Ashraf AboArafe
The Swedish Embassy in Cairo hosted a technical event titled “Tekla” on March 8 and 9 on the occasion of the celebration of International Women’s Day. This celebration, which was attended by the Swedish Ambassador, Jan Thesleff, aims to encourage Egyptian students to join various fields of science and technology. This event was organized in cooperation with the Swedish Institute and the Royal Institute of Technology “KTH” and “Ericsson” and with technical support from the “Trade Line Stores” group.
* Inspirational artwork!
The first day included a technical workshop that included 27 Egyptian students between the ages of 12 to 15 years from Wadi Degla Language School. The workshop aimed to encourage students to learn some skills in coding and artificial intelligence in addition to identifying different ways of using sensors and lasers, and the result was Inspirational artwork combining technology and color.
* Artificial intelligence!
Ericsson also presented a workshop for girls on artificial intelligence and innovation to encourage them to learn more about information and communications technology (ICT).
* Professional!
On the second day of “Tekla” activities, a panel discussion was held with the participation of a group of professional experts from the business sector, the public sector and some academics, where they addressed the issue of the representation of women and girls in the fields of technology, science and engineering. Some of the proposals that would enhance the participation of women in these areas were also discussed.
* Collection!
The committee included Dr. Noha Khater, professor of ophthalmology at Cairo University, the founder of Mounir Center, the first digital center in Egypt to treat eye diseases caused by diabetes, Walid Ramli, head of the business sector in the electronic recruitment platform “Wazaf” and Randa El Sawy, media officer for the Middle East and North Africa Ericsson and Dr. Sharif Al-Qassas, a professor of engineering sciences at the American University in Cairo.
* Yasmine Mostafa.. NASA!
The discussion also included younger generations Yasmine Mostafa, the youngest 22-year-old researcher in environmental engineering who won the 2015 International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) for her Earth and Environmental Sciences project. In 2016, her name was given to an asteroid discovered by NASA.
Swedish Ambassador to Egypt Jan Thesleff said that he is very happy to host the Tekla event in Egypt, to be the first African and Arab country to participate in this event, which aims to encourage women and girls to join various disciplines of technology and science, there are only 30% of researchers of women in the world. Therefore, he hopes that future generations will have a role in increasing this percentage. He continued: “Egypt is a wonderful country with a population of 100 million people and half of them are women. During the past two and a half years of my stay in Egypt, I used to meet every day talented and ambitious Egyptian women in the business and government sector. ”
* Gender equality!
“Ericsson Egypt will celebrate International Women’s Day this year by holding events and workshops in cooperation with experts from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm (KTH), with the aim of achieving added value for girls, and we believe in Gender equality, as well as the need to provide a platform for discussion about challenges facing women such as stereotypes and norms that cause gender imbalances in terms of science, technology and innovation, in an attempt to find solutions through dialogue and training. ”, addaed Thesleff.
* I pads!
On the other hand, Tradeline, in its role as an authorized agent for Apple International, supplied students during the event with iPads to help them in the process of learning the basics of programming. She added: “The company was keen to take care of the event because of our belief in the active role of women in all fields, especially in the field of technology and education, which in turn is based on the formation and development of children and the breadth of their perceptions.”
* Sweden & Egypt.. Green Chapter!
This event comes as part of the Swedish embassy’s continuous cooperation with Egypt in the areas of education and women’s empowerment, as in December 2019 the embassy, with the support of the Swedish business community in Egypt and in partnership with the Tree Foundation, launched the Green Chapter initiative to promote sustainable development goals in Egypt and to raise awareness of future leaders about environment. The project also seeks to reduce the density of classes and create a green space for students. As the Ambassador mentioned earlier in the opening of the project, “If children learn how to take care of nature, they also learn to take care of themselves.”
to all.. 
