While access to digital technologies has become synonymous with opportunities in today’s interconnected world, many women and girls in low- and middle-income countries across Africa face significant barriers that prevent them from easily accessing and effectively utilizing digital technologies.
These barriers limit their educational and economic opportunities. Studies across the globe show that 16% to 58% of women and girls have been targeted by violence online. Addressing these challenges is crucial for creating inclusive societies where everyone, regardless of gender, can benefit equally from the digital revolution.
Through the African Girls Can Code Initiative, a Pan-African initiative designed to nurture girls’ talents in Information Communication Technology or ICT and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics — or STEM — fields, UN Women is empowering girls aged 17-25 with coding and programming skills, fostering a new generation of female technology leaders.
About the author
Madalitso Wills KatetaMadatso_Kateta
Madalitso Wills Kateta is a Malawi-based Devex contributing reporter. He specializes in gender, human rights, climate change, politics, and global development reporting. He has written for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, The New Humanitarian, African Arguments, Equal Times, and others.
