What is the name of your organization?
Aid for Rural Education Access Initiative, AREAi
What is the name of your solution?
DSA for women and girls
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
DSA for women and girls is an innovative digital skills development program facilitating two linked but context-specific digital pathways.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Abuja
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Nigeria
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
—
What specific problem are you solving?
Today, over 90% of jobs worldwide already have a digital component, and most jobs require advanced digital skills. Unfortunately, by 2030, more than half of all young people will not have the basic digital skills necessary for the workforce of the future. Despite the pronounced significance of digital skills as vital building blocks for participation in the digital world, almost one billion girls around the world (i.e., 65% of all girls and young women under 24) lack these skills. Many even lack basic digital skills, including the skills to functionally use the internet and digital technology, as well as the knowledge of how to do so safely. So, while the digital skills gap is evident across regions and income levels, it is more severe for adolescent girls and women who are older, less educated, poor, or living in rural areas and developing countries. This growing digital skills gender gap has enormous implications for the gains made in gender parity over the last decades, and to promote an equitable digital society, there is a need to ensure equal access to technology, digital training, and online safety.
What is your solution?
To bridge the gender digital divide as well as promote active girls’ representation and participation in today’s digitally connected world, AREAi is deploying an inclusive and tailored digital skills development programme. By design, our programme will utilise a multilingual language model, incorporating indigenous African languages through a learning management system to enhance accessibility and learning delivery across Sub-Saharan countries.
With a strong focus on the most marginalised, particularly young girls between 13 and 18 who are not in Education, Employment, or Training (NEET) and adolescent school-aged girls. Digital Skills Accelerator for Girls offers a phased 9-month learner-centred curriculum, utilising a simple skill-based learning practicum developed in collaboration with the Oxford Internet Institute and the London School of Economics. This framework lays the foundation for a job-ready basic digital skills curriculum spanning five modules: Operational, Information Navigation, Mobile, Social, and Creative Skills. Through our DSA programme, we will be supporting girls in building digital awareness. competence, and digital skills required to leverage digital tools and platforms for learning and socio-economic advancement.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our solution directly serves adolescent girls aged 13 to 18 in underserved and marginalized communities across Sub-Saharan Africa, particularly those who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET) and those attending government-owned secondary schools. These girls are disproportionately affected by the digital divide, lacking access to digital tools, connectivity, and the foundational skills required to participate in today’s digital economy. Also, cultural, economic, and infrastructural barriers further exclude them from acquiring relevant digital competencies, limiting their prospects.
Through the Digital Skills Accelerator for Girls, we provide a tailored, inclusive basic digital skills development programme that uses indigenous languages and a simplified, skill-based curriculum to improve accessibility and learning outcomes. By leveraging a multilingual learning management system, we eliminate language barriers and improve access for marginalized girls. The focus on these five basic digital skills builds operational, mobile, social, creative, and information navigation skills among these marginalized girls, increasing their foundational competencies in digital literacy and meaningful economic participation. By equipping these girls with digital skills and awareness, we enable them to leverage technology for learning, personal development, and income generation, empowering them to break cycles of poverty, contribute meaningfully to society, and increase female representation in the digital economy.
