The Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Office of Assistance Coordination (NEA/AC) seeks to elevate a key untapped labor market to address increasing threats in cyberspace:
Women.
Women’s inclusion in cybersecurity addresses two challenges in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region:
1)
greater capacity for the private sector to combat cyber threats, and 2) increased job opportunities for women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) who face logistical and societal constraints to employment.
Enhancing the MENA region’s private sector cybersecurity capacity supports the U. S. government’s goal to foster inclusive economic growth and increase women’s participation in STEM-related fields.