CARICOM Secretariat collaborates with partners to celebrate International Girls in ICT Day
FLASHBACK: School girls at the CARICOM Booth at a 2018 career fair in Georgetown, Guyana
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat
joins the rest of the world in celebrating girls and young women in
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) on Girls in ICT Day –
Thursday, 25 April 2019.
International Girls in ICT Day is an
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) initiative and is celebrated
every year on the fourth Thursday of April under the theme ‘Expand
Horizons, Change Attitudes’. The objective of the initiative is to
empower and encourage girls and young women to consider careers in ICTs.
Over
the years, the CARICOM Secretariat has rallied for and supported girls
and women in ICT. This year, the Secretariat’s plan will encompass a
yearlong regional programme of activities and will coincide with various
international observances, to help girls and young women understand the
tremendous benefits of leading and actively participating in the tech
industry.
The proposed programme of activities will support policy
decisions for both the CARICOM Single ICT Space and the Human Resource
Development Strategy 2030. It is designed to encourage girls, young
women and boys to pursue careers in the area of STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and will target the following
stakeholder groups: Students, Teachers/Educators/Parents, Academia and
Policy-makers.
Activities, during the year will include Open Days
at various public and private sectors, internships, social media
features on CARICOM girls and women in ICTs, Panel Discussions with
youth as panelists, eMentoring programmes, exhibitions, and regional
competitions in Photography, Videography, Animation and Art.
The
CARICOM Secretariat will partner with a number of entities to deliver
the proposed programme for 2019-2020. These partners include the
Ministry of Education of Guyana: Guyana’s National Centre for Education
Resource Development (NCERD); the University of Guyana; the Cyril Potter
College of Education (CPCE); Ministry of the Presidency of Guyana: the
Department of Culture; Ministry of Public Telecommunications; Guyana
Telephone and Telegraph Co. (gtt); Public Utilities Commission (PUC)
Guyana; STEM Guyana; Guyana Animation Network (GAN); Caribbean
Cybersecurity Center; United Nations International Children’s Fund
(UNICEF); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO); CANTO and the CARICOM Youth Ambassadors.
On
Girls in ICT Day, the Secretariat will engage in an Online Launch of
its programme of activities. Polls, surveys, and features of regional /
national girls and women in ICT, will form part of the virtual launch.
CARICOM Member States will also be conducting various activities to commemorate the Day.
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