Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) launched on Tuesday the "ICT for Women" e-portal that aims to empower women in the ICT field. This is through providing them with continuous education and training to have access to all relevant areas. The portal is also meant to raise awareness of key challenges that women may face in this regard, which may limit the optimum utilization of their capabilities in the field of employment and entrepreneurship. Many business partners from relevant international, regional and local organizations such as ESCWA, UNWOMAN, US Agency for International Development (USAID), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Regional Office, the United Nations Office in Cairo, the National Council for Women and the Arab Women Organization, the Arab Administrative Development Organization (ARADO), the league of Arab States (LAS). This is in addition to a number of public figures interested in activating and integrating IT tools for the benefit of women in the society from both international and local ICT companies and representatives of MCIT affiliates and Egyptian universities concerned with gender issues in Egypt in the ICT sector and its role in development. The e-portal includes a section featuring the key statistical indicators for the women's use of ICTs in various sectors (family, public sector, private sector, education and health). A matter which helps to limit the gap in ICT tools between males and females and set the main challenges that may prevent females to use ICTs and reduce the chances of access to and stability in the Egyptian labour market. The e-portal also displays a range of programs and initiatives that MCIT launched and promoted in order to increase women's leadership in the business community and provide more opportunities for them in the Egyptian labour market. In addition, the e-portal contains a major group of sections that include success stories of Egyptian women and young ladies who use ICTs in their business. It also presents the most important contributions of international organizations with regard to women and ICTs, as well as other sections of publications, employment opportunities, news and events. The launch of the "ICT for woman" e-portal is in line with the general trend of international and regional organizations, which gives due consideration, in the current period, to gender indicators in the ICT field (ICT use and obstacles) in the various economic sectors. In this context, MCIT Central Department of Information and Decision Support, through a dedicated work team, managed to design and build an e-portal that includes a number of sections of interest to women and girls who want to learn, get training and enter the labour market, or start their own small businesses.
