Jordan Times
Monday, June 20, 2005
Working group reviews
women's participation in ICT
By Mohammad Ghazal
AMMAN — Representatives of Arab women's groups
convened here yesterday to come up with clear and applicable recommendations for
the service of Arab women in the field of information and communications
technology (ICT).
Deputising for Her Majesty Queen Rania at the inauguration of the second meeting
of the Arab regional working group for women in ICT, Senator Laila Sharaf said
the Queen backs the group because of the important role ICT plays in empowering
women and increasing their participation in comprehensive sustainable
development.
The working group will forward its recommendations to the Arab Ministers of
Communication Council and the World Summit for Information Society (WSIS).
It seeks to boost the participation of women in this sector and the sector's
contribution towards empowering and motivating women.
The working group falls under the umbrella of the Egypt-based Arab Women
Organisation (AWO), designed to empower Arab women and enhance their abilities
in various fields.
Topics under discussion at the two-day meeting include arrangements taken by the
AWO for participation in the WSIS, to be held in Tunisia later this year, Muna
Nijem, chairman and CEO of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (TRC)
said yesterday.
Several projects seeking to develop, empower and upgrade the abilities of women
in the field of ICT such as an e-commerce programme for young Arab women that
seeks to promote products of women working in small- or medium-sized projects,
are on the agenda for discussion, Nijem said.
Other plans to be examined include a project to set up a database on Arab women,
which would help communications between them, and another to set up an academy
for distance- learning.
National Council for Family Affairs Secretary General Rowaida Maaytah,
representatives of the group's members from the UAE, Bahrain, Syria, Egypt and
Palestine, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia
and UNIFEM are taking part in the meeting.