From left: Jeffrey Avina, Director of Citizenship and Community Affairs, Microsoft Middle East and Africa, Silatech CEO Dr Tarik M Yousef, the Minister of Communication and Information Technology and former secretary-general of ictQatar H E Dr Hessa Sultan Al Jaber, and Microsoft Qatar General Manager Naim Yazbeck.
DOHA: Silatech and Microsoft yesterday signed an agreement renewing their commitment to provide online employability resources to Arab youth through the Ta3mal network.
The deal will see the activation of the Qatar portal, following successful project implementation in Egypt, Iraq and Tunisia.
The memorandum of understanding was signed by Silatech CEO Dr Tarik M Yousef and Microsoft Qatar General Manager Naim Yazbeck, in the presence of the Minister of Communication and Information Technology and former secretary-general of ictQatar, H E Dr Hessa Al Jaber, and Jeffrey Avina, Director of Citizenship and Community Affairs, Microsoft Middle East and Africa.
The network provides Arab youth with free access to resources, including personalised advice on how to write a CV, career guidance tools and virtual advising to help them determine the career path that best matches their aspirations.
Through a partnership with ALISON, a leading provider of free online courses, Ta3mal users have access to over 500 online courses to enhance their professional skills.
For aspiring entrepreneurs, Ta3mal offers information and tips for starting businesses and obtaining funding, as well as virtual mentoring and entrepreneurship support services, including advice on how to create a business plan and market a business idea. Youth unemployment in the Arab region is around 25 percent — the highest in any region in the world — and lack of access to quality employability resources is a substantial impediment to lowering unemployment rates.
Customised Ta3mal country portals have been launched in Egypt, Qatar, Iraq, and Tunisia, with plans to expand to more Arab countries.
Through coordination with local partners, Ta3mal will soon provide jobseekers a platform to search for entry-level job openings and internship opportunities in their areas. Country partners include Edupartage, Tunisiana, and ATUGE (Tunisia), USAID (Iraq), the Ministry of Youth (Egypt) and the Bedaya Centre (Qatar).
Dr Al Jaber said: “Qatar has long understood that encouraging and supporting innovation and entrepreneurship and spurring ICT adoption, particularly among our young people, will foster a thriving and diversified economy.
“I thank Microsoft and Silatech for their commitment to Qatar and the region. Our young people are our future. Empowering them to use ICT safely and effectively in their work and career choices is a top priority,” she added.
ictQatar is a participant in the Employability Resources for All Digital Alliance (eRADA), an initiative to develop and deploy web and mobile-based employability resources throughout the region to benefit Arab youth.
Yazbeck said: “As one of the fastest growing economies of the world, Qatar is keen to boost employability rates and remain the most competitive market in the region. Our partnership will allow us to invest our latest technologies to harness Qatar’s workforce and provide the youth with tools that will enable them to advance tomorrow’s knowledge-based economy.”
Avina said: “Microsoft is committed to providing the youth in the region with access to tools and technologies that will help them identify and secure career opportunities. Microsoft’s partnership with Silatech began in 2012 with ‘MasrTa3mal’ which resulted in high demand from countries across the Arab world to create similar employability portals.”
Dr Yousef said: “The Ta3mal network is a product of our joint commitment to provide widespread access to quality employability resources for the youth of this region. The Silatech-Microsoft partnership for Ta3mal shows what we can do when NGOs and the private sector join our complementary strengths and resources to achieve real impact.”
Through the Ta3mal initiative, Silatech and Microsoft aim at providing employability and entrepreneurship resources to over one million young people in the region this year.
The Peninsula
