The Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has indicated its partnership with parents, guardians, teachers, elders of faith-based institutions, to support and guide the youth on the "dos and don’ts" in the application of online tools to develop their careers in order to contribute meaningfully to national development.

The Minister emphasized "with our collective efforts, we can ensure that we get the best out of our girls."

The statement was made in a speech read on her behalf by the Deputy Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ama Pomaa Boateng, at the opening ceremony of the ‘Open Day’ of the National Girls-in-ICT Day Celebration in Accra.

According to her, the Open Day for the Girls-in-ICT Initiative was instituted to provide an opportunity for the awardees from the participating regions to be attached to ICT-based Institutions/Companies, where they enjoy a week-long interaction with female achievers in the ICT industry.

This, according to the Minister is to further deepen the insight of the girls into the nature of the world of work in the ICT industry and to encourage them to the point of knowing that they can also take up careers in this lucrative, but male-dominated industry.

She explained that the “Open Day” event has always taken place few weeks after the training of the girls and the climax event in the region adding, 980 girls were trained in November 2019 in the Central region and 584 girls in Oti Region in 2020 and 1000 girls each in Western North and North East Regions in 2021.

“However, following the training of all these girls in the four regions, we have not been able to bring them to Accra to participate in the weeklong “Open Day” event due to the COVID-19 pandemic that hit the world in 2020.  Though we were able to hold the celebration in Oti Region in 2020, we were unable to bring the awardees to Accra for the usual attachment to ICT-based institutions.”

“In order for us not to lose these girls along the way, I resolved to bring 20 girls each from the four regions for which the “Open Day” event has been outstanding.”

Eighty girls have been drawn from the Central, Oti, Western North and North East Regions to participate in the insightful and exciting activities planned for this week.

Expressing her heartfelt joy, the Minister said, "Let me once again welcome our proud young ladies to this event. I hope you have been using the laptops you received as awards for your excellent performance during the training in your districts. I most sincerely cherish your braveness, tenacity and zeal to challenge the status quo that ICT is a preserve for males.”

“You have indeed rekindled the spirit behind the mantra “what men can do, women can do better” and brought meaning to the “Yes we can” statement by the first Black President of America, Barak Obama who himself fought against all odds to achieve his aim. He is an icon of hope. You can also achieve anything if you put your mind to it, so as to be an inspiration to others.”

She encouraged the girls to utilise the opportunity provided them to experience a week long work-life experience in these enviable institutions and corporations, by giving their very best and also strike the right relationships with their mentors.

The Minister also charged them to make a pledge to themselves that, in the not too distant future, they will come back having made a name for themselves by landing jobs in one of these ICT institutions.