To encourage Pakistani girls to prepare themselves for opportunities offered by the booming ICT sector, Telenor Pakistan celebrated the ‘International Girls in ICT Day’ where it held an awareness session for female students of class 8 to 10 at GSIS School and College, Islamabad, followed by setting-up of an ICT lab at Hamara School, a private school cum orphanage in the outskirts of Islamabad.
The purpose of the awareness session was to educate young girls on the importance of pursuing higher education in math, engineering, computing, and sciences so they are prepared to land bright career opportunities that the ICT sector has to offer.
The young students were informed that ICT companies across the world are looking to attract and promote women, not only because achieving greater workforce diversity is good for business, but also because increasing women at all levels has shown positive impacts on the companies’ financial performance. Two Telenor Pakistan female employees also trained schoolgirls on using the internet safely for fun and learning.
“We at Telenor Pakistan believe in an inclusive working environment and encourage women to prepare themselves to benefit from the opportunities ICT sector holds for them,” said Irfan Wahab Khan, CEO, Telenor Pakistan. “The representation of women in all of our initiatives from employment opportunities to mentoring entrepreneurs and youth empowerment measures is something we never compromise on.”
Telenor Pakistan, being the country’s leading ICT player and a catalyst of ICT-powered digital revolution, has a clear view of where the sector is headed and what it lacks most – the unequivocal answers being ‘immense growth’ and ‘women’ respectively.
The company believes that a more gender-balanced ICT sector will offer fulfilling mid- and high-level careers, and enable highly talented women to springboard to the top of the career ladder.
Telenor supports United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular the SDG 5 that is aimed at achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls through, Information and Communication Technologies.
The observance of ITU’s Girls in ICT Day was an extension of the organization’s efforts to support that very SDG and promote women’s inclusion in the mainstream employment scene.
This is all very good encouraging Pakistani girls to achieve careers and experience in ICT. However, did you know that Pakistan’s public are very aware of the plight of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar? They are very passionate about Rohingya people and wish to seek justice for the persecuted indigenous fellow Muslims of Myanmar. Help the Rohingya girls too. Help them to be free from rape, persecution and oppression. Do the right thing Telenor.
All girls deserve the right to an education and the information that will allow them to live happy, fulfilled, productive lives. Let’s support a company that doesn’t leave certain girls out of their plan. The Pakistani girls know their sisters in Myanmar are not afforded the same help and encouragement. How about an ICT Day in Rakhine? How about using the girls in Pakistan as mentors to the Rohingya girls? So many ideas to support girls all over the world who are not getting the support they need to survive let alone thrive. Do the right thing, Telenor. If you’d like any help with ideas, please contact me.
We hope to see the same for the Rohingya girls in Myanmar very soon, Telenor! This initiative shows that you care, so don’t be selective, especially that you know the harrowing ordeal of the Rohingya women (particularly the women and girls). Our campaign #WeAreAllRohingyaNow is outreaching to you and extending its hands. So instead of blocking us on the social media, try to listen to us and your fear of losing profits will turn out to be the exact opposite. Stand up to humanity, mercy and justice … you won’t regret it. Has anyone ever regretted that!!?? We have faith that we can bring out the best in you to support the Rohingya plight.