The MTN Uganda Foundation has today officially launched a partnership with the Forum for African Women Educationalists Uganda Chapter (FAWEU) to provide full cover University Education scholarships for ten (10) Ugandan girls from the four regions (Central, North, East, and West) of the country.
This will be a second round of a similar initiative; MTN sponsored 2 female students previously that completed their degrees earlier this year. These were in ICT related fields and the students are currently doing internships within the MTN environment.
The 10 girls were selected from 68 applications that FAWEU received from girls across the country with the desire to pursue undergraduate degrees in Information Technology related courses.
The sponsorship includes all program tuition and related fees, scholastic materials, meals, accommodation, basic personal requirements and career guidance & mentorship support.
MTN Uganda CEO Wim Vanhelleputte said, “At MTN one of our key priority areas is Education and we recognize the value in empowering women in the field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), because ICT is a tool through which gender equality and women empowerment can be advanced to create communities where both women and men can substantively contribute and participate to socio economic growth.”
We are delighted that the pilot project went on successfully and the beneficiaries have completed their studies and in fact one of them is now employed in the MTN IT hub.
In Uganda there is a lot of potential for ICT to stimulate economic growth, socioeconomic development and effective governance and through the MTN Foundation we are happy to provide an opportunity for these young women to achieve their dreams considering many young people are often hindered by their social and economic circumstances from developing a relationship with ICT, said the CEO.
On their part, the Executive Director FAWEU, M/s Christine Semambo Sempebwa, thanked MTN Foundation for the continuous support extended to FAWEU towards Education of under privilege girls over the years. “We encourage other corporate organizations and entities to join MTN in this noble cause.” In recognition of the crucial role that women play in development, FAWE’s mission is to ensure that girls and women are an integral part of the intellectual part of the intellectual and technical resources base needed for the survival and prosperity of Uganda and Africa at large.
MTN’s support for Education is of course rooted in various other initiatives, including the MTN Y’ello Care program whose proceeds over the last years have been used to extend ICT services to schools.
The MTN ICT bus has also, over the years, offered experiential learning to young children and has given many an opportunity to experience the power of technology as a tool for education, in most cases, for the very first time.
