touch partners with Fe-male Association to empower young women in rural areas of Lebanon
Beirut - August 10, 2018: touch, the leading mobile telecommunications and data operator in Lebanon, managed by Zain Group, has partnered with Fe-male, a non-profit organization, in a joint project to empower young girls and women in Bekaa and Akkar.
The partnership is aligned with touch’s Corporate Sustainability program “Positive touch,” and will see the establishment of a local training program over a period of nine months that includes the development of part-time courses focused on introducing women to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) topics such as computer literacy, the use of smart phones, and related social media platforms. The participants will also be educated about cybercrimes, the ways to deal with them, and they will be exposed to cybersecurity issues. The program extends to awareness sessions on women’s rights, business planning, entrepreneurship, leadership, public-speaking, decision-making, and self-assertion. Also, based on the needs assessment conducted with the targeted group, women will benefit from extensive sessions aiming to improve their language skills basically in English.
As women in rural areas generally suffer from a lack of access to education and their rights knowledge, they will be trained to think critically, become leaders in their communities, and improve their advocacy and communication skills. The project will emphasize personal development as a means to enhancing women’s roles in society.
Commenting on the program, Emre Gurkan, Chief Executive Officer of touch, said, “We are proud to partner with Fe-male Association on this life-changing initiative, where we can work hand-in-hand to empower both women and young girls to make smarter decisions and take better care of their rights. Through this partnership, we aim to further develop women’s contributions to their societies, and we will continue to work tirelessly in this area.”
Hayat Mirshad, Fe-Male co-founder said: “Since its establishment, Fe-Male was committed to working with women and girls to eliminate injustice through empowering agents of change, and campaigning together against discriminatory norms, and policies. We highly appreciate touch’s support that will allow us spread our work in remote areas in need. We believe that rural women all over the world are important catalysts for sustainable development, which in order to be achieved, empowerment on different pillars must be mainstreamed. Investing to enhance the role of women in social and humanitarian development as well as women’s participation in all aspects of life is a key to the rise of societies.”
Underrepresented and undermined, a good percentage of rural women continue to be deprived of their basic rights to education, stripping them of the opportunity to participate fully in society. This partnership with Fe-male looks to encourage women by helping improve their living conditions, elevating them to think critically, and to become empowered by gaining a grounding in basic ICT.