The Minister of Communications and Information Technology Amr Talaat has attended the “Future of Women’s Empowerment in the Era of Digital Transformation” event, organized by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) under the theme “Sustainable Digital Opportunities.” This is within the framework of MCIT efforts to economically empower women using ICT, in parallel with the annual celebrations of Women’s History Month.
In his speech, the ICT Minister emphasized that MCIT strategy is based on empowering Egyptian citizens and building human capacity. He added that women have received great attention in the initiatives launched by MCIT to use ICT as a key pillar for development and obtaining job opportunities inside and outside Egypt by working as freelancers. These initiatives include Qodwa-Tech and Future Work is Digital (FWD) as well as Egypt Post’s initiatives.
Talaat indicated the percentage of women working in the ICT sector ranges from 30% to 40%. He expressed his aspiration to increase this percentage, on par with men.
The ICT Minister highlighted that women leaders in MCIT are more than 50%, as they have been chosen to take up positions for their efficiency at work. He pointed out that ICT provides women with mechanisms to work remotely to achieve a balance between meeting their aspirations and fulfilling their obligations toward their social and family responsibilities.
The ICT Minister highlighted MCIT efforts to expand the provision of strong information infrastructure to enable citizens, especially women, to benefit from ICT in obtaining distinguished job opportunities. Moreover, a project to deliver high-speed internet is being implemented in over one million homes within one year in villages of the first phase of the Decent Life initiative. Then, successive stages will be implemented to reach 3.5 million homes in all villages of the initiative.
Talaat paid tribute to Egyptian women, who are the mainstay of society and the backbone of the family. He noted that the event coincides with the local and global celebration of women during March.
Talaat explained that Egyptian Women’s Day reflects the significant role of women in society and their distinguished values of sacrifice and altruism. The occasion commemorates the participation of Egyptian women in the first women’s demonstration in the contemporary history of Egypt to participate with men in claiming the right of her family and homeland to independence, freedom and all national demands.
During the event, the Chairman of the Egyptian National Post Organization Sherif Farouk highlighted the areas of cooperation between Egypt Post and Qodwa-Tech initiative to empower Egyptian women economically by helping them market their products and provide shipping services at competitive prices inside and outside Egypt. He pointed out that Yalla Super App, launched by Egypt Post, contributes to facilitating the Egyptian women’s collection and payment transactions. He announced that Egypt Post is gifting women entrepreneurs of the Qodwa-Tech initiative with Yalla Card, with a discount on Wassalha service.
The Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) Alessandro Fracassetti delivered a speech in which he pointed to UNDP efforts in empowering women at the international level to achieve inclusive growth and social justice, in parallel with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The UNDP Resident Representative explained the importance of employing digital technologies to create a safe and supportive environment for women’s aspirations. This is the core of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He also noted that more than 3,500 women have benefited from the programs implemented in partnership with the Qodwa-Tech initiative.
The Head of the Central Department for Digital Community Development at MCIT Hoda Dahroug reviewed the tracks of the Qodwa-Tech initiative and its role in raising awareness of the opportunities for technological empowerment available to women. This is in addition to the opportunities offered by the initiative for technological empowerment in line with the needs of craftswomen, by providing awareness, training and building the digital capabilities of craftswomen to keep pace with Egypt’s efforts toward digital transformation.
The ICT Minister handed over certificates of recognition to several participants of Qodwa-Tech for 2021, as well as for the representatives of the initiative’s partners, in appreciation for their role in enhancing the productive capabilities, and digital and cognitive skills of Qodwa-Tech female beneficiaries—handicrafts and heritage crafts entrepreneurs.
The event included a graduation ceremony of the first batch of persons with disabilities (PwDs), who participated in the initiative. Furthermore, various distinguished models of women who participated in the Qodwa-Tech training shared their success stories.
The event included a session titled “Inspiring Stories from Women.” The session dealt with some inspiring experiences of women who achieved practical success.
Moreover, a panel discussion titled “Sustainable Digital Opportunities” was also held, with the participation of various representatives of authorities and institutions supporting women’s social and economic empowerment. The digital opportunities offered by their institutions were reviewed to encourage women to innovate and enhance their role in society responsibly and sustainably.
Moreover, a short documentary film was presented, reviewing examples of success stories highlighted by the initiative. The film also reviewed how the initiative contributes to increasing sustainable digital job opportunities in society, and the new opportunities and possibilities it provides to meet the digital needs of craftswomen.
The Deputy ICT Minister for Institutional Development Ghada Labib and various MCIT officials attended the event.
In 2019, MCIT launched the Qodwa-Tech initiative to empower women to invest in the creative energies of craftswomen and create an environment that helps them to further innovate and lead. The initiative offers technological training programs to build capacities, keep pace with digital needs and variables, promote digital inclusion for women and encourage them to make maximum use of the ICT tools and solutions so that they become role models for their peers in society.
The activities of the initiative are directed to women nationwide, as it implements a model to enhance and develop digital capabilities through several tracks, as well as the digital marketing training track, the e-business skills training track, through application to local and global business platforms. This is in addition to consultancy sessions and awareness campaigns on digital financial inclusion, online safety, principles of packaging, shipping, pricing and imaging, green marketing, and intellectual property.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Qodwa-Tech succeeded in responding to and overcoming all the resulted societal obstacles, educating and empowering nearly 4,000 beneficiaries through a rapid transformation in the form of providing training services to different categories of women, from the traditional form to the interactive form through distance learning techniques. Additionally, 25 digital marketing batches were graduated, which allowed the female beneficiaries to meet their needs to be present in the virtual labor market, consequently consolidating the concept and importance of digital transformation in their minds.
The courses reach a larger number of women in several areas through remote training in 25 governorates. The timing of the courses take into account the personal circumstances of female trainees. This is in addition to the instant online response to their inquiries and support during and after the courses through nearly 40 sessions that varied from technical, knowledge and other sessions with a sustainable development dimension.
