National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) and Microsoft announced that they would be working in a partnership to establish community technology and learning centres across Pakistan, largely aimed at training women.
Extending the company's unlimited potential programme, Microsoft identified a strong and dynamic entity in NCHD, and thus, committed a grant of Rs 15 million to support NCHD project, which will commence immediately; this was stated by Dr Nasim Ashraf, Chairman NCHD, and Emre Berkin, Vice-President Microsoft for Europe, Middle East and Africa region.
The project aims to establish 16 community training and learning centres across the country, over a period of 12 months, ensuring full sustainability measures and standardised quality of training.
Rolled out over two phases, a strong partnership between Microsoft and NCHD will be essential to ensure a balance of local knowledge, partnership in both industries and communities and continued delivery of training to the candidates.
"We at the National Commission for Human Development are delighted to be partnering with Microsoft to realise our goal of starting a movement of social transformation," commented Dr Ashraf adding, "through empowering the women of rural areas to access ICT training, we believe that their skills will be passed on to their families, as well as improving their opportunities for employment, benefiting the community at large."
"Innovative partnerships are a central tenet of our social transformation strategy. Microsoft's Unlimited Potential programme offered us the ideal partner with whom to take ICT to the masses in Pakistan and we share their ideals of improving lifelong learning and transforming communities."
The project aims at enabling rural women with basic IT skills. The key to the project was building a partnership that leveraged the core skills of each partner, with local relevance and knowledge.
By offering basic IT training to these women, the project can enable them to learn skills.
These skills will enable them to contribute to the economy as well as developing themselves.
Unemployed matriculate females will be trained in basic computer skills and data entry so they can earn livelihood at home. NCHD and Microsoft will work towards getting them contracts so these centres will also become self-sustaining after two years.
The unlimited potential programme selected the NCHD project, as it encapsulated Microsoft's commitment to brining the benefits of IT to the citizens of Pakistan, whether they are working in the rural villages, studying in university lecture halls or setting up a small business.
Microsoft's unlimited potential grant will fund computers, software and furniture.
NCHD will manage the project on the ground co-ordinating activities such as identifying the districts for setting up these centres and selecting venues for the training centres.
The unlimited potential programme is a global initiative that will focus on improving lifelong learning for disadvantaged young people and adults by providing technology skills through community technology and learning centres (CTLCs).
"Microsoft believes that by providing technical skills training to disadvantaged individuals, we can partner to create social and economic opportunities that can change the peoples' lives and transform communities".