AMMAN, Jordan October 14, 2002 - Cisco Systems, (NASDAQ: CSCO), the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, and UNIFEM, today announced the first results of an initiative to increase the number of working women in Jordan. Launched in January this year, under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah, UNIFEM's 'Achieving E-Quality in the IT Sector' programme has since successfully opened 10 Cisco Networking Academies across Jordan. 600 students have enrolled on the course to date, including 380 women (63%) who are now training to achieve globally recognised Cisco Certified Network AssociateTM (CCNA) certification.
"One of the biggest challenges of our time is in fact an opportunity we stand to benefit from," Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah said. "Innovations in technology, particularly the increasing use of the Internet, have certainly brought us all closer. Technological advancements have fueled progress worldwide and we in the region still have many opportunities to capitalise on this. This initiative from Cisco and UNIFEM is a living example of this and we welcome their efforts in helping women achieve their full potential in the workplace."
The goal of UNIFEM's ICT programme is to enable Jordanian women to build upon their current technological knowledge with demand-driven networking skills. This will help ensure a gender sensitive policy environment and ultimately increase their competitiveness in the labour market. Today, women contribute to 27% of Jordan's ICT labour force.
"Jordan has achieved a great deal over recent years. It now has a fantastic opportunity to build on this success and accelerate the country's economic growth even further," said Dr. Haifa Abu-Ghazaleh, Regional Programme Director, UNIFEM Arab States Regional Office. "Women will play an important role in this, but only if they have the opportunity to improve themselves through education. Cisco's networking qualifications are highly regarded across the world and will help women to find well-paid employment and give them the opportunity to make a real difference to their country's development."
The Cisco Networking Academy Program was established by Cisco to help bridge the digital divide that separates people who have the opportunity to study information technology and gain better employment, and those who do not. Cisco supports its Academies by providing a web-based curriculum and online management tools, which are used along with laboratory equipment to teach students how to design, build and maintain computer networks.
"The availability of qualified professionals is a major hurdle in the development of industry across the world," said Tae Yoo Vice President of Corporate Philanthropy. "Competitive forces are raising the hurdle for customer service, productivity and business efficiency to ever new heights. These new standards are only attainable through education and information technology and a country that lacks sufficient numbers of trained people to manage mission-critical IT networks will find it extremely difficult to attract international investment in the future. We are proud to be working with UNIFEM on this initiative and helping Jordanian women and the country's leaders to achieve their ambitions."
Information Technology is at the core of UNIFEM's 2002-2003 business plan. Its 'Gender and ICT strategy' for the Arab States realises the importance of the role of ICT in generating successful economic activities, providing women with access to information, education and new skills. Plans are now being prepared for the roll-out of similar programmes across other countries within the Middle East.
