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Importance of girls in ICT

“Each time we introduce more women to the world of ICT, not only do we take one more step towards achieving gender equality, but we accelerate socio-economic development for all”.

The above are remark by Ibrahim Sanou, was made by the Director of Telecommunication Development of the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) during the observation of the International Day of Girls in ICT last year.

The day has become a global movement in which more girls and young women are learning about the wide range of opportunities ICT careers can offer.

Mr Sanou’s remark is a recognition of the potential of achieving gender equality if the governments make the right decisions including encouraging girls take up careers in ICT.

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It is for this reason that the Ghanaian Times believes that the government, through the Ministry of Communication is on the right path in rolling out the “Ms Geek Ghana” competition for girls.

The ministry launched the maiden ICT-driven competition to motivate young girls to consider careers in ICT to promote innovation in the country.

The competition is also aimed at inspiring more and more girls into Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), to enable them to meaningfully contribute towards national development.

The competition is targeted at young girls between ages 13-25 who are capable of suing technology to innovate to solve some of the challenges facing the country.

According to the Minister of Communications, Mrs Ursula Owusu Ekuful, the competition would serve as a platform to encourage and empower girls to consider careers in ICT to enable technological companies to reap the benefit of female participation in the sector.

We highly commend the ministry for creating the opportunity for girls and women to venture into an area seen as the preserve of men.

With the support from government and encouragement, we believe that the competition would not only create the platform for the girls but would empower them to consider studies and careers in the growing fields of ICT.

We are hopeful that as many girls as possible would grab the opportunity and participate in the competition that promises to be very challenging, fun and beneficial to the contestants.

The world of ICT today, can reduce youth unemployment and promote socio-economic development and for that to happen, more and more youth, especially girls, must be encouraged to take up careers in it.

We also believe that ICT should be taken to the lower levels of education so that we can increase the involvement of all young people, especially girls and young women in ICT.

We would like to encourage the public and the private sector as well as civil society to seize the momentum created by the Ministry of Communications to organise competitions that would help empower young girls and build their self confidence to know that they can achieve just as much as boys can within the technology fields.   

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