Girls in ICT Day Report

1. APRIL 2022

2. Table of
Contents
BACKGROUND
OVERVIEW
BANGLADESH
BURKINA FASO
COLOMBIA
ECUADOR
GHANA
JORDAN
MALAWI
NIGERIA
SIERRA LEONE
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3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

3. Girls in ICT Day is a global effort to encourage and inspire girls and young
women to consider studies and careers in information and
communication technologies (ICT). It takes place on the fourth Thursday
of April every year and is organized by the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU), the UN agency concerned with ICT. ​
Since 2011, over 377,000 girls and young women have taken part in more
than 11,400 celebrations of International Girls in ICT Day in 171 countries
worldwide. Government ministries, national ICT regulatory authorities, ICT
companies, academic institutions, UN agencies, and NGOs around the
world are all encouraged to join the global effort and celebrate
International Girls in ICT Day. Plan International marked the day for the first
time in 2017 and has done so annually ever since. ​
In June 2021, Plan International with Samsung Electronics Nordic made the
bold commitment to ‘advocate for the creation of technology that
challenges harmful gender norms and stereotypes through the
engagement of girls and adolescents as innovators of technology.’ This
commitment was made as part of the UN Women’s Generation Equality
movement, projected to be the world’s roadmap for gender equality and
the most catalytic moment in a generation to invest in gender equality. ​
With this commitment in mind, to mark Girls in ICT Day 2022 on April 28th
Plan focused on girls creating and innovating technology to advance
gender equality, hosting events all around the world.
Background

4. 9 countries
575 girls and young women engaged
30 partners
18+ external media appearances
OVERVIEW

5. bangladesh
Plan International Bangladesh
organized a Girls in ICT Skills
Development Bootcamp to generate
awareness and interest in ICT
education and digital skills among
female students allowing them to grow
as expert individuals with necessary
ICT skills and foster more efficient ways
of working in their future career paths.
The Bootcamp was a two-day event
designed with workshops and sessions.
The sessions aimed to show the
importance of ICT skills and how to
adapt to the digital world, encouraging
them to take ICT as a tool to build their
career in this sector. The hands-on
practice workshop provided the basic
15 girls
knowledge about computer skills and
shared a clear idea about the scope
and prospects in the ICT industry.
The Bootcamp also helped the
participants internalize how important
soft skills are and how they will help
them to build their careers in the ICT
industry. Girls should feel motivated to
explore ICT career opportunities in the
job market.
"I never got the opportunity to work
with a laptop and make any
projects of my own. This camp was
an excellent opportunity for me to
clear my life goal and I feel that I
need more assistance from Plan
International Bangladesh and
BdOSN to keep learning and
practicing even after this
bootcamp.”

6. BURKINA FASO
and 2 boys to discuss with an expert on
the theme "Digital: Opportunities or
risks for the girl from Burkina Faso?”
Plan International Burkina Faso
organized a day of activities with 138
girls on Girls in ICT Day to break down
barriers, enable girls to gain
confidence, and develop their ICT skills.
Girls participated in the design,
development, and management of
safe digital tools. Additionally, over 1000
girls were indirectly engaged through
an online awareness campaign for this
year’s theme “Girls creating and
innovating technology to advance
gender equality”, a video competition
to raise awareness on the responsible
use of digital technology to promote
youth employability or peace, solidarity
and social cohesion in relation to
gender equality. This also included a TV
talk called “Digital Girl” engaging 2 girls
138 girls 15 boys
"Thanks to digital technology we are
no longer spectators of development
but actors of change."
"No matter how others see me, I will
never be ashamed to express myself
publicly online."
"I am in entrepreneurship, thanks to
ICT I can promote my activities in the
best possible way #IamICT"
"I am a young girl and I am
responsible for my life and the lives of
others, I use technology as an ally to
advance the rights of girls."
"I am a young girl passionate about
digital tools! Let's work together for a
more inclusive digital world."
"Girls in rural areas also have the right
to use digital tools."

