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FIRST WOMEN'S ITU
Makerere University in Kampala (Uganda) has been
chosen as the site of the first women-oriented
facility established by the ITU Internet
Training Centres Initiative for Developing
Countries (ITCI-DC).
The ITCI-DC is an initiative between ITU and the
private sector in which Cisco Systems Inc. is a
key partner. Makerere is the oldest of 16
universities in Uganda, and its
multidisciplinary Department of Women and Gender
Studies (DWGS) in the Faculty of Social Sciences
is the first of its kind in sub Saharan Africa.
It is therefore deemed to be at the forefront of
academic and community initiatives to address
gender and development from an African
perspective. It works through a comprehensive
strategy that includes teaching and training;
research, publication and dissemination;
outreach, networking and advocacy and gender
mainstreaming. With the support recently
obtained from the Carnegie Corporation and the
Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD)
for ICT training and capacity-building, DWGS is
setting up a modern computer lab in a brand-new
building. DWGS is committed to integrating ICT
in its curriculum delivery methods.
Under the ITCI-DC initiative, DWGS will hold
gender-balanced classes in Internet Protocol
(IP) technology with the aim of increasing the
number of women in the ICT/internetworking
workforce. It will work to integrate the Cisco
Networking Academy curriculum into the general
curriculum offered by the Department with
particular attention given to incorporating it
into the gender and technology courses. Working
professionals are expected to make up 25% of the
student body. Bachelor's and master's level
courses are being offered in a laboratory with
25 computers, each of which is equipped with
Internet access speed of 64 Kbit/s.
The Women's Studies Department will also team up
with the Institute of Computer Science at
Makerere University and other training
institutions such as the Uganda Communications
Institute to form a strategy for greater
participation of women in ITCI-DC and other ICT
initiatives. "Everything increases exponentially
with the Internet, and the access of women to
the Internet is also increasing quickly," said
Hamadoun I. Touré, Director of the ITU's
Telecommunication Development Bureau. "The ITCI
programme is one of the ways to accelerate
greater participation of women in IT and the
Internet economy. For many years, ITU considers
gender issues in all programmes, projects and
activities. This cross-cutting activity is now
co-ordinated by a special Focal Point and a
Senior Gender Adviser in our Bureau."
"By equipping more women with leading edge
skills, this initiative is making a great
contribution to speed up the integration of
gender balance in decision-making and policy
formulation in Africa," said Patrick Masambu,
Executive Director, Uganda Communications
Commission.
"The need to have role models in the ICT-related
fields is more present now than it was before,
if we are to have a larger number of females in
the field," added Erin Walsh, Cisco's Global
Manager for the project. "Today we are
witnessing an occasion where ICT is being
demystified by locating a local academy in a
non-traditional department or institution," Dr.
Grace Banteyba-Kyomuhendo, Head of DWGS said at
the launch of the Centre. "We are indeed
grateful to ITU and Cisco for the support that
has enabled the Department to begin the journey
of Bridging the Gender Digital Divide in
fulfilment of our goal of mainstreaming gender
in all sectors." Makerere University is the one
of 15 technical institutions that the ITU
Internet Training Initiative is IP-enabling on
the continent of Africa. ITCIs are also
operational in Angola, Cape Verde, Malawi,
Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Cote d'Ivoire,
Mauritania, while Kenya and Zimbabwe are poised
to follow in the first quarter of 2003.
The ITCI aims to roll out a network of 50
Internet training centres around the world by
the end of 2003. The programme aims to train a
minimum of 50 students per year at each centre.
While aiming for a ratio of 50:50, the programme
is committed to ensuring that at least 30% of
the recruits will be women. The ITCI programme
also endeavours to ensure that the training
centres offer three or four places each year to
telecommunication professionals.
Additional information on the ITU Internet
Training Centre Initiative for Developing
Countries is available at
http://itu.int/itu-d/hrd/itci. For more
information, please contact: Mr Manuel Zaragoza
Project Coordinator ITU Telecommunication
Development Bureau (BDT) Tel: +41 22 730 5428
E-mail: manuel.zaragoza@itu.int
About ITU
ITU is a world-wide organization which brings
governments and industry together to co-ordinate
the establishment and operation of global
telecommunication networks and services; it is
responsible for standardization, coordination
and development of international
telecommunications including radiocommunications,
as well as the harmonisation of national
policies.
To fulfil its mission, ITU adopts international
regulations and treaties governing all
terrestrial and space uses of the frequency
spectrum as well as the use of all satellite
orbits which serve as a framework for national
legislations; it develops standards to foster
the interconnection of telecommunication systems
on a worldwide scale regardless of the type of
technology used; it also fosters the development
of telecommunications in developing countries.
The Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D)
is the development arm of the ITU, the main
responsibility of which is to foster
telecommunication development in developing
countries through policy advice, provision of
technical assistance, mobilization of resources
and initiatives to extend access and bridge the
Digital Divide.
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