By proving mettle at Huawei competition, three girls show Hijab no bar to excellence

ISLAMABAD: It is generally considered that women cannot excel in their profession until they are not dressed up as per requirement of the modern-day life, but the three Hijab wearing Pakistani girls not only made way to the ‘Huawei Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Competition 2022’ but also showed their prowess at an international forum.

After going through various multiple-choice questions and situational judgment tests, the three girl students of low-ranked universities of Pakistan were selected for the Regional Finals held in Muscat, Oman from December 21, to 22, 2022.

The girls along with three male counterparts were chosen from 12,000 students of 135 universities who had taken nationwide test.

Fatima Shafique from Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET), Jamshoro, and Eman Yaqoob, and Maryam Fareed from Lahore College for Women University (LCWC), all Hijab wearing girls, have excelled their skills in the ICT sector as evident from their selection for Huwawei competition.

The three girls, in an interaction with APP, expressed their gratitude to the Huawei Pakistan for providing them an international platform and necessary training to refine their ICT skills in order to compete in the mega event.

They said it was just the beginning of their professional career.

They had been offered for an internship programme by the Huawei Pakistan, which would help polish their ICT skills and make considerable progress in the practical life, they added.

Dispelling the impression that wearing Hijab could be a barrier to their professional life, they claimed that they were making significant advancements in the technology industry and Hijab was no more a hindrance in that regard.

Vice President of Huawei Middle East and Central Asia Shunli Wang told APP that his organization was working on ‘women empowerment’ by providing equal opportunities to the girl students across the region.

He said there were 15 teams comprising 45 students from 11 countries, out of them 19 girls were given ‘Women in Tech’ awards to acknowledge their ICT skills.

He said the novel initiative, besides opening new vistas of opportunities, would help bring the women in the mainstream of the society professionally and economically.

Shunli Wang further said, “Huawei is committed to supporting and nurturing young ICT talent in the region.

Through this mega event, Huawei aims to empower the youth to advance their ICT skills, hence contribute to the talent ecosystem, and support accelerating digital economies.”

He said,”We believe in the power of open collaboration with our partners in the public and private sectors, alongside academia to nurture the skills of the young ICT talents and encourage them to participate in achieving the national goals and visions of their respective countries.”

He further informed that the competition was one of several corporate social responsibility initiatives undertaken by Huawei in the region to train the youth of the day in the ICT sector. Over 80,000 students across the region had participated in the contest since its launch in 2017 and it witnessed a remarkable increase in students with every passing year, he maintained.