7. colombia
Hour of code: Participants learned
programming topics through a
virtual space. Accenture volunteers
taught the girls how to design a
calculator.
Inspirational session: Three women
in management roles at Accenture
provided a motivational speech to
the young women, highlighting their
own career paths and personal
experiences in the tech industry
and encouraging them to explore
and take risks in this area.
Takeover at Olimpia TI
1.
2.
Olimpia IT together with PLAN invited
Wanda Julieth, a girl from Quibdó, who
lives in one of the areas with the
greatest digital gaps and social needs
in the country. Wanda, who is only 16
years old, is currently enrolled in the
11th grade at an educational institution
where the STEMPODERA project
(Empowerment of girls and
adolescents in the school environment
through the development of STEM
initiatives) was implemented.
During the takeover, a number of
activities were conducted, including
executive breakfasts, on-site and
virtual meetings, the distribution of
Olimpia products, and programming
workshops with other girls and boys.
Robotics Encounter in Chocó
The Hour of the Code Virtual Event
As part of Girls in ICT Day, three
initiatives were carried out by Plan
International Colombia:
A panel discussion and inspirational
space focused on the experiences of
the female students at the Robotics
School and girls' aspirations, wishes,
and goals were organized by Plan
International Colombia in collaboration
with the Robotics School of Chocó. A
fair was held to display innovative
prototypes designed by girls. The event
was recorded, edited, and streamed
over Facebook.
The Hour of Code was organised in
partnership with Accenture. A group of
28 girls, adolescents, and young
women participated in two sessions:
78 girls and women
7 boys

8. ECUADOR
Plan International Ecuador carried out
an event called "Digi Girls Camp". This
was a space where girls and adolescent
women learned about ICTs, built
technology, and shared their knowledge
with other girls. The event, which lasted
about 5 hours, allowed 80 children and
adolescents to have fun creating
prototypes of robots and video games
through the Scratch platform and Legos
Education, learn about the
fundamentals of electronics through the
creation of circuits, and experiment with
engineering processes.​
Activities:
1)Learning programming language
through the construction of robot
prototypes with Legos Education. ​
55 girls
2)Programming language learning
through Scratch​
3)Learning fundamentals of electronics
through the construction of circuits on
protoboard​
4)Learning of engineering processes
through recycled material (construction
of a robotic hand)​
5)Girls and adolescent women of the
Movement for Being a Girl shared with
other girls guidelines to stay safe in
digital media.​
6)Girls built technology for the
promotion of rights and gender equality.​
"I loved making robots, I didn't
know that with Legos I could do so
much, that a robot could help pick
up garbage and help the
environment, that with a step-by-
step robot I can help the
environment, I loved being in the
Espol University, I really enjoyed
seeing its classrooms, it is very big
and they taught me so many
careers that I can create from
computers and circuits."
- Naydelin, 12 years old
25 boys

9. GHANA
digital divide and helping
disadvantaged girls increase their
participation in civic, social, political,
and economic processes, including ICT
which is perceived to be dominated by
their male counterparts. Getting more
girls into the technological and
innovation fields will also contribute to
bridging the gender gap.
Plan International Ghana organized a
seminar focused on the Importance of
Girls Participating in ICT which included
robotic displays by some Senior High
School female students and an
innovation display from a Senior High
school boy from the Koforidua
Technical Institute. The seminar saw
students from three (3) Senior high
schools in the Eastern Region of Ghana
participating and sharing their
experiences and knowledge.
The seminar was aimed at increasing
girls’ interest in ICT and technological
innovation. This meant bridging the
83 girls (1 PLWD)
1 boy "Any girl who is watching this out
there I want to encourage them to
go into STEM. STEM jobs are taking
over the future. If we really want to
make a positive impact in the
society that we are living in, then
we should all consider going into
STEM.” - Vanessa, student
"It has given me the
encouragement to continue with
what I am doing because they say
hard work leads to success so I am
encouraging anyone that,
whatever course you are doing, do
not listen to what anyone is saying
just do what you can and don’t be
influenced by people." - Nafisatu,
Student

10. Jordan
of technology, including programming,
network engineering, communications
and others.
Plan International Jordan conducted a
three-day event in collaboration with
Robotna, a social company that aims
to enhance creative thinking skills and
spread future sciences and integrate
them with academic subjects through
training using modern technology such
as robots and artificial intelligence for
different age groups.
More than 60 girls and women
attended the company, where several
workshops were held: Robotics, AI, and
3D Printing and 3D Design workshops
were held.
The event concluded with a dialogue
session and a lunch with all
participants in the presence of
successful personalities from
Jordanian society in the various fields
60 girls and women
Participants' motivations:
“I believe that women are half of
society and are able to achieve
their goals in the near future.”
“My interest in technology and
science in programming, my
ability to communicate and work
in a team, and the presence of a
leadership personality that I have,
knowing that my beliefs that are
the tools of the near future in
making life better on Earth.”
“I love the field of technology and I
want to develop myself in
technological matters, a very
special opportunity because it
involves girls.”

