2024 Theme: Leadership
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) launched the Girls-In-ICT project in 2012 to foster a global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to pursue education and jobs in the rapidly increasing field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
Since 2017, the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, led by Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, the Minister (MP, Ablekuma West constituency), has used the initiative as a platform to provide girls aged 9 to 15 (Upper Primary to Junior High School) with knowledge and skills in basic ICT and coding.
Ghana adopted the Girls-in-ICT Initiative in 2012 on a regional basis to support the education of women and girls in ICT in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 4 and 5 aimed at achieving quality education and gender equality and empowering all women and girls through ICTs. The initiative was tailored to enhance digital skills, influence career choices and choices of STEM-related courses, and develop critical thinking and research skills.
The initiative is executed with support from the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC) as the technical resource provider, and training is provided by the Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence (KACE). The program is additionally supported by MTN Ghana, National Communications Authority (NCA), American Towers Company (ATC), Ministry of Education, GIZ and various other entities.
In 2021, the number of girls to be trained was increased to one thousand (1,000), and two thousand (2,000) young girls benefitted in that year. Again, to further expose more girls, in 2022, the Ministry celebrated the initiative in three (3) regions, where three thousand (3,000) girls were trained.
Selected girls from the participating region receive five days of training in basic ICT skills and coding. During this time, they create websites, computer games, and animated stories using Scratch to further their exploration of technology.
The program includes the following components:
- Training 100 teachers from the selected region.
- Training 1,000 girls in basic ICT skills from all districts in the region.
- A mentoring session where female ICT professionals share their personal and professional experiences to inspire and guide the girls in their future professions.
- A climax event involving the following:
- Distribution of 100 laptops to the best 100 girls
- Certificate of participation to all 1000 girls trained
- Presentation of awards to the 3 best performing girls
- Remarks from coaches and mentors
- A Speech by the Honourable Minister
- An open-day initiative in which the best performing 100 girls from the program’s chosen region are transported to Accra for a week to visit the headquarters of some Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), ICT companies and selected MoCD agencies to network with women in the technology sector in particular\
This year, the Ministry intends to celebrate the initiative to impact the lives of three thousand (3,000) young girls and three hundred (300) teachers in three identified regions namely Ashanti, Volta and Greater Accra in Ghana.
The following achievements between 2017 and 2023 are noteworthy:
- 12,981 girls have been trained and mentored in Ashanti, Western, Central, Oti, Western North, North-East, Bono, Bono-East, Ahafo, Eastern, Savannah, and Northern Regions.
- 1,100 teachers trained to train additional females in ICT outside the program.
- 97 cyber labs have been established, and an additional 120 scheduled for this year.
- 1,776 laptops distributed to teachers and high-achieving girls.
The Ministry expects 3000 girls and 300 teachers from 3 regions (Greater Accra, Volta, and Ashanti) to benefit from the Girls-In-ICT initiative this year.
Despite these significant gains over the years, and the enormous contributions from multiple partners, the gender digital divide remains a challenge, necessitating the need to expand up the program to reach even more girls in Ghana.
We are grateful to our esteemed sponsors for their continuous support of the initiative. The substantial contributions have facilitated the significant growth of the initiative. The Ministry has also implemented the Girls-in-ICT program at the tertiary level in order to encourage young females to pursue jobs in ICT. This is being done in collaboration with Huawei Technologies, Ghana Limited.
In September 2021, 50 female students from the University Students Association of Ghana (USAG) participated in a ten-day training program focused on artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data, and cyber security.
This was a residential training program. The students were organised into groups and tasked with creating business-oriented ideas and solutions for contemporary challenges. The groups who presented the most remarkable solutions to significant national concerns were given well-deserved rewards.
In 2021 and 2022, the Ministry collaborated with the Ministry of Education and Huawei Technologies – Ghana to teach 75,000 female Senior High School students in the Ashanti, Central, and Eastern Regions on Cyber Security as part of the Girls-in-ICT Programme.
The Ministry will collaborate with the Telecom chamber, Glovo, and other influential entities in the telecommunication industry this year to provide ICT training to a larger number of females. The aim is to reduce the gap in digital access and skills.
The Ministry is therefore seeking sponsorship from corporate institutions and interested partners to support its efforts to improve the lives of our young girls in 2024 and beyond.
By Naa Korkoi Essah
Head, Public Relations
Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation
