Gone are the days when technology was seen as a sector only for men. The International Day of the Girl Child focuses on celebrating this gender that has kept on breaking barriers in every field it is found.
Although girls are, most times, neglected, they never quit. Rather, their passion keeps getting fuelled by the determination to break through the glass ceiling put by the society as a result of gender biases.
The resilience of the girl in ensuring that this generation not only sees her need but supports and applauds her as and when due started yielding fruit, as top decision making bodies, over the years, realised the need to celebrate the girl.
The International Day of the Girl Child is a yearly event that takes place on October 11. It is an international observance day declared by the United Nations towards empowering and amplifying the voice of every girl around the world. The day affirms the girl’s role in ensuring a better society while protecting her rights in the world that is yet to be free from gender violence, discrimination and the like.
Research has proven that women represent half of the world’s population and as such are needed to effectively accelerate sustainable development.
Although the girl child day initiative began as a non-governmental mission to address the global challenges faced by girls, during the 1995 World Conference on Women in Beijing, China, there came the need for an event (the first blueprint) that will focus on girls.
To this end, a resolution was made to declare October 11 as the world day of the girl child and the UN general assembly quickly adopted it.
This year’s theme, ‘Digital Generation, Our Generation’, is an expression of the cry in the heart of most girls in our society today. They may sound hard, direct, or even demanding, but these are clearly stated words of the girl, who is demanding equal digital access with the boy. She demands an increase in programmes that support digital literacy for girls, so that they can reasonably and safely access, use and lead teams that design technology. The world has gone digital and she refuses to be left behind. She is fully aware that digital literacy and inclusion will give her access to new learning, leading and earning abilities.
On October 11, several organisations and individuals celebrated the girl by putting out content on different platforms. Some organisations went as far as organising programmes for the even. But the underlying question is “what happens after the celebration?” What measures are being put in place to ensure that these girls have access to digital literacy?
GoDo Hub, an organisation with a broad vision of bridging the gender digital divide in Africa today has been known for using Techamaka, its digital literacy programme, to empower girls and arouse their interest in Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics careers.
Running most of these training programmes is expensive, given that the materials needed to ensure that all the girls at different training centres get maximum attention and training are seldom easy to come by.
As individuals or organisations, you can take a step further from the usual yearly celebration to donate or partner with this programme, in order to effect meaningful changes in the digital status of these young girls for life.
