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Thursday 17th May 2012

How your unwanted ICT can help women in developing countries

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How your unwanted ICT can help women in developing countries

Posted by Guest Blogger 18 January 2011 Guest blogger |  Technology |  Training Written by Alexia Ward.

As women in tech we’re all aware of the massive difference that ICT makes to our lives and the lives of those around us. This is also the case in developing countries as ICT can make a significant difference to poverty reduction.

At Computer Aid we work to source donations of unwanted ICT from people and companies in the UK which we can then professionally refurbish and send to schools and hospitals in Africa and Latin America. We also support organizations that tackle gender inequality through ICT in order to reduce and, ultimately avoid, male dominance in the sector before the IT industry matures.

We’ve provided computers to Stella Maris Polytechnic in Liberia and have supported them in increasing access to vocational training among young people in Liberia. Stella Maris Polytechnic are running an IT technicians training course which trains students to become fully skilled IT technicians with knowledge of computer installation, preventative maintenance, networking, security and troubleshooting. It is hoped that increasing the technological skills base among Liberian youth will support economic growth, job creation and encourage inward investment.

The civil war exacerbated inequalities in Liberia and gender inequality remains a major obstacle to poverty reduction within the country. 90% of employed Liberian women work in the agricultural or informal sector, often meaning low productivity, meagre earnings and greater exposure to exploitation. Skills training for women can help address this problem.

One example of a young girl who has benefited from PCs provided by Computer Aid to the Stella Marris Polytechnic is Naomi Griggs (pictured above). Naomi is a graduate of the networking and computer maintenance course at Stella Maris Polytechnic and is now a trained IT technician. It is stories such as hers that will challenge the gender boundaries of a male dominated industry and, hopefully, inspire other young women to follow paths of vocational training in ICT and other fields.

Computer Aid is currently looking at ways to enable the Stella Maris Polytechnic to further reduce the gender divide in ICT by establishing a vocational ICT technicians training course especially for women. Computer Aid hopes that such courses will allow more to take advantage of the opportunities available within the sector.  

If you or your company have any unwanted computers that you wish to donate then please do get in touch. Your donation will make a real difference – just one computer can train up to 60 students to vocational level IT.

Alexia Ward is PC Donations and Marketing Officer for Computer Aid International.
 
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