Background
ITU Regional Office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in collaboration with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and other stakeholders, will organize a national celebration for the Girls in ICT Day on 27 April 2023 at the UN Conference Centre. The event aims to bring together different stakeholders including mentors, young women and girls to exchange their experiences and share knowledge around digital skills for life and address different topics related to digital skills such as mentorship, education, youth engagement among others.
The knowledge sharing activities and exchange of experiences will inspire the girls to engage and participate in the ICT field, pursue careers related to digital technologies, develop and strengthen their digital skills in order to leverage digital technologies and actively engage in the local digital ecosystem.
With consideration of the different gender related activities that have been undertaken in Ethiopia, the event will bring together some of the beneficiaries of the activities undertaken to exchange their experiences and share some of the lessons learnt from such initiatives[1]. Experiences drawn from the ongoing and previous gender focused initiatives will provide an opportunity to build a community from the different project beneficiaries, gain a better understanding of what works well in different contexts for continued improvement, explore sustainability of different initiatives in Ethiopia and their contribution to the local digital ecosystem to bridge the digital gender divide.
Expected Outcomes
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Gain a better understanding of the current gaps, challenges and opportunities within Ethiopia in developing and strengthening digital skills among girls, young women, and youth, among others.
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Sharing of knowledge and exchange of experiences from mentors, project beneficiaries and others to inspire the girls and young women to leverage digital technologies, develop and strengthen their digital skills to actively engage and contribute to the digital transformation process in Ethiopia.
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Build a community among the young girls, mentors, project beneficiaries and the local digital ecosystem to facilitate continuous learning and knowledge share on gender related activities to bridge the digital gender divide in Ethiopia.