Following the adoption of the International Girls-In-ICT Day in 2012 by Member States of the ITU, Ghana has expanded the initiative to a month-long project in each of the beneficiary regions. The Ghana Girls-In-ICT project is all about breaking the myth around active female participation in ICT. Since 2012, 10,980 basic school girls, 75,000 senior high school young ladies and 50 tertiary ladies and 1,100 ICT teachers have been trained across 12 out of the 16 regions of Ghana.
Project objectives:
i. support the education of women and girls in ICT in line with the SDG 5 aimed at achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls through ICTs;
ii. bridge the gender digital gap as well as meet SDG 4,
iii. ensure universal access in line with emphasizing the importance of universal access to ICTs,
iv. arouse the interest of young girls to take studies in sciences, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM);
v. and expose young girls to career opportunities existing in the ICT sector.
As a flagship project, the Ministry collaborates with Ghana Education Service, key partners in the digital ecosystem and beneficiary regions for the implementation of the project. The project involves:
i. selection of teachers and girls from communities within the region.
ii. Training of teachers
iii. Training of girls
iv. Mentorship event
v. Climax and awards ceremony
vi. Open day event for best-performing 100 girls
The project has enhanced digital skills, influenced career choices and choice of STEM related courses, bridging the digital gender divide, and developing critical thinking and research skills.

https://moc.gov.gh/girls-in-ict-2022/

• Ghana

• Youth
• Women
• Remote and rural communities

The project has the potential for scalability and replicability. At the inception of the project in 2012, the number of girls trained yearly was on average 100 per region. This has been increased to 1000 per region. The content has been progressively improved from basic computer skills to scratch coding and website design using Mobirise. It has also been enhanced with a Mentorship event where female practitioners interact with the girls. Funding for the program is supported by partners.

Many communities are advocating for the increase of the number of girls beyond the current 1000girls. The Ministry have plans to reform the blueprint of the project to ensure that it is scaled up and replicated across the country. We will also ensure that the new design will align with the objectives, target audience, activities, funding mechanism and expected outcomes in different settings. The project activities will be aligned with the needs, and available resources of the target community or region. This will ensure relevance and maximize the impact of the project.

There is an effort for increased partnerships and collaboration: Relevant partnerships with stakeholders, such as educational institutions, government agencies, and private sector organizations have been enhanced. Collaborating with local organizations to provide access to resources, and expertise has also been expanded.

Leveraging on existing infrastructure to enhance the replicability and sustainability of the project has also been identified, leading to the construction of computer labs in schools in the districts. Furthermore, training of trainer models is currently being employed to build a cascade of trainers locally to expand the project’s reach. The project will provide comprehensive training and capacity building to local facilitators and educators for project sustainability and effective delivery.

"The implementation of the Girls-in-ICT project involves 7 activities in each beneficiary region: i. Selection of girls and teachers in the host region by the Ministry of Education (Ghana Education Service). ii. Training of Trainers Workshop for 100 ICT/STEM teachers. iii. Training of 1000 beneficiary basic school girls and selected secondary, and tertiary female students iv. Conduct competition to select the best-performing girls. v. Conduct mentorship event for the girls to interact with female ICT/STEM practitioners and educators. vi. Climax and awards ceremony. i. A week long residential ‘Open Day’ event with female mentors working in the telecommunications or related ICT sectors for the 100 best-performing girls from each region to expose them to practical knowledge and career opportunities in the ICT/STEM industry for a week in Accra, capital city. The beneficiaries include: i. Basic level- Girls in the upper primary to junior high schools in the remote and under-served communities who do not have opportunities or access to ICT tools and training are selected to be trained. ii. Secondary level – Girls in the senior high schools are introduced to emerging ICTs and cyber hygiene. iii. Tertiary level – 50 Tertairy female students were introduced to AI, IoT, Machine learning, Animation and deep learning. The measure is to provide support for the training and mentoring of female students pursuing courses in STEM in tertiary institution to serve as ICT ambassadors."