Alfa believes in ending gender discrimination in job recruitment. As a telecommunications company, we realize the need for more women to be present in the field of Information and Communications Technology. Even though over 40% of the total employees of Alfa are women (including 15% of the Board of Directors and 29% of management), we still feel the need to include more women in the field.
As such, you will find the initiatives we have undertaken to encourage women to enter this field and consider it as a potential career path.
On the 27th of April 2017, and for the 5th time in a row, we celebrated Girls in ICT Day at Alfa (with the participation of 37 female students from 7 different high schools). This day is set by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to encourage young girls to actively engage in studies in the ICT domain and enhance their knowledge in the sector.
The girl students were welcomed at Alfa and after being introduced to the ICT world, they explored Alfa’s various entities through a guided visit. Later, they met with Alfa ICT female role models and got acquainted with tasks and activities they take part in. Finally, they took part in a competition tackling Data Sciences where they researched the fundamentals of interpreting data and performing analysis and presented their use in different industries.
This year for the first time in the Middle East, Lebanon and Alfa Telecom were chosen to take part in a live broadcast joining our participants to the “Girls in ICT Day” event organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Geneva and Lithuania.
Speeches were given by the ITU Deputy Secretary-General, Ambassador of Lithuania in Geneva, Ambassador of Lebanon in Geneva as well as the ITU Development Bureau Director (BDT).
The participating girls from the 3 countries also took part in an online quiz where a student from Lebanon won second place
On the 05 th of May 2016: on the occasion of the internationally- celebrated “Girls in ICT Day,” a day set by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in order to encourage young girls to actively engage in studies in the ICT domain and enhance their knowledge about the sector, Alfa organized, for the 4th consecutive year, a celebration with the participation of 26 female students from 9 different high schools.
The female students arrived at Alfa and after hearing presentations of what ICT actually entails, they took part in activities where they toured the different sections and departments at Alfa, and saw the women who work in the domain, and got acquainted with the work they do on the ground. They took part in activities about internet security and a competition where they researched about the internet of things and presented the different aspects of it.
On the 07 th of May 2015: on the occasion of the internationally- celebrated “Girls in ICT Day,” a day set by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in order to encourage young girls to actively engage in studies in the ICT domain and enhance their knowledge about the sector, Alfa organized, for the 3rd consecutive year, a celebration with the participation of 32 female students from 7 different schools.
The female students arrived at Alfa and after hearing presentations of what ICT actually entails, they took part in activities where they toured the different sections and departments at Alfa, and saw the women who work in the domain, and got acquainted with the work they do on the ground. After which they took part in a competition where they imagined the school of 2015 and presented their creative and innovative ideas, laying truth to the fact that women have a large role to play in the ICT sector.
on May 08 th 2014: On the occasion of the internationally- celebrated “Girls in ICT Day,” a day set by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in order to encourage young girls to actively engage in studies in the ICT domain and enhance their knowledge about the sector, Alfa organized a celebration with the participation of 25 female students from different schools.
This initiative aimed at contributing to the career guidance of the female students who are about to choose their university major, and comes as part of alfa’s commitment to enhance the role of women in the telecommunications sector, which plays an essential role in the economy and contributes around 9% to the GDP.
It is worth to note that women constitute around 40% of the workforce of alfa, and around 21% of them work in departments related to technology.
The celebration consisted of a field visit to several technology departments that allowed the girls to get introduced to the network operative equipment. This field visit aimed at briefing the girls about the employment opportunities that await them in the sector.
The day was then followed by live interactions with women employees and managers in the technology sector, which allowed the girls to benefit from the experiences of the Alfa women team and get introduced to the daily work flow in the company.
The event was then concluded by a competition between the girls on inventing a mobile application for smartphones that benefits the community, which allowed to showcase the girls’ creativity in the technology field and to encourage the sports spirit amongst them.
The event comes at a time the role of the telecommunications sector is growing in every aspect of our lives, and the active participation of women in developing the sector is considered of high importance.
This initiative is part of alfa’s commitment to encourage girls to participate and engage in the ICT sector and to have a better understanding of employment opportunities offered to them in this field; especially with Alfa being a main supporter for the integration of women in the workplace with women constituting about half the number of employees in the company.
The event was an opportunity for girls to interact with women managers holding key jobs and administrative positions within the company in the technology department. This also allowed the students to benefit from the Alfa women’s experiences and ask about all the details related to this sector that is now playing a key role in people's lives by facilitating communication among them.
Alfa seeks through this initiative to contribute to guiding the professional career of young female students who are on the verge of choosing their university majors, and encourage them to enter the field of information and communication technologies.
