Month: November 2021

By Vymala Thuron

AfChix – a network of African women in technology – will train more local women in Ait Izdeg commune, province of Midelt, on how to use the internet and expand the reach of a network managed by the local community to connect more households there to the internet. 

AfChix is one of the winners in the third round of the WomenConnect Challenge, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). WomenConnect is a global call for solutions to improve women’s participation in everyday life by meaningfully changing the ways women access and use technology.

As a winner in the first round of the Challenge in 2018, AfChix installed the infrastructure needed to establish the community network in Ait Izdeg, successfully connecting two schools and the households surrounding them to the internet. Local youth were trained to technically maintain this network and AfChix also provided digital skills training to local women, teaching them how to use the internet so they can benefit from being able to access it. 

Dr Houda Chakiri, the Project Coordinator, says the project aims to empower women and girls while connecting underserved communities in Morocco to the internet through a model that is sustainable over the long term. “Women in rural communities like Ait Izdeg often have limited access to education in general and to knowledge around technology, especially. When these women gain access to technology and digital literacy, they are empowered both socially and economically.”

Houda explains that the project has already trained a small group of local women running local cooperatives to help develop a business model and sustainability plan to manage and maintain the network and more groups will be trained this round to support the sustainability of the network. More focus will be given in building strong local partnerships both with universities and the private sector, in order to replicate the model in other underserved regions. “Our goals over the next 18 months are to extend the network to cover more households, to build a local computer centre and to host further training so more women can benefit from digital skills. We also plan to assist the community in building a website to promote the region for eco-tourism and sell local produce.” 

AfChix has also created three other community networks in rural Senegal, Namibia, and Kenya. Dorcas Muthoni, the founder of AfChix, says she hopes the project will contribute to closing the immense gender digital divide still present in Africa. The gender digital divide reflects (GDD) inequalities in digital connection due to gender. Globally, the proportion of women using the internet is 12% lower than the proportion of men and in the least developed countries in Africa, this gap broadens to 31%.  

“This joint USAID and AfChix’s Scaling up Women-Led Community Networks for Women’s Prosperity” project will help to enable women to fully participate in their economies by equipping them with the skills needed to enter an increasingly digital labour market or to become entrepreneurs. We know that women tend to invest the gains of their success back into their families and communities and have the potential to make an even more significant contribution to development and prosperity. We hope to use Women-Led Community Networks to amplify this impact,” Muthoni explains. 

She says closing the gender digital divide is becoming increasingly important to the social and economic empowerment of African women. “Digital technology is a key driver of economic empowerment, especially today. African women, who tend to rely on informal employment opportunities, have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This should serve as a wake-up call that closing the digital divide is critical. Building digital skills for women and girls can help them to take advantage of the opportunities created in the new digital era arising from the pandemic.”

Dr Revi Sterling, Director of the WomenConnect Challenge, says USAID remains committed to closing the gender digital divide by supporting organisations like AfChix, who recognise that this will require more than just connecting communities to the internet. “AfChix empowers women to take a leading role in how their community accesses the internet. This helps to overcome perceptions that women can’t or shouldn’t use technology and also builds their self-confidence about using it. The training these women receive shows them how to use technology to their benefit by accessing economic opportunities, including as entrepreneurs.”

By Vymala Thuron

AfChix – un réseau de femmes africaines en technologie – formera davantage de femmes de la commune de Aït Izdeg, dans la province de Midelt, à l’usage d’Internet et étend la portée d’un réseau géré par la communauté locale pour connecter davantage de ménages à Internet.

AfChix est l’un des lauréats du troisième tour du WomenConnect Challenge, financé par l’Agence des États-Unis pour le développement international (USAID). WomenConnect est un appel mondial à des solutions pour améliorer la participation des femmes dans la vie quotidienne en changeant de manière significative la façon dont les femmes accèdent et utilisent la technologie.

En tant que vainqueur du premier tour du Challenge en 2018, AfChix a installé l’infrastructure nécessaire pour établir le réseau communautaire à Aït Izdeg, connectant avec succès deux écoles et les ménages qui les entourent à Internet. Des jeunes en majorité des femmes de la localité ont été formées sur l’aspect technique afin de maintenir ce réseau et en sus,  AfChix a également dispensé une formation spécifique aux compétences numériques aux femmes de la localité, leur apprenant à utiliser Internet afin qu’elles puissent bénéficier de la possibilité d’y accéder.

Dr Houda Chakiri, coordinatrice du projet, explique que le projet vise à autonomiser les femmes et les filles tout en connectant les communautés mal desservies au Maroc à Internet grâce à un modèle durable à long terme. « Les femmes des communautés rurales comme Aït Izdeg ont souvent un accès limité à l’éducation en général et aux connaissances sur la technologie, en particulier. Lorsque ces femmes ont accès à la technologie et à l’alphabétisation numérique, elles sont autonomisées à la fois socialement et économiquement”.

Dr Chakiri explique que le projet a déjà formé un groupe de femmes qui dirigent des coopératives locales pour aider à développer un modèle commercial et un plan de durabilité pour gérer et maintenir le réseau. En outre, d’autres groupes seront formés pour soutenir la durabilité du réseau. L’accent sera mis davantage sur la construction de partenariats locaux solides avec les universités et le secteur privé, afin de reproduire le modèle dans d’autres régions mal desservies. « Nos objectifs au cours des 18 prochains mois sont d’étendre le réseau pour couvrir davantage d’écoles, de construire un centre informatique local et d’héberger une formation complémentaire afin que davantage de femmes puissent bénéficier des compétences numériques. Nous prévoyons également d’aider la communauté à créer une présence sur le web pour promouvoir l’écotourisme de la région et vendre des produits locaux.”

