African Girls Can CODE wants to check gender divide

The African Girls Can CODE Initiative (AGCCI) has been launched to help bridge the gender divide by encouraging girls and young women across Africa to take up careers in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector.

ITU and UN Women, in collaboration with the African Union Commission announced the launch African Girls Can CODE, a four-year progamme that aims to train and empower girls and young women aged 17 to 20 years old across Africa to become computer programmers, creators and designers – and in so doing, enable more girls and young women to take up studies and careers in ICT.

Over the next four years, the initiative plans to hold 14 coding camps across Africa, the last of which is planned to coincide with the 2022 African Union Summit. The main aim of the camps is to inspire young girls to build their computing and ICT skills through hands-on experiences, the promoters of African Girls Can CODE, “made possible with the generous support of the Government of Denmark” said.  

​African Girls Can CODE plans to: encourage African countries to mainstream ICT studies, including coding, into their national curricula to provide girls and young women with more opportunities to learn digital skills; establish a network of women in ICT who will act as role-models; and create an online community platform through which girls can connect and share their coding experiences.

Technology Times file photo shows two women looking at a mobile phone at the Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF 2016)

​African Girls Can CODE plans to: encourage African countries to mainstream ICT studies, including coding, into their national curricula to provide girls and young women with more opportunities to learn digital skills; establish a network of women in ICT who will act as role-models; and create an online community platform through which girls can connect and share their coding experiences. 

“ITU is delighted to be part of the African Girls Can CODE Initiative, which builds on our ongoing efforts to bridge the gender digital divide in Africa and around the world. It is essential that girls and young women are equipped with digital skills so that they can access employment opportunities in our increasingly digital world,” Houlin Zhao, Secretary-General, ITU said. 

“It is important to increase the number of girls and women who are participating in today’s technology led world,” Dr. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director, said. “Empowering girls with digital skills will be key to solving some of the big challenges the world faces in the 21st century, attain sustainable development and make the world a better place to live in.”

“By teaching coding and other digital skills, this initiative is not only an opportunity that could help reduce youth unemployment but it is also a means towards achieving gender equality, women’s empowerment and accelerating the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals”, Brahima Sanou, ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau Director added.