Rinchi
TechInAfrica – The Girls in ICT Day celebrated on April 25 worldwide. As a part of its support for women empowerment in ICT, Huawei South Africa initiates some projects to encourage young girls to contribute to the telecoms-engineering space.
“We have set a quota for 50 percent female intake in three of our key youth intake/training programs. Our bursary programme, our graduate programme and our Seeds for the Future study trip to China will all benefit from the greater representation of women and girls,” said Christina Naidoo, Huawei SA’s COO.
Naidoo added, “While our current projects support students at tertiary level, we are planning a bring-a-girl-child-to-work project, where we will invite girls from high schools around our businesses to visit our campus to view our latest technologies and hopefully inspire more women to join the sector.”
The International Girls in ICT Day is a United Nations initiative celebrated every 25 April. It aims at empowering girls and women to take a career in the ICT sector which is the growing field.
Huawei supports girls and women empowerment in the ICT field through the Huawei Graduate Program. Some woman graduates have emerged from the program and equipped with skills in ICT. The program is designed to widen and deepen skills among young professionals in the ICT industry.
Kutloano Dipela and Marguerite Strydom are two young women who distinguished themselves on the program.
“We were really impressed with the commitment shown by Kutloano and Marguerite. They helped to demonstrate Huawei’s belief that women have so much more to contribute to ICT. All they need is better opportunities. One can only imagine what they will achieve for our company and our industry as their careers evolve,” said Naidoo talking about Kutloano and Marguerite’s involvement on the Huawei’s program
ICT is a sector where women can make a significant contribution to human development. It improves the quality of life and plays a role as a business, school, and government enabler.
Despite the positive impacts the ICT brings, there is still room for improvement, especially in gender representation in the industry. However, this will change soon as many initiatives emerge to support women empowerment in the sector.
Source: itnewsafrica.com
