• Partners CyberSafe to train 70,000 females
United Kingdom has canvassed more roles for Nigerian women in technology, stressing that the potential is huge.
British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Jonny Baxter, who made the call, said the UK had been a leading partner in working with Nigerian people to close the digital gender divide in Nigeria.
Speaking during an event to honour some Nigerians empowering women and young girls with digital skills through the CyberHubs initiative in Lagos at the weekend, the envoy said UK had championed inclusion for women and girls into the digital economy through projects such as Digi Girls, saying: “We know that data says inclusion leads to an increase in economic power.”
Baxter, who urged the Nigerian government to ensure increased access to faster and affordable Internet to achieve growth in its current digital economy agenda, added: “We know that women and girls are disproportionately impacted by climate change, natural disasters and conflict because they exacerbate existing inequality and barriers in accessing services and support.”
“Yet women are critical frontline responders when crisis hits and are crucial voices in decision-making processes, if given the space to be heard. The participation of civil society groups, including women’s organisations, makes a peace agreement 64 per cent less likely to fail, and we know that the benefit of reducing conflict in other countries is felt in many other countries of the world.”
Speaking on the Digi Girls initiative, Baxter said last year on International Women Day, the UK launched a 10-year Women and girls’ strategy, “which showcases our commitment to tackling gender inequality across the globe”.
He disclosed that the first two cohorts of the Digi Girls programme saw the training and up-skilling of 6,800 women and girls.
Acknowledging the efforts of the UK in Nigeria, Founder/Executive Director, of Cybersafe Foundation, Confidence Staveley, said the UK Government had, through the DigiGirls programme, in three iterations, funded CyberSafe Foundation to cumulatively provided employable digital skills to over 70,000 women and girls across Nigeria.
