The Central Department for Digital Community Development at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT) organized a webinar titled “Persons with Disabilities (PWD) and Digital Transformation,” on February 9. The webinar was organized in collaboration with the National Network for PWD Services, and the Association for Women's Total Advancement and Development (AWTAD), within the framework of the Qodwa-Tech initiative for empowering women.
The webinar was joined by experts and specialists. It highlighted the objectives of the Qodwa-Tech initiative and its role in empowering Egyptian women economically and socially in line with MCIT strategy for promoting digital transformation and creating productive communities based on qualifying girls and craftswomen. The initiative aims to support the handicraft industry through sharing experiences among women and qualifying them to train other women in their local communities.
The webinar presented the training programs offered as part of Qodwa-Tech in social media marketing and e-commerce. In addition, the webinar explained the selection process of trainees for the initiative, according to certain criteria based on their role in sharing knowledge and expertise with others. Qodwa-Tech offers new opportunities and possibilities that meet the needs of female entrepreneurs and craftswomen, through seminars, sessions and extensive consultations in digital marketing. This in addition to improving craftswomen’s livelihoods by opening new markets to help them maintain business continuity.
Moreover, the webinar introduced the ERADA project that AWTAD offers to empower women with disabilities. The project involves providing training on in-demand handicrafts and honing the women’s soft and professional skills needed in the labor market and for production according to market requirements. In addition, the project helps provide those women with jobs or partnership opportunities with the private or public sector to produce for others, or supports women to start their own businesses or work as freelancers to maintain sustainability.
The webinar shed light on the role of the National Network for PWD Services in empowering PwDs, building their capacities and qualifying them for the labor market. The Network works in line with MCIT strategy for achieving the digital transformation and building an inclusive society, with focusing on supporting PwDs through creating applications that facilitate their day-to-day activities.
The Network develops a roadmap to present PwDs professionally to the job market. It offers a range of training and employment services through different organizations specializing in PwDs services. The Network, in addition, facilitates PwDs access to training and employment services according to the different capabilities of each disability.
During the webinar, ladies who participated in Qodwa-Tech’s training programs told their success stories and experience with the initiative. They explained how Qodwa-Tech helped them develop and upscale their small businesses through digital marketing and talked about their role as leaders responsible for sharing their technological experience with other women. The ladies encouraged women entrepreneurs and craftswomen to join the initiative to improve their businesses and develop marketing mechanisms based on technological applications and tools.
