Egypt won the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Annual Storytelling Competition. Egypt’s winning story from the Arab States was about “Adapting Technology to Local Needs”.
The story takes place in Siwa. Women in this oasis located in Egypt’s western desert, are deprived from education; they suffer from harsh living conditions. Technology to them could be a rescuer.
The ICT Trust Fund, a joint program between UNDP and the Egyptian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), in cooperation with the World Health Organization, Vodafone Foundation and the Siwa Community Development and Environment Conservation Association launched an initiative to eradicate female illiteracy and help women find new and better opportunities, putting emphasis on acquiring computer skills.
Thus, Egypt’s ICT Trust-Fund came up with the tabluter which is a customized computer embedded in a “tableya” – the traditional dining table in Egypt.
This year, “Adapting Technology to Local Needs” story was among 10 stories Egypt had participated with. This represents the highest number of contributions in the competition.
The winning stories were published in the UNDP Development Advocate (issue 2013, Volume 2).
