Press and Events 2009
Ambassador Olson Addresses Women In Technology Conference with the UAE General Women's Union
April 29, 2009
Ambassador Richard G. Olson, Jr. addressed the opening of the Women In Technology (WIT) conference, held at the Abu Dhabi Health and Fitness Club on April 29, 2009. The conference, organized by Women In Technology, brings together the UAE General Women’s Union, the Middle East Partnership Initiative of the U.S. State Department, the Institute of International Education, and Microsoft Corporation to provide substantial capacity building to partner organizations to expand their reach, sustainability and ability to serve women. In his remarks, Ambassador Olson commended the “efforts made by the General Women's Union, under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Fatima, to empower UAE women and expand their participation in the workforce and civil society.”
The Women In Technology program for the Middle East and North Africa is funded by the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), managed by the Institute of International Education, and implemented in collaboration with local partners in the six GCC countries, Iraq, Lebanon and Yemen. As part of the program, the UAE General Women’s Union and four centers in Al Gharbia plan to support women’s ongoing personal and professional growth. MEPI programs aim to expand political participation, strengthen civil society and the rule of law, empower women and youth, create educational opportunities and foster economic reform. Women In Technology will soon expand to new partners in the Northern Emirates. By 2010 it will train more than 700 women in the UAE in Entrepreneurship, Professional Development Skills, and – through Microsoft’s unlimited Potential Curriculum – in Information Technology.
To date, Women In Technology has trained 6,000 women throughout the Middle East and North Africa, generating more than US $350,000 in revenue for Women In Technology partner organizations through course fees, and enabling the centers to employ, train, cover overhead costs and offer scholarships to the poorest women in the communities that WIT serves.