Ms. GEEK GHANA LAUNCH
Source: ministry_of_communications_ghana

1 REMARKS BY HON. MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS AND DIGITALISATION AT THE LAUNCH OF THE MS GEEK GHANA HELD AT THE GHANA INDIA KOFI ANNAN CENETER OF EXCELLENCE IN ICT ON 18TH JUNE 2024 Hon Minister Hon Deputy Minister Chief Director Heads of Institutions Distinguished Industry players Invited Guests Media Ladies and Gentlemen Good morning! 1. I am thrilled to welcome you to the media launch of the second edition of the Ms. Geek Ghana competition. 2. Today, we gather to celebrate the intersection of technology and gender empowerment. We believe that women have the power to shape the future of technology and Government is committed to providing a platform for them to do so. 3. Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, there used to be a general perception that science studies were a preserve for boys. But gradually, over the last two decades that perception is slowly changing, and the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation is putting in effort to help change that mindset by providing opportunities for Ghanaian girls to show that it is not all about beauty but also about thinking ability, tenacity and focus. 4. The use and adoption of ICT offers opportunities for growth and development and increasingly it’s been proven that digitization enables a country to leapfrog the development scale by utilizing ICT s to enhance, expand and quicken the delivery of education, transportation, finance, health and other 2 services to citizens. International organisations such as United Nations, International Telecommunications Union, Digital Cooperation Organizations, African Telecommunications Union and Smart Africa Alliance among others are spearheading initiatives through the implementation of policies and initiatives to help developing countries to adopt and use ICT to close the gap between the developed and developing countries with emphasis on the promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women. It has become obvious that there is the need for the full participation of women in the ICT sector to ensure total inclusiveness and respect for all human rights. 5. One of such programmes is the Girls In -ICT programme . The GIICT celebration in Ghana gained its origin from the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) Resolution 70 which established the international Girls-In-ICT Day initiative in 2012 to address the Sustainable Development Goal 4 and 5. 6. The objective for the Initiative is to bridge the digital gender divide by encouraging and empowering girls and young women to consider studies and careers in the growing field of ICTs, enabling both girls and technology companies to reap the benefits of g reater female participation in the ICT ecosystem. 7. Ladies and gentlemen, the initiative has been scaled up since 2017 from a biannual celebration to a triennial celebration. Twelve Thousand nine Hundred and eighty one (12, 981) girls and one thousand two hundred (1,200) teachers have been trained. Forty Three (43) cyber labs have been built for various schools in the various regions and 1776 computers given to deserving pupils and teachers. In terms of impact, beneficiaries have acquired new ICT skills, increased interest of girls in pursuing STEM progra mmes, equip ICT teachers with new skills. Increased employable skills of beneficiaries at the tertiary level. 8. I am pleased to inform you that for the sustainability of the Initiative, we are in the process of restructuring the Girls in ICT Initiative into a Trust. This is a legacy that will transcend beyond Governments. 9. Interestingly, during the celebrations last year, we chanced upon Miss Audrey Barkoh and Nana Yaa Yeboah who were beneficiaries of the Initiative in 2014. They have both gained admission into the University pursuing programmes in Geomatic Engineering and Mathematics and Computer 3 Science. They both served as Mentors in the GIICT Mentorship events in the Eastern Region. 10. The Ms. Geek competition is as a result of the efforts of Girls in ICT Rwanda, a group of Rwandan women; young and old, who are passionate about Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (S TEM). They came together in 2014 to organize Ms. Geek Rwanda to inspire more girls to join STEM. 11. The Ms. Geek Rwanda was adopted by the Smart Africa Alliance to give it an African feel and renamed Ms. Geek Africa in 2017. The Smart Africa Alliance has instituted the Ms. Geek Africa competition and encourages its Member States to adopt the Initiative. The competition seeks to encourage young women to develop ICT solutions to solve contemporary socioeconomic challenges. For the past years, girls across the continent submit applications of technology-based solutions aimed at solving a specific problem affecting their community. 12. Ghana adopted this laudable initiative and organized its maiden Ms. Geek Ghana contest in 2019 which sought to support women in tech nology to develop innovative solutions to real-world problems. 13. Ladies and Gentlemen, due to the Covid outbreak, the Ms. Geek Competion was suspended until 2023 when the Ministry presented its candidate, Miss Selasi Ama Domi-Kuwonu for the Ms. Geek Africa competition held on the sidelines of Transform Africa Summit in Zimbabwe. 14. Ms. Domi-Kuwonu after a keen contest with her contemporaries, won and is the current Ms. Geek Africa queen. Her ICT solution “KASA CASH” is an offline system that enables the unlettered, physically challenged, unserved, and underserved communities to effortlessly perform financial services on their phones without third-party assistance. 15. Ladies and Gentlemen, you all agree that this ICT solution is very crucial to forestall impersonation and fraud and theft. We will collaborate with interested parties to develop this prototype and hopefully get other sister countries to adopt this solution. 4 16. The other young ladies presented IT solutions on ‘femme entrepreneur’ from Niger, ‘Smart Miner Monitoring System’ from Rwanda, ‘Tekeleza to solve water crisis’ from Kenya, ‘Just Live’ from Zambia, ‘Management of solar power generation systems’ from Zimbabwe, and ‘Blood connect’ from Benin. 17. The Ministry has requested for innovative, scalable and feasible ICT solutions from young ladies between the ages of 13 to 21 across the country. The deadline for the application is on 2nd July 2024. The Ministry in collaboration with ICT hubs who will be responsible for assessing the initial entries and shortlisting the applicants. 18. Fifteen (15) shortlisted applications will be take n through a master class to finetune their projects. There will be a grand finale where all contestants will present their projects to a panel where the panel will choose a winner. The winner will be groomed and prepared for the Ms. Geek Africa Contest during the Transform Africa Summit, Nairobi, Kenya in August 2024. 19. The top three winners will receive cash prizes and business training amongst others and most importantly for the Ministry, they will: • Be ambassadors of women and girls achievements in STEM. • Encourage girls to develop their STEM skills • Encourage teenage girls to take up courses in physics, Chemistry, computer science and engineering • Encourage girls and women to participate in Ms. Geek Ghana and submit feasible and scalable ICT solutions. 20. I encourage all young ladies within the age bracket to follow the instructions and submit your applications as requested on the application forms. Applications and Guidelines can be accessed on the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisations website 21. I call on interested parties and stakeholders to partner with us. Be part of developing our young ladies, and join us as we work towards building capacity that will change the future workforce of Ghana in the ICT enabled environment. 22. And on that note, I duly declare the Ms. Geek Ghana 2024 competition duly launched. 5 23. I wish all the girls who will participate in this exciting competition the best. Remember to tell your friends that we need you to start thinking ICT. 25. Thank you for your attention.