By: Shegaw Yemataw
Ethiopian Minister of Innovation and Technology, Yeshirun Alemayehu has emphasized the critical need to close the digital gap and ensure that vulnerable populations, including refugees and displaced persons, have access to and benefit from digital technologies.
A social dialogue on the national five years digital inclusion strategy was held under the theme "building consensus for a future of inclusive digital access and decent work opportunities”.
The work shop aimed to improve access to host communities and forcibly displaced people to education, social protection and decent work.
The state minister at the Ethiopian ministry of innovation and technology, Yeshirun Alemayehu, indicated that technology is an enabler to bridge the digital divide and promote inclusion for displaced individuals and refugees in the digital realm.
He also outlined that the five year digital inclusive strategy is vital to create jobs and foster economic inclusion, ultimately benefitting both forcibly displaced individuals and the communities hosting them.
Stephen OPIO, Chief technical advisor at International Labor Organization indicated that Ethiopia is making significant strides in digital inclusion for its people, noting over 35% of its people have access to internet.
He also briefed the need to scale up the promotion, inclusion and protection of refugees in the digital economy for Ethiopia as it is hosting over 1.1 million refugees.
He also commended the Ethiopia’s 5 million coders’ imitative as it creates decent job opportunities for citizens.
The workshop organized by the ministry of innovation and technology and the international labor organization seeks to leverage the potential of the digital economy to create jobs and foster economic inclusion, ultimately benefiting both forcibly displaced individuals and the communities hosting them.