2020 Digital Workforce Challenge
'Guddi Bajis': a gender-inclusive, digital workforce
In response to Why do you expect your solution to address the problem?
Fair enough, but how do you deal with the cultural pressures to keep women at home, or for working women who will likely affect their trajectory to "get married". Will technology and opportunity alone help lift women and girls? can you partner with a local NGO on such cultural issues?
We don't think technology is a silver bullet but it is a significant component of a multifactorial, integrated 'ecosystem' approach to gender equity and social transformation. No single entity or sector can achieve this transformation by themselves. This transformation requires proactive engagement between private, public and philanthropic sectors and the catalytic potential of bilateral and multilateral institutions such as UKDFID and the IFC in fostering this cross-sectoral collaboration cannot be emphasised enough. To your point, we proactively collaborate with several local and international NGOs (Rural Support Program Network (RSPN) is one such nationwide, centralised network of rural-focused NGOs. The role of mass digital media is also important. It is challenging stereotypes and changing mindsets (albeit slower than we would all like) and there is a gradual realisation (even in historically patriarchal societies) that the exclusion of women from the workforce is inhibiting economic development which has a detrimental effect on both men and women. Meanwhile, our tech-enabled female 'pioneers' continue to serve as powerful catalysts of social transformation and role models for their communities - especially their daughters and sons. Promoting the financial autonomy of purpose-driven women and giving them a platform to achieve mastery in their chosen profession is a major step towards the self-actualisation of these women.
In response to What is your solution?
This is beautiful. i hope that you are also caring for the personal safety of the Female Health Workers.
Thank you for highlighting this critical aspect of sustaining a healthy, viable, scalable, frontline workforce. Both the physical and psychological safety of FHWs has become paramount with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, in which all of our female frontline health-workers are: (i) provided with personal protective equipment (PPE), (ii) trained in self-defense techniques and (iii) have access to mental health & wellness support (they have direct access to psychologists who help debrief with the FHWs at the end of each day)
In response to What is the problem you are solving?
Another reason for the exclusion of FHWs is cultural rejection of professional working women.
You're absolutely right. Sociocultural barriers are some the largest impediments to women thriving in the workforce.
In response to Our Solution
I love the name of the project :-)
Thanks! I'm glad you like the name. We love it too :-)
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