AfChix a également créé trois autres réseaux communautaires dans les zones rurales du Sénégal, de la Namibie et du Kenya. Dorcas Muthoni, la fondatrice d’AfChix, dit qu’elle espère que le projet contribuera à combler l’immense fracture numérique entre les sexes encore présente en Afrique. La fracture numérique entre les genres reflète (GDD) les inégalités de connexion numérique dues au genre. À l’échelle mondiale, la proportion de femmes utilisant Internet est inférieure de 12 % à la proportion d’hommes et dans les pays les moins avancés d’Afrique, cet écart s’élargit à 31 %.

“Ce projet conjoint de l’USAID et d’AfChix Scaling up Women-Led Community Networks for Women’s Prosperity contribuera à permettre aux femmes de participer pleinement à leurs économies en les dotant des compétences nécessaires pour entrer sur un marché du travail de plus en plus numérique ou pour devenir entrepreneures. Nous savons que les femmes ont tendance à réinvestir les gains de leur succès dans leurs familles et leurs communautés et ont le potentiel d’apporter une contribution encore plus significative au développement et à la prospérité. Nous espérons utiliser les réseaux communautaires dirigés par des femmes pour amplifier cet impact », explique Madame Dorcas Muthoni.

Elle dit que la réduction de la fracture numérique entre les sexes devient de plus en plus importante pour l’autonomisation sociale et économique des femmes africaines. « La technologie numérique est un moteur clé de l’autonomisation économique, en particulier aujourd’hui. Les femmes africaines, qui ont tendance à dépendre des opportunités d’emploi informel, ont été affectées de manière disproportionnée par la pandémie de COVID-19. Cela devrait servir de signal d’alarme sur le fait qu’il est essentiel de combler la fracture numérique. Le renforcement des compétences numériques pour les femmes et les filles peut les aider à tirer parti des opportunités créées dans la nouvelle ère numérique résultant de la pandémie. »

Le Dr Revi Sterling, Directrice du WomenConnect Challenge, déclare que l’USAID reste déterminée à réduire la fracture numérique entre les sexes en soutenant des organisations comme AfChix, qui reconnaissent que cela nécessitera plus que la simple connexion des communautés à Internet. « AfChix permet aux femmes de jouer un rôle de premier plan dans la manière dont leur communauté accède à Internet. Cela aide à surmonter les perceptions selon lesquelles les femmes ne peuvent ou ne devraient pas utiliser la technologie et renforce également leur confiance en elles pour l’utiliser. La formation que ces femmes reçoivent leur montre comment utiliser la technologie à leur avantage en accédant à des opportunités économiques, y compris en tant qu’ entrepreneures.”

Emily Echas says she taught herself to sew. Emily (62) lives in Groot Aub, a rural community to the south of Namibia’s capital of Windhoek. The sandy settlement has a population of over 6000 and mostly consists of pensioners and small scale farmers. Poverty is widespread. Despite not having any formal education, Emily has managed to earn an income through doing needlework. “Everything that I am doing I taught myself,” she says.

Posted by Vymala Thuron

But Emily still had one obstacle holding her back. She could not teach herself to make or cut patterns for the clothes she sewed. “Normally I struggled to cut fabric without a pattern and had to rely on other people to do the cutting.” This changed when AfChix established the Groot Aub Community Network* during the first round of the WomenConnect Challenge, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Emily allowed the Community Network to use her yard to erect a tower for the equipment needed to connect to the internet and became one of around 40 households that gained internet access through the project.

This connectivity opened up a new world of knowledge to her as she soon realised she could improve her sewing skills by watching instructional videos on YouTube. “I found programs where ladies show how to measure and cut different types of garments. I started to watch these programs, and try to cut patterns while listening to them. I successfully cut and sewed a dress. I am so grateful, now I do not have to rely on somebody else any more.”

What does a community network do?
Community networks contribute to improving internet connectivity and building the capacity of communities to establish and maintain telecommunications infrastructure. AfChix has built four community networks by installing communications infrastructure in rural areas in Namibia, Senegal, Kenya and Morocco. We train local women to technically maintain the installed network infrastructure and to develop sustainable business plans to manage the way their communities access the internet connectivity now available to them.

The empowerment programme delivered in these community networks helps women to establish their own businesses, provides important community services, and positions these women as role models. This creates entrepreneurial opportunities for rural women to run local internet service providers, work as network engineers, and enhance their digital knowledge and skills. As one of the winners of the third round of the WomenConnect Challenge, AfChix is now working to expand the four community networks it has already established. In Groot Aub, we plan to erect more towers to expand the reach of the network to ultimately connect the entire community to the internet. This will give more women like Emily access to information and skills that can improve their lives.

Digital literacy and safe spaces for learning
Digital literacy is the new literacy – it has become just as crucial as reading and writing. While pens and books may be easily accessible, the ability to use information and communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information requires more than just devices and internet connectivity. Communities also need to be empowered with cognitive and digital skills to truly benefit from the internet. The Groot Aub Community Network has seen nearly 70 community members receive basic digital skills training. The next round of the project will continue to focus on providing digital skills training to unemployed women.

AfChix sees Community Networks as a means to create safe spaces where women and girls can access the internet and receive training without discrimination. We believe that training and capacity building is vital to help girls and women to be empowered and increase their confidence in using technology. This not only gives them access to new information, but also new choices. When women are empowered to generate an income and able to influence decision-making, they can bring about change that has a lasting impact on their own well-being, that of their families and the next generation.

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The Groot-Aub Community Network (CN) is run and supported by the ISOC Namibia Chapter members and additionally Groot-Aub CN is the southern African site in AfChix initiative to promote women in establishing, using and managing CNs. We thank ISOC our partner for the support https://isocnamibia.org/news/community-networks/