Patents on the soles of your shoes...: International Day of the Girl Child 2021

Monday, October 11, 2021

International Day of the Girl Child 2021 - Digital Generation. Our Generation.

October 11 is the International Day of the Girl Child, a celebration, since December 19, 2011, when the United Nations General Assembly voted for Resolution 66/170. A resolution designating this day in honor of the Girl Child, in recognition of the critical role she might play, in becoming a leader, and a change-maker, to drive change, and do good in the world, and to break the cycle of poverty, and extreme poverty.

The theme, Digital Generation. Our Generation, for this year's International Day of the Girl Child, addresses the gender gap in access, use, and the design of technology, for girls' work, leadership and activism. In support of this campaign, seeking to eliminate the digital gender gap, UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, cites 2018 figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In particular :

Almost 50% of the world population is still offline. Women and girls are least likely to have access to this technology.
In some parts of the world, 70% of women and girls do not have a mobile device, access to the Internet, and to digital literacy skills.
Not all children can continue their education offline, when schools are closed due to the COVID 19 pandemic.

In general, the depicted gender gap situation in technology was exacerbated by the pandemic. Thus, UN Women calls for universal and affordable access to the Internet, for everyone, everywhere, and on this day, specifically, for girls to be included at all levels of access, use, and design of technology. In sum, to the rhetorical question: A digital revolution? The answer is emphatic and univocal: Not without girls!

At UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, the figures quoted are even more compelling indicators of the digital gender gap. In particular :

Some 2.2 billion people, below the age of 25, still do not have Internet access at home.
The gender gap for global Internet users grew from 11% in 2013, to 17% in 2017. In the world's least developed countries, the gender gap hovers around 43%.

UNICEF also points out that the gender gap is not only about connectivity, it is also about girls not owning, or using digital devices, and about not gaining access to tech-related jobs, and skills.

Investing in, and empowering all girls to achieve their true potential, in the spirit of the International Day of the Girl Child, becomes all the more pressing when you read some of the posted success stories. Stories of girls coding, girls trailblazing, using technology to advance computer literacy, to digitize savings, to dismantle the urban/rural divide; girls' satellite soaring to the stars from Kazakhstan, or one girl’s app, in Swahili, designed to connect patients with healthcare professionals, while maintaining privacy and dignity.

Cheers to all girls, everywhere!