Committed to connecting the world

Digital Literacy

Promoting digital literacy for women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid

Reaching out to women and girls at the bottom of the pyramid requires more than merely ensuring access to ICTs and broadband networks. Women need training to become digitally literate. Digital literacy training opens the door to other essential skills needed to operate in a broadband environment, including financial literacy skills, as well as career training and ICT-enabled career training. Such training enables women to set up online businesses, or to use broadband services, such as social networking sites, to enhance their ongoing livelihood and economic activity. ITU has developed a range of training materials to promote women’s digital literacy and the use of ICTs to promote women’s economic activities.

ITU and Telecentre.org have already trained over 1,000,000 women to become digitally literate.

Learn more about the ITU-Telecentre.org "Telecentre Women: Digital Literacy Campaign here"

Case Studies

Obonyo Celine Adhiambo
Nairobi, Kenya

Obonyo Celine Adhiambo, fondly known as Molly to her friends, always wanted to be a receptionist. A former agent for M-Pesa, a mobile phone-based money transfer and microfinancing service in Kenya, she dreamed of working someday in an office of a big company. But without the money to afford a college degree, she knew her options were limited. That is, until a family friend informed her of a digital literacy training course offered by youth-based organization Nairobits Trust. Curious and determined to make a new path for herself, Molly enrolled in a class to learn how to use the computer.

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Yulia Korneyeva
Zheleznogorsk, Russia

Yulia Korneyeva was 23 when she first learned to use ICT at a telecentre. Recently laid off and looking for a job, Yulia realized that although she had some basic computer skills, she lacked the necessary knowledge to apply for the positions she wanted. "Every job ad required proficiency in MS Office software, Outlook, other similar applications and other software," she says, "That is why I started looking for IT courses in my town."

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