USAID – Closing the Gender Digital Divide

In 2023 IEEE is partnering with USAID to bring more focus to the persistent gender-based inequalities in how women access, integrate with, and are empowered by digital technology. As countries continue to digitize, the ongoing exclusion of women from online spaces will widen economic and gender inequality, which will limit inclusive sustainable development. For women who have managed to secure access to digital technology, a new set of challenges and harms await them online.

The 2023 CTU Challenge will add a new prize for Best Overall Gender Inclusion Proof-of-Concept. This award will go to the Proof-of-Concept track contestant in any category (TA, BM, or CE) whose project or solution makes a significant impact or effort in closing the gender digital divide. Applicants will have an opportunity during Phases 2 and 3 of the competition to demonstrate how they have focused on gender inclusion within various KPIs, and generally. For more information, be sure to read the Contest Rules and Call for Participation.

Please see the 6 new videos to better understand the Gender Digital Divide below.

This video defines the gender digital divide (GDD) and benefits of closing it.

This video presents five best practices identified by USAID to reduce the GDD.

In this video, you will learn how to apply best practices to reduce the GDD in USAID programming by exploring the Microsoft Airband Digital Inclusion Initiative and the Equal Access International’s Tech4Families project where proven strategies were successfully implemented.

In this video on the GDD, you will learn how to define and identify technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV) and other potential gendered harms.

In this video on the GDD, you will learn risk mitigation approaches to online gendered harms and how to apply them to USAID programming.

In this video on the GDD, you will (1) learn how to integrate key digital development considerations when conducting gender analysis for USAID activities and monitoring and evaluation, and (2) explore practical tools and resources that integrate the GDD into analyses with a women’s economic empowerment and gender equality lens.