Studies reveal that women and children, especially those without adequate parental care, often face significant barriers in accessing digital tools and the Internet.
In an increasingly digital world, this divide limits their access to healthcare, education, and employment.
SOS Children’s Villages works globally to provide community computer hubs and digital skills training among other locally relevant initiatives.
However, access to technology alone does not close the digital gender gap.
Long standing societal norms and traditional gender stereotypes continue to limit women and girls from entering digital or STEM (Science, technology, engineering or maths) related careers.
Bridging the Digital Gender Gap
To address this issue, SOS Children’s Villages introduced the ‘Gender Mainstreaming in ICT4D’ toolkit last year. This toolkit is designed to use ICT as a catalyst for community-wide change and to promote gender equality.
Initiatives in both Benin and Zimbabwe have both shown encouraging results. Programmes led by SOS Children’s Villages Benin and SOS Children’s Villages Zimbabwe achieved a 92% graduation rate among girls in advanced graphic skills and digital freelance training provided by Learnio Academy, who supported the initiative.
Remarkably, in Zimbabwe, 28% of the young women who took part secured employment even before graduating, while 70% of those from Benin have committed to further enhancing their digital skills to pursue STEM careers.
Empowering Women and Girls through Technology
In Zimbabwe, Ivy, who took part in the training and mentoring programme, used her newfound graphic design skills to successfully secure consistent freelance work.
Since graduating with top honours, Ivy has become a role model in her community, advocating for gender equality, and actively participating in discussions about breaking gender-based stereotypes.
The training and mentoring programme, facilitated in collaboration with Learnio Academy, showcases the potential for future growth and expansion.
A women-only cohort for the Learnio Academy programme in Benin, financed by DPD DHL, was launched as a response to decreasing registration and rising dropout rates among female participants.
This initiative successfully delivered high-quality training and mentorship in graphic design and digital freelancing to 39 young women. Since taking part in the programme a group of these trainees is set to launch ‘Bénin numérique: Eduquer pour Innover’ (Digital Benin: Educate to Innovate), an initiative that aims to teach digital skills to rural youth and help rural associations digitise their micro-enterprises.
Another group from the cohort is also developing ‘Go Tech Connect,’ an online platform for web designers and developers in Benin to collaborate, exchange ideas, and work together on innovative projects.
Continuing the Path to Equality
The gender mainstreaming initiative has consistently demonstrated significant success in bridging the digital gender gap and advancing gender equality.
By wholeheartedly embracing these guidelines, we can guarantee that our ICT4D projects are not only at the forefront of technological innovation but also champions of social progress, building a more inclusive digital future for all.