Ambassador Melanne Verveer

An extensive panel of women was present at the final session of the Global Forum including the keynote speaker, Melanne Verveer, US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues.  The ambassador emphasized that ITC enables women in developing countries to succeed.  To illustrate this point, she told the story of a female farmer from India who cultivates lilies. Once this woman obtained a cell phone, she could find markets for her business while picking lilies.  The result was that she saved time and money.

The ambassador was recently in China, where she visited a training center outside Beijing made by and for women.  Here girls from remote areas were brought together to learn how to use computers.  It is a true success story because not a single one was jobless after leaving the training center.  While pointing out there is definitely a gender gap in the world, Ambassador Verveer “sees the power that IT represents.”  Though pressed for time, the ambassador agreed to answer questions and wanted to hear what other countries were doing for women in technology.