Telecommunication
Development Bureau (BDT)
Ref: BDT/IEE/SIS/DM/204
Geneva, 22 June 2012
To:
Subject:
Administrations of ITU Member States
ITU-D Sector members
Girls in ICT Day Celebrations
Dear Sir/Madam,
As you may know, International Girls in ICT Day, celebrated on the fourth Thursday of April every year, is an
initiative backed by ITU Member States in Plenipotentiary Resolution 70 (Guadalajara, 2010) to create a
global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to consider careers in the
growing field of information and communication technologies (ICTs). A Girls in ICT event is an event where
teenage girls and university students are invited to spend the day at the office of ICT companies,
government agencies and academic institutions or to invite women who have a successful career in the ICT
sector to share their experiences, give awards or offer the participants practical experiences. The
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT) has
developed the Girls in ICT Portal at www.girlsinict.org which houses practical information for girls and
young women considering a career in ICTs, such as programmes, awards, competitions, profiles of women
ICT sector role-models and inspirational videos.
This year, on 26 April 2012, International Girls in ICT Day saw 1,320 events organized worldwide in nearly
90 countries, with over 30,000 girls being directly empowered with a better understanding of the exciting
opportunities a career in ICTs holds for them.
On the day, the celebrations followed the course of the sun, starting in Oceania, then sweeping across to
reach Asia, on to the Arab States and then on the Commonwealth of Independent States. Moving
westward, there were events all across Africa and Europe, then in the Caribbean, and North, Central and
Latin America. Additional Girls in ICT Day celebrations were held at other times, including on World
Telecommunication Information Society Day. In all events, awareness was raised among young women,
girls, communities, teachers and career advisers of the excellent job prospects for highly skilled technical
women in the ICT sector. BDT is awarding Certificates of Recognition to all Girls in ICT Day event organizers.
For the full list of countries in which celebrations were held, please see Annex I of this letter. Please do not
hesitate to contact us at girlsinict@itu.int if we are not yet aware of your event so that we can add you to
this list and send you your certificate.
ITU Member States and Sector Members around the world made a strong case for the creation of an
empowering environment that encourages girls and young women to consider a tech career. Civil society
organizations, academia and committed individuals also proved invaluable partners in the celebration of
these events, often working with very little funding in their efforts to raise awareness among communities,
teachers and career advisers of the excellent job prospects of the ICT sector. The private sector was
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instrumental in the success of many events throughout the world.
The wide range of partners involved in creating events for this second Girls in ICT Day allowed for a great
variety of spontaneous and enthusiastic approaches to the empowerment of girls and young women. All
the events were carefully planned.
We are now posting on the Portal (http://girlsinict.org/girls-in-ict-day-events) information about all
national and local Girls in ICT Day events. We invite you to share information about events held in your
country, as well as pictures and videos by sending your materials to girlsinict@itu.int if you have not yet
already done so. We hope that posting information about these celebrations will help to share best
practices and serve as inspiration to all ITU Members for next year.
I would like to thank participating Member States and Sector members for their dedication and drive that
led to the outstanding results for International Girls in ICT Day 2012, and look forward to working in close
collaboration with all ITU Members to give an added impetus to this initiative for an even more successful
celebration next year on 25 April 2013.
Yours faithfully,
[Original signed]
Brahima Sanou
Director
ANNEX I
3
2012 International Girls in ICT Day - List of Participating Countries
Africa
Arab region
Asia & Pacific
CIS
Europe
The Americas
Botswana
Djibouti
Australia
Armenia
Andorra
Argentina
Cameroon
Egypt
China
Azerbaijan
Austria
Barbados
Côte d’Ivoire
Jordan
Malaysia
Belarus
Belgium
Bolivia
Democratic
Republic of
the Congo
Kuwait
New Zealand
Kazakhstan
Brazil
Lebanon
Papua New
Guinea
Kyrgyzstan
Bosnia and
Herzegovina
Russia
Bulgaria
Colombia
Ukraine
Croatia
Chile
Czech Republic
Dominican Republic
Denmark
Guyana
Finland
Honduras
Ethiopia
Gambia
Ghana
Liberia
Mali
Namibia
Nigeria
Rwanda
Senegal
Swaziland
South Africa
Tanzania
Togo
Uganda
Morocco
Oman
The United
Arab Emirates
France
Germany
Hungary
Italy
Canada
Mexico
Montserrat
Nicaragua
Peru
Luxembourg
Saint Vincent and the
Grenadines
Malta
Suriname
Montenegro
Trinidad and Tobago
Netherlands
United States
Norway
Venezuela
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
The Former
Yugoslav
Republic of
Macedonia
The United
Kingdom
Turkey