Staff Reporter :
‘Women empowerment is a challenge for our country as most of the women are not involved in economic activities. Under the Government Digital Bangladesh policy and the thrust sector initiative an atmosphere exists for accelerated growth and meaningful engagement through active interaction and transforming country into medium income economy and to achieve Vision 2021 by ensuring the full participation of women in economic activities’.
Kabir bin Anwar , Director General (Administration), Prime Minister’s Office, Bangladesh & Project Director, A2I said this in a press conference titled, ‘Women ICT Freelancer and Entrepreneur Development Program: integrating into the supply chain’ in the conference room of SME foundation in the capital .Others who spoke were, Luna Shamsuddoha , Chairperson, BWIT and Managing Director of SME Foundation, Engineer Dr. Syed Ehsanul Karim.
SMEF in collaboration with a2i and BWIT has taken an initiative to create and develop women ICT entrepreneurs/freelancers/manpower all over Bangladesh. In this perspective, a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed among SMEF, a2i and BWIT to launch ‘ Women ICT Freelancer and Entrepreneur Development Program’ at the grass roots.’
Luna Shamsuddoha, Chairperson, BWIT said, ‘Bangladesh Women in Technology (BWIT) is a forum for Bangladesh’s ICT sector of women entrepreneurs, professionals and corporate forerunners, who are currently leaders of the ICT sector in the country.’
She said, ‘This is a great opportunity for the women because this political assurance has created internet connectivity almost all over the country and related infrastructures are also developing. Women can take this opportunity but they need to be trained properly.Bangladesh Women in Technology (BWIT) is a forum for Bangladesh’s ICT sector of women entrepreneurs, professionals and corporate forerunners, who are currently leaders of the ICT sector in the country.’
Dr, Syed Ehsanul Karim, Director of SME foundation, said, ‘Speaking about Small and Medium Enterprise Foundation (SMEF), widely known as SME Foundation, is an apex organization in Bangladesh for promoting micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs). SME Foundation has been facilitating SME development all over the country through providing entrepreneurship and skill development training, technological supports, collateral free credit facilities with single digit interest rate, ICT supports, business advisory services, research and policy advocacy services, supports to government for SME related policy implementation, etc.’
He said, ‘In implementation of all these activities women entrepreneurship development is a priority to SME Foundation which is providing a special emphasis on the women empowerment issues to ensure the full participation of women entrepreneurs in the economic development process of Bangladesh.’
Kabir-bin-Anwar, Project Director, A2I, said, ‘Access to Information (a2i) Programme of Prime Minister’s office whose overall objective is to provide support in building a digital nation through delivering services at the citizen’s doorsteps. The programme aims to improve quality, widen access and decentralized delivery of public services to ensure responsiveness and transparency. A2i Programme has established 5273 UNION DIGITAL CENTER, one-stop service outlets operating Union Parishads (UP, lowest tier of local government) of the country.’
With the support of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) SME Foundation, BWIT and a2i has now jointly targeted 3000 women to develop as ICT entrepreneur/freelancer from all over the country with an emphasize to the remotest and under privileged areas. The target group is the under privileged women with a minimum requirement of S.S.C. (Secondary School Certificate/Grade-10) and basic computer literacy. As a result of this program, some of the women will be developed as ICT freelancer, some of them will be developed as ICT entrepreneurs and some will be developed as skilled manpower for the ICT sectors. Besides these a pull of ICT skilled trainers will be developed from the program. The main objective of this program is to develop ICT women freelancer/entrepreneur so that the less educated rural and urban women can engage themselves in income generating activities from home.
‘Women empowerment is a challenge for our country as most of the women are not involved in economic activities. Under the Government Digital Bangladesh policy and the thrust sector initiative an atmosphere exists for accelerated growth and meaningful engagement through active interaction and transforming country into medium income economy and to achieve Vision 2021 by ensuring the full participation of women in economic activities’.
Kabir bin Anwar , Director General (Administration), Prime Minister’s Office, Bangladesh & Project Director, A2I said this in a press conference titled, ‘Women ICT Freelancer and Entrepreneur Development Program: integrating into the supply chain’ in the conference room of SME foundation in the capital .Others who spoke were, Luna Shamsuddoha , Chairperson, BWIT and Managing Director of SME Foundation, Engineer Dr. Syed Ehsanul Karim.
SMEF in collaboration with a2i and BWIT has taken an initiative to create and develop women ICT entrepreneurs/freelancers/manpower all over Bangladesh. In this perspective, a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed among SMEF, a2i and BWIT to launch ‘ Women ICT Freelancer and Entrepreneur Development Program’ at the grass roots.’
Luna Shamsuddoha, Chairperson, BWIT said, ‘Bangladesh Women in Technology (BWIT) is a forum for Bangladesh’s ICT sector of women entrepreneurs, professionals and corporate forerunners, who are currently leaders of the ICT sector in the country.’
She said, ‘This is a great opportunity for the women because this political assurance has created internet connectivity almost all over the country and related infrastructures are also developing. Women can take this opportunity but they need to be trained properly.Bangladesh Women in Technology (BWIT) is a forum for Bangladesh’s ICT sector of women entrepreneurs, professionals and corporate forerunners, who are currently leaders of the ICT sector in the country.’
Dr, Syed Ehsanul Karim, Director of SME foundation, said, ‘Speaking about Small and Medium Enterprise Foundation (SMEF), widely known as SME Foundation, is an apex organization in Bangladesh for promoting micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs). SME Foundation has been facilitating SME development all over the country through providing entrepreneurship and skill development training, technological supports, collateral free credit facilities with single digit interest rate, ICT supports, business advisory services, research and policy advocacy services, supports to government for SME related policy implementation, etc.’
He said, ‘In implementation of all these activities women entrepreneurship development is a priority to SME Foundation which is providing a special emphasis on the women empowerment issues to ensure the full participation of women entrepreneurs in the economic development process of Bangladesh.’
Kabir-bin-Anwar, Project Director, A2I, said, ‘Access to Information (a2i) Programme of Prime Minister’s office whose overall objective is to provide support in building a digital nation through delivering services at the citizen’s doorsteps. The programme aims to improve quality, widen access and decentralized delivery of public services to ensure responsiveness and transparency. A2i Programme has established 5273 UNION DIGITAL CENTER, one-stop service outlets operating Union Parishads (UP, lowest tier of local government) of the country.’
With the support of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MoWCA) SME Foundation, BWIT and a2i has now jointly targeted 3000 women to develop as ICT entrepreneur/freelancer from all over the country with an emphasize to the remotest and under privileged areas. The target group is the under privileged women with a minimum requirement of S.S.C. (Secondary School Certificate/Grade-10) and basic computer literacy. As a result of this program, some of the women will be developed as ICT freelancer, some of them will be developed as ICT entrepreneurs and some will be developed as skilled manpower for the ICT sectors. Besides these a pull of ICT skilled trainers will be developed from the program. The main objective of this program is to develop ICT women freelancer/entrepreneur so that the less educated rural and urban women can engage themselves in income generating activities from home.
