TASHKENT -- The US State Department is funding the Technovation Uzbekistan project, which aims to promote the role of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), the US Embassy in Tashkent said in a statement July 10. The amount of funding was not reported.
The project is among 70 winners of the State Department's 2018 Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF) competition, which attracted 1,300 entries.
A team of alumnae from the State Department's TechWomen exchange programme, which supports female leaders in STEM from Africa, Central and South Asia and the Middle East, designed the project.
The alumnae, alongside volunteer mentors drawn from business leaders, teachers, students and other professionals, will help recruit and coach local girls' teams to participate in the Technovation Challenge, the world's largest technology competition for girls ages 10-18.
The competition "inspires and empowers young women to solve problems in their community using technology and entrepreneurship", the statement said.
The AEIF, managed by the State Department, has been providing small grants to teams of participants of US exchange programmes since 2011. It has so far supported 360 initiatives and projects across the world, said the statement.
The themes of this year's competition were the following: Fostering Economic Prosperity; Building Civic Participation, Good Governance and Resilient Communities; Advancing Science, Technology, Health and Innovation; Promoting Inclusion and Educational Opportunity; and Empowering Women and Girls.
