24 May 2012
The first Kazakhstan competition for female students on free and Open Source software development is to take place on 25-27 May in Almaty. The event will be held after the World Telecommunications and Information Society Day that is globally celebrated on May 17.
"This will be the first such event in Central Asia,” says Ms. Alia Ilyasova, Kazakhstan Portfolio Manager at the UN Women Sub-regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. “This competition will contribute to the priority development themes in the country. The websites' themes could include such issues as the role of women in decision-making, strengthening the economic security and rights of women, defending women’s rights and ending violence against them."The Competition will take place at the Central Asian Technological and Economic College (CAPEC). Partners: UNESCO Cluster Office in Almaty, UN Women Sub-regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Office of the United Nations Department of Public Information / United Nations Information Office in the Republic of Kazakhstan, UNFPA Office in Almaty, and portals: iport.kz and total.kz. The competition will support talented female software developers and promote FOSS for development.
A round table will be organized during the competition to discuss issues on the use of FOSS in Kazakhstan and elaborate recommendations to strengthen legal, financial and social environment of ICT use.
Since September 2011, three such competitions have taken place in Almaty, with more than 25 sites developed by competing students. Web sites content developed has included sport themes such as "drifting" and snowboarding, websites of schools and colleges, IT news, blogs, and ICT Literacy, nature and leisure in Kazakhstan.
In 2012, the increased participation of girls in the competitions led to the decision to create a separate Kazakhstan championship for female students.
The links:
Championship portal: http://fsf.kz/en
Girls in ICT:
http://girlsinict.org
UNESCO Almaty Office: http://www.unesco.org/almaty
United Nations Information Office in Kazakhstan: http://kazakhstan.unic.org
UN Women Sub-regional Office for Eastern Europe and Central Asia
http://unwomen-eeca.org
UNFPA Almaty http://www.unfpa.org/public/
Youth Peer Education Network http://y-peer.kz/
Tags: Inclusive Knowledge Societies, Open Solutions
Permanent link: http://en.unesco.kz/first-ict-competition-for-girls