Myat Hnin Phyu ,Senior Manager of Digital Services with the award. Photo: Ooredoo
Ooredoo Myanmar has announced it was awarded the GSMA’s “Connected Women: Leadership in Industry Award” for its work to empower women in Myanmar.
The ceremony was hosted during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, according to a press release on March 8.
The company says it has worked to grow the female digital economy and empower women in Myanmar through a variety of initiatives since the commercial launch of its services in August 2014.
These include educational outreach programmes that increase female digital awareness and access to mobile services such as maternal healthcare app, MayMay; community initiatives that encourage women to become digital entrepreneurs such as Geek Girls; and promoting women as industry leaders through Myanmar’s first-ever Connected Women conference hosted in coordination with USAID and the GSMA, an association of mobile operators.
Mr Ross Cormack, CEO Ooredoo Myanmar who collected the award said his team in Myanmar are pioneers, developing innovative solutions that speak to real issues affecting women in the Myanmar market today.
“In addition to the positive impact these initiatives are creating in our market, the ideas are also scalable and we are in the process of adapting some of these for roll-out across Ooredoo’s global Ooredoo is a committed partner to the GSMA’s Connected Women programme, which is focused on the socio-economic benefits of greater inclusion of women at all points in the mobile industry continuum from consumer to employee to leaders,” he said.
Mr Cormack said that a recent report says the GSMA found that in low- and middle- income countries women are 14 percent less likely to own a mobile phone than men, which translates into 200 million fewer women than men owning mobile phones.
Working with the GSMA’s Connected Women Programme, Ooredoo is currently undertaking a study in Myanmar that will offer critical insights into the socio-economic benefits of greater inclusion of women in the nation’s telecommunications sector. The findings will be used to develop initiatives and services specifically tailored for female consumers and employees, the press release says.