11. MALAWI
Plan International Malawi organized
coding and robotics clinics in Community
Day secondary schools in Lilongwe,
Dzaleka in Dowa and Mzimba districts
where they worked with experienced girls
from Mhub who supported the girls from
rural communities to develop the
applications that were presented during
the commemoration. ​
The solutions and concepts that were
developed were the main presentations on
the day marking girls in ICT on the 28th of
April, 2022, at Malawi University of Science
and Technology (MUST). The best
presentations were selected to participate
during the actual commemoration and
the selection was done by Plan
International, Mhub, with the support of the
institutions.
100 girls

12. NIGERIA
Plan International Nigeria mapped out
various activities to commemorate the
Girls in ICT Day 2022. In collaboration
with TechHer, a training, coaching,
mentoring, and research social
enterprise for women who are not the
primary focus of STEM advocacy, and
CITAD, an NGO committed to the use of
information and communication
technologies for the development and
promotion of good governance, hosted
18 students (3 per school) from 6
different schools at Plan International
Nigeria Country Office.
The students were engaged in ICT
debate and quiz competitions, as well
as discussions focused on the need for
more girls and women to become key
17 girls
players in the ICT sector. These
activities, involving 17 female students,
and one male student, were very
informative and competitive. The
debate session where the students
spoke for and against the topic, “Is
technology a critical component for
the education of students?”, was won
by Capville School (an all-girls team).
The winners (5) will be given free
access to basic coding/web design,
cyber security, and mentorship
programmes by TechHer. This hybrid
training has been slated to run for a
period of 25 weeks, starting from June.
A timetable has been drawn up to fit
into the students’ schedules in order to
avoid any form of disruption in their
studies. KPIs and routine check-in
sessions were also incorporated to
ensure that the learnings from this
program will become a key part of the
bedrock constituents of their journey
into the ICT sector.
1 boy

13. SIERRA LEONE
Plan International in collaboration with
Orange Foundation, DSTI, MBSSE and
the government of Sierra Leone
organized two days of activities
(workshop and career day) with 40
girls drawn from both rural and urban
areas with the need to promote
technology, and career opportunities
for young women and girls in Sierra
Leone. Chaired by a girl, girls from
different learning institutions, districts
and regions, had an opportunity to
interact with digital and ICT experts
and national stakeholders. ​
The girls were introduced to social
media advocacy skills, blog writing,
staying safe online, the Generation
Unlimited and UNICEF digital learning
hub, Orange digital and ICT platforms,
DSTI and MBSSE E-learning passports,
and other digital opportunities for
young people. ​
These girls were also linked with radio
journalists which enabled them to
understand radio media technology
and how to increase their skills and
make use of radio media in the country
to facilitate advocacy activities on
issues that matter to them.
“Digital is becoming a community
for all, we must therefore make its
environment favourable for all
taking into consideration of
increased and safer digital
opportunities for girls”
– Erica, Freetown​
“The future is digital. Its foundation
cannot be unconnected with
supporting children and young
people, especially girls to create
and innovate technology in a safer
and conducive atmosphere”.
- Isatu, Port Loko
40 girls

14. Girls in ICT DAy, Everyday!
Girls and young women can be engaged in digital
advocacy and programming beyond Girls in ICT Day.
Equality Tech aims to engage girls as creators and
innovators of technology to advance gender equality. It
promotes girls’ digital empowerment by engaging them in
our work as active, capable partners, not just as users or
recipients. Rather than assuming what girls want and need
from technology, we believe it is essential to collaborate
with girls to determine what the priorities should be,
strengthen and develop their use and creation of digital
tools.
Get in touch with Jessica Herrera, Equality Tech Program
Lead, to learn how you can implement Equality Tech in your
programmes.
Equality Tech in your Programming
jessica.herrera@plan-international.org