Women in Technology (WIT) Program
was initiated in October, 2005 in Yemen. It is sponsored
by the Middle East Partnership
Initiative (MEPI) and is supervised by the
Institute of International Education (IIE) in San
Francisco, USA. It is implemented by SOUL. The WIT
program offers training in IT covering both Basic and
advance computer skills, in addition to
training in Professional Development Skills and
Entrepreneurship. Since its inception,
it has graduated 2071 female in basic computer skills,
139 in advance computer skills and even though male are
not the main target group, WIT has graduated 308 male.
Moreover, 95 graduates have found employment and 66
graduates participated in internships. Further,
partnership between the private sector and civil society
has been enhanced as the program endeavors to involve
the private sector in all aspects of the program.
Also, the WIT program worked
toward strengthening relationship between program
graduates through the establishment of WIT forums at all
partner organizations. These forums have helped
participants to stay connected, share ideas and hold
seminars and awareness sessions for their communities in
various topics of interest such us: HI NI, breast
cancer, negative impact of qat, steps to achieve
success, presentation skills ..etc. In addition, the
forum designed their own website:
http://www.witforum-ye.net/ which give forums’
members the opportunity to highlight their activities
and express their views.
Furthermore, SOUL has succeeded
in expanding the program to another five governorates in
Yemen through establishing partnership with like- minded
organizations. Through these partnerships, partner
organizations in Aden, Taiz, Hodiedah, Hadramout and Ibb
were able, not just to offer the training to youth in
their areas, but also to benefit from the capacity
building programs and the training offered to their
staff and trainers, which contributed to building their
institutional capacities. In 2007, the WIT program won
the Islamic Bank Development Award on: “Best
Program that Contributes to Women’s Economic Empowerment
through IT”, and in June, 2009 Women in
Technology (WIT) Yemen received a 'Best Practice'
award for its outstanding contribution towards improving
the living environment by the United Nations Human
Settlements Programme (UN Habitat) and the Municipality
of Dubai, UAE.
Due to the success and
achievements of WIT program in Yemen, the funding agency
decided to expand the program to another eight countries
in the region namely: Bahrain, Jordan, UAE, Oman,
Morocco, Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Today, program
staff in Yemen is approached by other countries in the
region to conduct trainings, participate in conferences
and share their experiences with other organizations
that implement the program in MENA region.
