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Persistent gender digital inequalities have profound significance on livelihoods and economic outcomes. These inequalities take many forms, but include how women access, integrate with, and both empowered by and financially benefit from the digital economy.

Left unaddressed, these inequalities will worsen. As countries continue to digitize, the ongoing exclusion of women, particularly those facing intersectional barriers will create, widen, and calcify economic and social inequality, limit social and economic growth, and make developing countries vulnerable to further shocks and dislocation.

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Even for women who have managed to secure access to the digital economy, whether for the sake of making payments or selling goods through e-commerce channels, a new set of challenges, and resultant harms, await them: poor-quality services, exploitative business practices, algorithmic bias, data abuses, fraud, and technology-facilitated harassment.

Women in the Digital Economy Fund

The Women in the Digital Economy Fund (Wi-DEF) is a joint effort between USAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate progress on closing the gender digital divide.

USAID will commit up to $50 million in Gender Equity and Equality Action (GEEA) fund resources and the Gates Foundation will commit $10 million by the end of 2026, with at least half of each of these commitments focused on Africa. In addition to its commitment to Wi-DEF, the Gates Foundation has committed to invest $40 million toward closing the digital gender divide in Africa and South Asia.

USAID and BMGF envision using the Women in the Digital Economy Fund to rally stakeholders around evidence-based, proven solutions that help achieve the following core results in order to improve the livelihoods, economic security, and resilience of women and girls, especially those from underserved or marginalized groups, including youth and young adults, disabled, indigenous, LGBTQI+, and rural women, etc:

1. Access and Affordability. Get more internet access and internet enabled devices into the hands of women and make sure that devices, digitally-enabled services including digital finance, and data are affordable, reliable, secure, and accessible, including for users with disabilities.
2. Relevant Products and Tools. Design, develop, and provide access to relevant products and tools (interfaces, voice technologies, applications, digitally-enabled services) that meet women’s needs and facilitate women’s demand for and use of mobile devices, particularly smartphones, internet, and other technologies, especially for income-generation purposes.
3. Literacy and Skills. Strengthen women’s digital skills and literacy, including media literacy, so that they can fully and safely access digital services and participate in digital spaces, including the digital economy.
4. Safety and Security. Address technology-facilitated gender-based violence and online harassment and strengthen safeguards for digital user protection, including on consumer financial protection, data protection, cyber security, fraud, and risk mitigation.
5. Data and Insights. Expand collection and responsible use of required sex-disaggregated data (and where possible, disaggregated by age and disability), research, and gender analysis (a) to better understand and address social norms and systems that influence gender disparities in technology adoption; (b) as a precursor to inform gender-equitable design of and activities related to digital policies, protocols, platforms, products, and services; and (c) to track and benchmark change.

Apply Now! Deadline is May 26, 2023

Gender Digital Divide at GDDF

Join us at the Global Digital Development Forum on Wednesday and Thursday to learn more about the gender digital divide and how you can be part of the solution. Here are just three of the many conversation we’ll have at the intersection of technology, development, and gender:

More Funding Opportunities

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• Apply Now! $50,000 for Your African Online Safety Innovation
• Apply Now: $50,000 for Responsible Artificial Intelligence Solutions
• Apply Now: €70,000 for Social Innovation Technology Solutions