The “Girls in ICT” Programme, a project that seeks to increase the number of girls studying ICT at all levels of education system in Ghana was launched in Accra on Tuesday.

The programme also seeks to within a few years, establish a substantive number of competent women ICT professionals holding jobs at all levels in the ICT sector as well as setting up their own ICT businesses to create jobs and reduce unemployment.

Launching the programme, Mr. Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Communication, said the project had the potential for girls to help close the gender disparity in ICT in Ghana.

He said the idea to establish the programme came out of the “Girls in ICT” celebration instituted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and observed in April 26.

Participants at that celebration agreed that such a programme should be instituted and sustained in Ghana to benefit girls in both urban and underserved rural communities.

An ad-hoc committee was then constituted, comprising 11 women ICT development experts chaired by Ms Eva Lokko, former Director General of Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), to provide policy inputs and programmes to facilitate sustainable and collaborative policy development in the four Ministerial sectors of Education, Environment and Science, Information Technology and Women and Children Affairs.

Mr. Iddrisu urged more girls to discard the notion that ICT was a man reserve and endeavour to enter into that field so they could help “Catapult Ghana to a new height in her quest for equal-partner status in the ICTR economy”.

“Government is determined to sponsor more girls into ICT as its contribution to mainstream gender in ICT,” he said.

The Sector Minister announced that a digital device project would soon be launched to enable ISSER undertake a nation-wide studies to access the situation of the digital divide in the country.

Ms Lokko said the ICT programme would involve mentoring, resource mobilisation, girls’ empowerment, awards in ICT, school competition in ICT and curriculum enhancement for all schools.

She said other stakeholders including teachers would be partnered to train girls between five-25 years in the use of ICT and internet for them to apply the skills in their daily lives.

Ms Dorothy Gordon, Director of Kofi Annan ICT Centre of Excellence, lauded the programme and announced sponsorship for five ICT degree-holders to six-month intensive training programme in ICT at the Centre.**