a low-bandwidth presentation outlining the benefits and risks of programming for girl's empowerment and incorporating ICT4D tools.

1. By Keshet Bachan

2. Who are adolescent girls?
An estimated 500 million adolescent girls living
in the ‘developing’ world today

3. Why adolescent girls?
1. Suffer from multiple forms of discrimination
2. Invisible in development programming
3. Potential for breaking intergenerational cycle
of poverty
4. Adolescence is best age for interventions /
changing life trajectories

4. What do we want to challenge?
• Structural forms of discrimination
• Traditional / cultural / religious beliefs
• Poverty
• Intersecting inequalities and compounding
vulnerabilities
• internalizing oppression
• Endemic violence

5. Why ICT’s?
• Availability
• Connectivity
• Privacy
• Flexibility

6. Examples
• Accessing information on
SRHR
• Community mobilization
(stop child marriage)
• Birth registration through
SMS
• Finding work
• Connecting with peers
(less isolation)

7. What steps need to be taken to
include adolescent girls in ICT4D?
• STEM education
• Legislation and policy
• Working with men & boys
• Female mentors / role models

8. Remember!
ICTs are not a silver bullet – they are another
tool for facilitating change and promoting
gender equality.
The many challenges of structural
discrimination, which prevent adolescent girls
from realizing their basic rights, also mean
they have less access to ICTs. We must always
ask – are ICTs in a given situation the best tool?

9. Remember!
The intersection of girl’s rights and online
spaces / digital tools, often poses risks.
Technology can challenge or facilitate
discrimination and violence against women
and girls. It’s important to think about the
gendered implications of the tools we
choose to adopt.

10. Adolescent girls programming & policy