Egypt’s NIGSD begins activating the national initiative “She is for a digital future” to bridge the digital gender gap

The National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD), the training arm of the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, has begun activating the national initiative “She is for a digital future” to bridge the digital gender gap.

The initiative is being implemented within the framework of a tripartite partnership between the Institute, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the global company Cisco.

Dr. Sherifa Sherif, Executive Director of the National Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development (NIGSD), indicated the political leadership's keenness on equal opportunities and justice between the sexes, through the national strategy for the empowerment of Egyptian women, which includes directives to follow up on the developments of the executive position of the initiatives proposed by the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development and the National Council for Women concerning women's empowerment Egyptians.

Sherif added that NIGSD is keen to implement some initiatives related to presidential mandates to empower women, the national initiative "She is for a digital future" comes to bridge the gender digital divide by enhancing the role of Egyptian women in digital transformation and digital literacy through training female candidates from Egyptian universities and the government sector without discrimination.

Sherif explained that the initiative includes training courses in general and advanced computer skills, as well as training courses in gender parity, financial inclusion, and sustainable development goals.

Sherif explained that (NIGSD) began activating the initiative by establishing a Cisco Academy, a training portal within the institute, explaining that the first phase of the initiative begins with training 500 women from multiple ministries on general and advanced computer principles, bringing the number of trainees to 2,000 women by the end of 2021. The target is for the number of trainees to reach 5,000 women during 2022, from the age group of 18 to 50, at the level of the Republic.
The first phase of training programs targets employees of the state's administrative apparatus, then universities, schools, and civil society institutions.
For his part, Sherif El-Fakharani, ICT and digital transformation consultant at the institute indicated that a TOT (training of trainers) training program was implemented for a group of the institute’s employees, and the competencies of the institute’s employees were qualified for the training programs at the Cisco Academy, with the aim of the institute having a group of accredited lecturers those who can implement the “She is for a Digital Future” initiative training.