The Asian and Pacific Training Centre for ICT for Development (APCICT) launched customized versions of its Women ICT Frontier Initiative (WIFI) Policymaker Module on “An Enabling Environment for ICT and Women Entrepreneurship” for Cambodia and Nepal on 2 February.
The WIFI Policymaker module aims to inform and support policymakers and civil servants in expanding their gender-related knowledge and to make appropriate uses of ICT in providing support programmes for women entrepreneurs. Based on this module, the Cambodia and Nepal editions were developed to fit unique national contexts and to address country-specific issues and challenges on leveraging ICT for women entrepreneurship.
These module customizations were undertaken as part of the ESCAP Project on “Catalyzing Women’s Entrepreneurship: Creating a Gender Responsive Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (CWE)” funded by the Government of Canada. The project provides policy and advocacy support across South Asia, South East Asia and the Pacific, and with on-the-ground implementation activities in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Fiji, Nepal, Samoa and Viet Nam.
About Women ICT Frontier Initiative
The Woman Frontier for ICT Initiative was launched in 2016 by the Asian and Pacific Training Centre for ICT Development as its ICT capacity development programme for women entrepreneurship. It consists of training modules for policymakers on creating an enabling environment for women entrepreneurs as well as modules for women entrepreneurs to equip them with knowledge and skills to use ICT in their businesses. The WIFI programme has been rolled out in seven countries namely Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Armenia, and India from 2016 to 2018 with its five modules available in seven localized languages.
Some highlights of WIFI’s accomplishments can be seen with APCICT’s collaboration with the National Committee for One Village One Product (OVOP) of Cambodia, wherein around 2,000 women are being reached to train them and strengthen their ICT skills and knowledge in using ICT in planning and managing their business. In Bangladesh, a series of training is being conducted to equip 30,000 women by 2021 with the necessary knowledge and skills to become ICT-empowered and successful women entrepreneurs.
The WIFI P module Cambodia and Nepal editions can now be accessed on APCICT’s online library via http://www.unapcict.org/resources/publications.
