Ambassador Grappo speaking at the Symposium

Ambassador Opens World Leaders Symposium Program on Women in Technology
April 1, 2009

Muscat – On Wednesday, April 1, Ambassador Gary A. Grappo welcomed a group of American travelers visiting Oman as part of the World Leaders Symposium.  During more the two weeks in the region, the group – totaling over 240 visitors – have traveled to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar before arriving in Oman.

While in Muscat, Symposium participants are looking at the role that women play in Omani culture and society.  The Ambassador provided the formal opening to a half-day discussion taking an in-depth look at one U.S. government-funded program, Women in Technology (WIT), which is part of the Embassy’s participation in the regional Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI).  MEPI builds bridges between the U.S. and the Middle East by collaborating on projects that give citizens of the region a greater say in decisions impacting their daily lives and more opportunities to participate fully in all aspects of their societies.

“What makes MEPI programming special,” the Ambassador told the group, “is its focus on the P in the program's acronym:  partnership.  In Oman, the government’s intense and continuing emphasis on creating a better future for all its citizens has proven fertile ground for MEPI-style collaboration, whether in working together to create innovative programs in education at the primary and secondary level, supporting professional development for Oman's rapidly growing legal system, expanding trade and business opportunities, or, as with WIT, giving Omani women vital life skills.”

Joining the Ambassador to discuss WIT were a number of the program’s leaders, supporters, and beneficiaries, including Shafiqa al-Khusaibi, WIT’s program manager; Sangeetha Sridhar, Business Content Consultant at the Oman Information Technology Authority; Sarah Jackson, country director at AMIDEAST; and Badryia al-Siyabi, founder of the Sidab Women’s Sewing Group.

Since its founding in 2006, Women in Technology has reached over 1,300 Omani women at 11 centers across the country who have participated in WIT's Unlimited Potential curriculum and its Professional Development Skills workshops.  The program has generated additional partnerships with corporations like Microsoft and Nestlé, and garnered significant cooperation from entities such as the National Bank of Oman, Oman International Bank, Sultan Qaboos University, and the Dar al-Atta.  WIT not only gives women concrete skills that help them move into the workplace, it fosters social and professional networking both domestically and internationally and makes mothers better able to understand (and participate in) the technological opportunities their daughters and sons will have.  Thanks to its innovative cost-recovery model, WIT is also a model of self-sustaining development that enables its centers to employ trainers, cover overhead costs, and offer scholarships to deserving women.