training there’s need to ensure continuous learning for students with newer topics and technologies that are sort out for by employers and customers through practical and interactive training sessions with trainees’ progress being assessed and monitored on a day-to-day and weekly basis by the instructors and their learning level should be individually evaluated at the end of each training. // Paper ID 2435