Ooredoo Maldives opening new opportunities for social and economic development of Women

Ooredoo Maldives has signed as the platinum partner for Women on Boards, with the intention of working together to accomplish their mutual aim of connecting women and girls across the Maldives to new opportunities for development, empowering them to fulfil their dreams and ambitions.

Women on Boards is an influential local NGO dedicated to inspire and empower the next generation women to fill top hierarchy positions at all levels of the Maldives by unleashing their economic power.

Under this partnership, both institutions will support each other in carrying out meaningful initiatives that champion women and help them to overcome the barriers which prevent them from pursuing their own economic and social development.

On 25th February 2016 at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Ooredoo Maldives became one of the first GSMA operator members to endorse the Connected Women Commitment Initiative aimed at reducing the mobile gender gap. Together, these operators will seek to increase the proportion of their female customers using mobile internet and mobile financial services.

Ooredoo is also committed to supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls. Some key areas that Ooredoo is already focusing on to reduce the mobile gender divide include; improving digital literacy among women and girls through educational programmes and interactive content, strengthening gender diverse policies within the workplace to ensure equal opportunities to women and men, as well as engaging and supporting women and girls to contribute to and succeed in the technology field.

Chief Executive Officer of Ooredoo Maldives, Vikram Sinha said: “When women thrive, so do societies, businesses and economies. Mobile technology has a profound impact in providing women the opportunity to develop, to thrive and to achieve their dreams. As we work to ensure digital and financial inclusion for all women in the Maldives, we are pleased to partner with Women on Boards, whose expertise in empowering women will no doubt guide our efforts in the right direction”.

President of WOB, and former CEO of the Capital Market Development Authority (CMDA) Fathimath Shafeega said: The Women on Boards NGO is an initiative by a group of dynamic and charismatic ladies dedicated to inspire and empower the next generation women of the Maldives by unleashing their economic power. We are pleased to partner with a like-minded organisation such as Ooredoo, and welcome their support for our work to drive a more diverse and collective mind-set which incorporates a wider range of perspectives and therefore reaches more sensible national developmental decisions.

Ooredoo and Women on Boards have previously collaborated in carrying out the Smart Ideas for Women Challenge, which aimed to further understand some of the key challenges being faced by women across local communities and to create awareness on how technologies can provide smart solutions in tackling these issues.

Ooredoo was also the title sponsor of WOB’s “The Conference for Women” held in Bandos Island Resort last year, which provided breakthrough success strategies and insights for women of all ages.

Ooredoo Maldives will continue to develop new initiatives and services for female consumers and employees towards delivering the socio-economic benefits of greater inclusion of women in the telecommunications sector.