To mark International Girls in ICT Day, celebrated on Thursday 22 April 2021, the Ministry of Digital Affairs and Digitalisation held a webinar on the theme “Training young women for ICT careers for a bright future: what levers for action?”.
To mark International Girls in ICT Day, celebrated on Thursday 22 April 2021, the Ministry of Digital Affairs and Digitalisation held a webinar on the theme “Training young women for ICT careers for a bright future: what levers for action?”.
The webinar was led by a high-level panel of experts and professionals from the ICT sector: Aurelie ADAM SOULE ZOUMAROU, Minister of Digital Affairs and Digitalisation; Salwa TOKO, former President of the Conseil National du Numérique (France), founder of Becomtech; Rachael ORUMOR, Vice-President at African ICTF, Country mentor at Google Developer; Chérifatou ABDOULAYE, Head of the Research and Development Department at Sodson CORP; Adjaratou LAWANI, founder of Global Ala Consulting, motivational coach specialising in digital topics. For 90 minutes, these women with prestigious and inspiring careers shared their experiences in the ICT sector.
At the opening, Ms Aurelie ADAM SOULE ZOUMAROU, Minister of Digital Affairs and Digitalisation, reaffirmed the importance the Government attaches to the issue of girls in the ICT sector. She recalled the investments made in digital infrastructure, a source of opportunities for young Beninese in general and for young women in particular. The Minister also stressed the gender approach that characterises the actions of the digital sector. “We are working to ensure that 50% of the young people benefiting from the free digital skills training we organise at the Learning Lab of the Ministry of Digital Affairs and Digitalisation are women,” she said. The Bénin Digital Tour and the “Amazones du Digital” challenge are further initiatives led by the Ministry that give pride of place to girls and young women in the digital sector.
During this rich exchange, all the panellists agreed that today it is more important than ever for all components of society to work to increase girls' interest in the ICT sector, which is key to the far-reaching empowerment of women.