Dakar, Senegal (PANA) – The Senegalese Communication and Digital Economy Ministry will sensitise girls to take jobs in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector in a bid to contribute to equality between men and women and to the empowerment of girls and women in this field.
The initiative forms part of the celebration of the International Day of Girls in the ICT sector, to be marked on April 24, in Senegal, and the implementation of the national action plan from the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) regarding the principles of equality between men and women.
Its objective is to help young girls and boys aged 11 to 35 to get trained and be employed in the ICT sector.
According to the technical Counsellor of Communication and Digital Economy Minister, Mrs Bitilokho Ndiaye, it is important to sensitise girls to the option of scientific and technological careers because “the IT profession is regularly classified among the 20 best paid jobs together with that of surgeon, orthodontists, pilots and jurists”.
In the same vein, the General Secretary of ITU, Dr. Hamadou Touré, said studies show that girls prefer jobs in which they can get real results in sectors like health care, education or medicine.
The International Day of Girls in the ICT which is at its third edition, is placed under the themes of “interaction, demonstration and transmission of values”. Its slogan is ”Girl, chose ICT and secure your future.”
This year’s event will be marked by a two-day caravan that will attract women-engineers from the public sector, telecommunications and ICT enterprises, orientation centres and schools and universities in Dakar and its neighbourhood.
This will also be an occasion for the organisers to hunt for talents among girls and young women to strengthen their capacity in the ICT sector to enable them to contribute to the development of the digital economy and the creation of 3,000 jobs in Senegal in the next five years.
