–President Ali says, affirms efforts are underway to mainstream STEM education to induce wider participation

WOMEN will be an integral part of Guyana’s digital development, especially as the country continues to identify and address existing gaps between males and females within the technology sector, President, Dr Irfaan Ali has said.

“We are confident that by highlighting the existing gaps between males and females within the technology sector that greater efforts will be made to devise policies and programmes that would encourage more participation from women in the digital sector,” Dr Ali said in a message to commemorate International Women’s Day 2023, celebrated under the theme: “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality.”

According to the Head of State, Guyana shares and supports the aspirations of the international community in reducing gender inequality within the digital sector.
Already, Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) prioritises digital development and narrowing gender gaps.

The original “LCDS” accelerated the country’s digital transformation, including investments in information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure. It also stimulated inclusive employment utilising ICT technologies.

With telecommunications liberalisation, the acceleration of the country’s digital transformation is expected to increase, including in the areas of e-governance and access and connectivity. Those will all contribute towards the goal of establishing a strong knowledge-based sector within Guyana’s economy, Dr Ali said.

“Our women can be assured that they will be an integral part of this emerging sector. We will be mainstreaming science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education within our secondary schools and tertiary educational institutions and, in so doing, encourage greater female participation, particularly in the technology and engineering streams,” the Head of State related.

The Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL), for instance, has unlocked greater opportunities, including for women, to improve their knowledge and skills— prerequisites for enhancing female participation in the digital sector.

“I am confident that the initiatives we are taking will ensure a prominent role for women in our digital sectors,” Dr Ali said.

He further stated: “On this, International Women’s Day, on behalf of the Government of Guyana, I wish to extend best wishes to all the women of Guyana and its diaspora. I applaud their contribution to national development. I assure them that the ongoing local efforts to reduce gender and digital gaps will continue in the near and foreseeable future.”