AREAi honoured for bridging digital gender divide

In its quest to improve digital development, a not-for-profit organisation, Aid for Rural Education Access Initiative (AREAi) was recently declared winner of the Research category at the annual Equals in Tech Awards.

This held at the 2022 Partner2Connect annual meeting at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

This award is a flagship initiative of the UN ITU Equals Global Partnership to bridge the gender digital divide, which recognises organisations and individuals working to help girls and women gain equal internet access, digital skills and opportunities within and beyond in the digital technology sector.

From a field of more than 150 nominees representing 54 countries, judges selected 15 initiatives as finalists in the categories of Access, Skills, Leadership in Tech, Leadership in SME, and Research.

The research category places emphasis on the role of knowledge development and mobilisation on the existence, causes, and remedies for gender tech inequalities, and on motivating key stakeholder groups, including private sector companies, government departments, regulatory agencies, and academia, to collect and share gender-relevant data. The award was funded under the Digital Access Programme of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (UK FCDO).

Commenting on the feat, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, AREAi, Gideon Olanrewaju, said,“I am pleased that we are being recognised with our work in bridging the digital gender divide through the harmonisation of the synergistic value of policy, research and practice. This is an acknowledgement of the powerful vision, significant impact, and local importance of the low-cost strategies we deploy in providing inclusive and high quality educational connect and connecting beneficiaries to relevant digital skills development opportunities”.

“The Education Digital Equity Initiative is a collaborative effort between students, teachers, educational leaders, government stakeholders and thereby shows what partnership means in delivering a digitally equitable world where digital development is evidence-driven and research-based”, he added.

Speaking on the 2022 winners, Secretary-General Elect of the International Telecommunication Union, Doreen Bogdan-Martin, noted that every year, its EQUALS in Tech Award winners inspire with the concrete, on-the-ground impact in the lives of women around the world. “These winners have set a shining example of how we can collaborate more effectively to bridge the digital gender divide.”