International Girls in ICT Day has been celebrated in Mogadishu with the launch on an initiative to create gender parity in Somalia’s ICT industry
The event, which welcomed policy makers, academia and the business sector, highlighted the challenges faced by girls in ICT.
Abdulkadir Mohamed, Fursad .so manager, shared some interesting findings on a survey they conducted on the share of women in total number of graduates in ICT. He revealed out of the 1,233 ICT graduates in 2017 from 23 universities across Puntland, GalMudug, SouthWest, Benadir, Jubbaland and HirShabelle only nine per cent were female.
Safiya Abshir who undertook a computer science degree three years ago said the challenges women graduates face in the ICT sector are more than other sectors in Somalia. According to her, lack of ICT labs and internships; and disconnection between the courses offered at universities and the skills needed in the local market, make their education irrelevant.
The minister said he believes that young girls are incredible innovators who can come up with solutions to many of the issues Somalia is faced with if they are provided with the right support. He said, “as charity begins at home, we will start from our Ministry, but we will also partner with other institutions, such as the academia and the private sector, including telecoms, to address these challenges at a national level.”
“We can teach girls and women to love technology and use it for their life, such ash health, education, finance, etc and encourage them to pursue ICT as a suitable career. Together we can empower the next generation of women to thrive in ICT,” he concluded.
