Burundi Innovation Hub officially launches Miss Tech Burundi 2019: Highlights

The Miss Tech Burundi 2019 official launch, an initiative by Burundi Innovation Hub, took place today on October 17, 2019, in the premises of the International School of Bujumbura (southern part of Bujumbura town).

The Miss Tech Burundi 2019 competition is slated to run from October 17, 2019, through October 30, 2019. The Miss Tech Burundi 2019 session will focus on ‘expanding horizons and changing attitudes’.

THE BIG PICTURE: The theme for this year’s event of Miss Tech is “Empowering girls with digital skills for a brighter future”. The event brings to the fore the girls ‘talents which are naturally inhibited due to a lack of social and cultural support.

‘Integrate Burundi girls into the IT sector’

Miss Tech Burundi empowers girls to keep abreast with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills in order to cope with today’s life challenges.

“When we started BiHub there were only three girls in a hundred boys. Now we have tackled the issue of gender gap and disparity, we have relatively enough girls taking a big step in the technology field in Burundi”, Natacha Nduwimana,Co-Founder of BiHub, told RegionWeek.

Miss Tech Burundi urges Burundi girls to join today’s technologies, Engineering and Mathematics in order to use them in a bid to solve social conflicts and to ‘facilitate the integration of girls in inclusive and fair Burundi’.

Natacha Nduwimana, Burundi Innovation Hub Co-Founder said that the objective of Miss Technology is to ‘inspire more girls to enter STEM education and to reduce the digital gender divide’.

Miss Tech Burundi integrates all girls impartially in today’s technologies such as ‘designing, programming some software and mobile applications (Android) using Java and Html technologies’, Natacha Nduwimana added.

‘Winners of Miss Tech Burundi 2019 to be awarded’

The winners of the Miss tech Burundi will be prized according to their rankings. The first winner of Miss Tech will get a brand new laptop worth 1000 000 BIF, cash of 500000FBU, travel to an international conference and coaching from BIHUb for 6months.

The second winner of Miss Tech Burundi 2019 will get a brand new phone worth 500 000 BIF and coaching from BIHUb, Natacha Nduwimana announced.

“We thank our sponsors and partners such as HIGHERLIFE Foundation in Burundi and #BOECKBC1 in Germany who made it possible that this event takes place”, Natacha Nduwimana added.

Natacha Nduwimana thanks Burundi Government through the Ministry of Education for its stepped up efforts to bring forth this event in helping girls to get needed knowledge about Information and Communication Technologies.

‘The ICTs expand the girls’ opportunities’

The Director-General of International School began to appreciate the already taken step. He said that ICTs are taught in his school.

“The new information technology makes it possible to search for opportunities and help students to get by in the field of ICTs and encourages other schools to get involved in the Africa Code Week Initiative competition for the best in a bid to win”, the Director said.

The Director added that ‘to train students in this new technology, the strategy used by Bujumbura International School is to get secondary students to learn these new ICTs skills’.

The students of the International School are interested in this field. The Director asks the BiHub to help him in integrating this curriculum into the International School program.

‘Girls encouraged to use their time wisely and engage in IT activities’

Mrs. Director of Burundi English School first thanked the BiHub initiative and talked on the importance of using ICTs in everyday life.

She inspired young people in general and girls, in particular, to use their time wisely and provide so much effort to develop their skills.

She told girls to demonstrate their talents because they are able to do things as good as boys. She ended by appreciating the BIHUB initiatives and calling on the BIHUB to step up their efforts in helping girls n the ICTs field.

‘Computer skills, a prerequisite of today’s world’

Brondon Niguel of Global Peace Chain thanked the BiHub for its initiative to promote ICTs skills for girls and women.

Brondon Niguel said that inspiring young people, especially girls, falls in the part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

“The Information and Communication Technologies field is a requisite element in everyday life in order to cope with today’s life challenges”, Brondon Niguel told attendees.

Brondon called for girls and women to be engaged in the ICTs and to love them, thus have a passion to grow in this field of Computer technologies.

The ceremonies to officially launch the Miss Tech Burundi 2019 event were officiated by Burundi Innovation Hub in partnership with the Burundi Government through the Ministry of Education.

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