CodeGirls recently hosted a series of workshops with EQUALS and Tech4Girls to raise awareness and educate women and young girls about digital skills, E-commerce, and Mobile Application Development. The second edition of this series was hosted online on October 22nd and 23rd, Friday and Saturday. The host, CodeGirls Pakistan, is an exclusive women-only initiative that aims to empower women in Pakistan’s tech industry.
Like its first edition, this workshop program was partnered with and supported by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication of Pakistan, GSMA, W4, ITU, and EQUALS Global Partnership.
On Friday 22nd October, the event started at 9:00 am sharp with an orientation session, code of conduct, rules, and plan shared by Ms. Faiza Yousuf, co-founder CodeGirls. After the opening, video statements were shared by representatives of the partner organizations. Namely, Ajmal Anwar Awan, Member of Internal Coordination for the Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunication Pakistan, Julian Gorman, Head of Asia Pacific for GSMA, Atsuko Okuda, Regional Director of ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and Lindsey Nefesh Clarke, Founder and President of W4.org. There was also a short video presentation about EQUALS Her Digital Skills initiative.
The workshops were full of intensive learning for the participants on Introduction to Tech through E-commerce. These carefully curated 8 hours were centered around the specific topic of setting up small businesses on Shopify. Shopify is a top-rated and recommended E-commerce platform. It specializes in starting, growing, and managing small businesses. The idea of this workshop was to impart the skill of E-commerce entrepreneurship to the participants.
The number of participants in attendance for both days was 100. All participants were exclusively women aged 18-30, attending from all over Pakistan. Participants were required to be exclusively women from all backgrounds who want to be trained to become skilled technologists and entrepreneurs in the growing IT industry of Pakistan.
CodeGirls conducted surveys before and after the workshop to maintain workshop standards and assess participants’ expectations, requirements, and experiences. Before the workshop all the participants displayed an eagerness to explore opportunities for women in tech ecosystems across the world.
CodeGirls and Tech4Girls believe it is essential to provide the participants of their workshops with holistic knowledge of the online world. A short session on online safety was also conducted during the workshop to assist participants in their experiences online. Besides online safety, the main workshop sessions included interactive participation and active involvement of the students. The goal was to appreciate communication skills and promote inclusivity in the future tech sphere of Pakistan and the world.
On the subject of inclusivity in the future tech sphere of Pakistan, Julian Gorman, Head of Asia Pacific for GSMA, said that:
“The value and the contribution to society is to allow users to easily set up and participate in generating content and give them the tools to easily participate in the digital society and the digital economy. That is what this workshop today is about. It is about how to invite you to become part of Pakistan’s fast-growing digital economy … Our Tech4Girls program is part of a community-wide program to increase the participation of women in our technology future. I hope your participation today may inspire you or grab your attention and interest in being part of Pakistan’s digital future.”
Julian Gorman addressing the participants.
The 3rd and final edition for this year will be help on 19th and 20th November 2021 with a focus on Mobile Application Development. The registration is open for girls and women from all over the country. You will find the registration details here: https://forms.gle/XFFu5b6f2ffeRYgE6
