Digital technologies are revolutionizing the way we access information, financing, and networks—all critical tools for fully participating in any economy. Yet, these technologies, most notably internet connectivity and mobile phones, are not reaching all people equally. EDUCARE is partnering with Orange Foundation, Orange Liberia, and the UN Women to look at one of the most pressing barriers women face
to their economic advancement; the gender digital divide and how we can address this problem.
The gender digital divide is the gap between women’s and men’s information and communications technology (ICT) access and use. When women are kept offline, everyone is worse off. Digital technologies serve as a vital gateway for women to access the tools and resources needed to start and fund businesses, reach new markets, learn life-saving health information, engage in decision making and political participation, discover new ideas and concepts, build confidence, and gain essential skills for the digital age. Their ability to contribute to their families and their communities is significantly enhanced with greater access and productive use of ICT.
In Liberia in particular, there is the need to do so much more because reaching women now offline with technology will require increased creativity and intention as these segments are typically more rural, less educated, and face greater economic and socio-cultural barriers to getting online. This project is currently been implemented as an innovative program to reduce women’s exclusion from the benefits of ICT from the sidelines to being a driving force and target for effective, long-term poverty reduction.
We aim to get women participating in the economy of Liberia, particularly in the Digital Financial sector by leveraging their success in mobile money to transition to other fin-tech services such as the UN Women Buy from Women project and others in Liberia
The partnership enabled Educare to deployed and set up Digital Hubs at two rural women’s peace huts. The digital center was created to empower women and girls so they access and use digital technology for the advancement of their livelihood, their
participation within the workforce sustainably, succeeding as entrepreneurs, and enabled in the socio, political space of the country
The program aims to address gender and class-based barriers to women’s access to digital information, so women and girls can become active conveyors of ideas and information through their use of digital ICTs rather than be passive recipients of information