The “Centros Tecnológicos Comunitarios” (CTC) and Americas Girls Can Code (AGCC) held the second virtual edition of Girls in ICT Day with the presence of Raquel Arbaje, First Lady of the Dominican Republic. A group of young women and teenage girls from 12 Latin American countries participated in technology and coding workshops. The main objective of the initiative, which was coordinated by EQUALS co-founding partner International Telecommunication Union (ITU), was to introduce teenage girls to the world of programming and the many opportunities it offers so that they can subsequently enter the labor market.
There was a time when communications technologies were limited for girls and women, but that time has been buried in the past.
The activity developed by the CTC, which is also part of ITU's Digital Transformation Centres seeks to establish women's social and economic empowerment through technology, and to raise awareness from an early age that technological careers are gender-free. The Director of the CTC, Isidro Torres, recalled that the programs they develop are especially addressed to Dominican girls who are at risk of social exclusion or who have some kind of material limitation so that they overcome these difficulties and can build their future.
The CTC and Americas Girl Can Code work to promote the digital inclusion and empowerment of girls and adolescents through ICT. The girls are fully prepared to enter the labor market and are able to achieve human development. According to Torres there was a time when communications technologies were limited for girls and women, but that time has been buried in the past, as the current inclusion policies that have been undertaken by the new authorities have completely erased those limitations.
"Community Technology Centers is the institution that leads the technological training route for the region and the Caribbean. It ranks the Dominican Republic as the epicenter of the continent in enabling ICT to be the example to follow on training young people with attractive, fresh and interesting content for their personal development," said the Director of the CTC.
For her part, the First Lady stated that initiatives like these need to be multiplied to open up spaces for girls and young women in the world of technology "to start closing the gap between boys and girls."
"Looking at you, feeling the enthusiasm and confidence you have in yourself, I become even more convinced of the feminine ability to accomplish great things and that makes my gaze on the future more joyful," Arbaje said excitedly.
She referred to the fact that global statistics disadvantage women on participation in technologies, but that precisely such initiatives contribute to combating this fact.
The programs are especially addressed to Dominican girls who are at risk of social exclusion or who have some kind of material limitation so that they overcome these difficulties and can build their future.
During the activity laptops were delivered so that girls can continue to develop their skills in the field of science and technology. Among the talks offered during the workshops given to girls and adolescents are those entitled "Bullying, I do not take that" by Erica Antonia Martínez, “Educational Robotics” by Silvio Pérez, “Code hour” by Loremy Suero, “Become Youtuber” by Leidy Matos and “Printed 3D” by Nelvin Reyes.
About the EQUALS Global Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age
The EQUALS Global Partnership is a network of 100+ organizations, companies, UN agencies and research institutions whose founding partners include the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), UN Women, International Trade Centre, GSMA, and United Nations University. Together, the partnership works to bring the benefits of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to women and girls, and to help women succeed in the tech sector.
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