Report By: Ishmael Barfi
ort By: The Minister of Communications and Digitalization, Mrs.Ursula Owusu-Ekuful has encouraged young girls to find Information, Communications, and Technology (ICT) solutions to everyday problems.
According to her, it is time to empower young girls to find solutions to everyday problems in society through the use of ICT to improve the well-being of Ghanaians.
She further indicated that Ghanaian young girls can contribute to the efforts of finding solutions to numerous challenges through the use of science and technology.
The Minister of Communications and Digitization, Mrs.Ursula Owusu-Ekuful made these remarks at the official launch of the Ms. Geek Ghana 2024 Competition, aimed at empowering young women in the field of ICT.
The Competition launched on Tuesday, June 18th, 2024 aligns with the objectives of SDG Goal 5, which aims to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
Communications Minister Ursula Owusu-Ekuful with 2019 Ms. Geek Ghana & Ms. Geek Africa 2023, Ms. Selassie
In addition, the Competition aims to alter the mindset of young girls about the adoption of ICT and provide them with digital skills.
The competition is open to females aged 13 to 21 years to submit a technology-driven solution targeting the fundamental difficulties encountered in Ghana and Africa as a whole.
Speaking of the importance of the Competition, the Communications and Digitization Minister explained, “It is not just boys who have ideas, young girls equally have ideas that can help us to address the contemporary challenges and problems around us through the use of ICT solutions, so we’re encouraging young girls aged between 13 and 21 to try and find solutions to some of the many problems that are around us”.
She further indicated that the objective of the Initiative is to bridge the digital gender divide by encouraging and empowering girls and young women to consider studies and careers in the growing field of ICTs, enabling both girls and technology companies to reap the benefits of greater female participation in the ICT ecosystem.
Therefore, the Ministry is dedicated to emphasizing the contributions that women make to the technology sector adding that, the Competition will provide young girls with a chance to demonstrate their abilities.
Furthermore, she noted that the Ministry of Communications and Digitization is putting in the effort to help change that mindset by providing opportunities for Ghanaian girls to show that it is not all about beauty but also about thinking ability, tenacity, and focus.
Ministry of Communications Launches Innovation Challenge for Young Girls, Scaling up ICT Skills & Coding Training
‘’The initiative has been scaled up since 2017 from a biannual celebration to a triennial celebration. Twelve Thousand nine Hundred and eighty-one (12,981) girls and one thousand two hundred (1,200) teachers have been trained. Forty Three (43) cyber labs have been built for various schools in various regions and 1776 computers given to deserving pupils and teachers. In terms of impact, beneficiaries have acquired new ICT skills, increased interest of girls in pursuing STEM programs, equip ICT teachers with new skills. Increased employable skills of beneficiaries at the tertiary level,’’ she added.
She believes that many more young girls have even more brilliant ideas, who when supported can win the competition in Ghana, and then go on to win international competitions as well.
“So we’ve launched it today so that we can add many of these innovative ideas they may be simple, but they can have far-reaching implications for all of us then we have companies in Ghana who are willing to support these ideas and scale it up and take it to market so that we can utilize it,”, she reiterated.
“And we’re hopeful that we will get even more brilliant ideas than or equally brilliant ideas like Selassie had, it can be in any field health, sanitation, e-commerce, any field at all, nursing, teaching, whatever. You never know what will be the winning. And so we encourage them to try their hands at it. And let’s see how far they can go,” the Minister urged.
Group picture of dignitaries at the Launch
The Minister for Communications and Digitization, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful further pledged the Ministry’s commitment to support them when seeking sponsorship from interested organizations and individuals as the competition aims to unearth much more talent among our young people
The Minister used the official launch of the Ms. Geek Ghana 2024 Competition to urge young girls not to stop learning, and dreaming and never stop pushing the boundaries.
“Don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it. It is possible, it is doable once you put your mind to it. So keep learning and keep improving. Take advantage of it and use it productively to develop solutions that have the potential to solve local problems and have global applications as well. You have to start from somewhere. And maybe this will be the launchpad for one of these young girls to take them to the global stage.
Source: www.thenewindependentonline.com
