Participation of girls in ICT will help bridge digital divide, says PS Zawedde

The Ministry of ICT Permanent Secretary, Dr.Aminah Zawedde has said participation of girls in the ICT sector will help bridge the digital divide.

“Girls always feel shy and think they can’t do tech-savvy things yet where we are heading, the world is enabled by technology. You want to transact using mobile money, you have to use technology,” Dr.Zawede said.

“You will realise it is mostly women in markets, in education and almost every sector of the economy. We therefore must encourage them to participate in the ICT sector since it is the driver of all everything.”

The Ministry of ICT was on Thursday speaking during the commemoration of the International Girls in ICT Day held at Kololo Secondary School in Kampala on Thursday.

Dr.Zawedde said encouraging women and girls to embrace ICT will have a ripple effect as it will help bridge the digital divide.

She hailed female students at Kololo Secondary School for proficiency in coding and robotics facilitated by the Uganda Communications Commission which she said one way of encouraging girls to participate in the ICT sector.

“I have come as the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of ICT who is a lady to show students that we lead by example that they too can become permanent secretaries but also scale the heights in ICT. Anybody can do it as long as they have belief and faith in themselves, hard work and use all opportunities available,” Dr. Zawedde said.

She insisted the ICT agenda is planned for everyone in the country.

The Kololo Secondary School headmaster, Edward Kanoonya said the commemoration of the day at the school will go a long way in deepening the need to promote technology careers for the girl child.

“We are used to the saying that when you educate girls, you have educated the nation. When girls embrace ICT, the nation has embraced ICT. Therefore, empowering girls in ICT is crucial for bridging the digital gender gap and ensuring equal opportunities for all,” Kanoonya said.