Women and Tech
Connectivity is a solution to marginalization.
Melinda Gates included this in her and Bill Gate’s annual letter. This year the theme was on things that surprised them in their work over the past year, and on that list was how radically different a woman in a low-income country’s life becomes when she has a cell phone in her hand.
It sounds odd, right? As a 19 year old I carry my phone in my hand at all times, and when I think about it, a phone is quite powerful. Not only am I connected to family and friends, or have a constant source of entertainment and news, but it is also a valuable tool. I can look up when prices change for my favorite products, I can handle my finances, and keep track of my health and life changes. In that same way, think of how easier and accessible the world can become for a woman in a low income country: she can stay up on price changes in local markets, hold autonomy over her own bank account, and keep track of her reproductive cycles. She can share information with friends (and call on them for support), and gain connections with professionals and organizations or even potential business partners.
It seems quite obvious, that we should create a new norm for women to access technology. But it is unfortunate that there lays a disparity between those who own cell phones and those who don’t— and women are disproportionately on the bottom. And this exists regardless of age or race and even your economic and educational background. For one there is the stigma and there is also a factor of cost. Women simply don’t have the technological literacy to perform in an equitable way.
But that’s changing.
There are more programs all over the world that are striving to make this an issue of the past. In Indonesia, a company called Go-Jek is improving the social welfare and livelihood for people through all sectors of life. In Kenya, the Ministry of Information, Communications, and Technology has created the Digital Literacy Program that ensures technological devices in primary schools across the nation. And in Nigeria, UNESCO created the Revitalizing Youth and Adult Literacy (RYAL) project that helps to deliver digital materials to schools as well.
There are stories and projects like these all over the world, and they are worth diving in to.
Read more here.
And look at the Global Financial Inclusion Database ( or the Global Findex Report), to understand how digital financial services can improve women’s lives.
