The University of Bahrain (UoB), one of the most prestigious educational institutes in the Middle East and Africa has launched a new project to encourage skilled and ambitious women to take up opportunities the Kingdom has to offer to its female entrepreneurs.
The new initiative, dubbed Forsati for Her, is a joint effort by the University of Bahrain, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Think Smart, Tamkeen (labor fund), and Microsoft.
Forsati for Her will see the UoB providing quality education and extensive training to 3,000 female programmers. The top-30 of these participants will get a chance to set up their tech businesses with help from the partners sponsoring the program.
“The road to becoming more than a knowledge economy but an innovation economy starts with having skilled human capital,” UoB President Prof Riyad Hamzah said about the new initiative.
The project is designed to serve as a key component in the university’s five-year Transformation Plan, first launched in 2016. Under the five year plan, the university will focus on making science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education more attractive to students across genders and age groups. Additionally, it will also aim to achieve broader participation in digital literacy.
“With the launch of Bahrain FinTech Bay and the StartUp Bahrain initiative, it is right timing that we can support a project designed to develop highly skilled female programmers,’’ the UoB president added. “The digital economy requires talent and infrastructure; here at UOB we have the talent.” He added
