IGF 2018 LIGHTNING SESSION #11 Empowering women through Digital Markets: the case of Ayitic Goes Global

Subtheme: GENDER EQUALITY​

Presenter Name: Carolina Caeiro

Organization: LACNIC

Stakeholder Group: Technical Community

Regional Group: LAC

Gender parity in the workforce and women underrepresentation in the ICT sector are two major factors in the future of work. Ensuring women’s access to the digital economy, particularly in the least developed countries is a significant policy challenge.

AYITIC Goes Global is a joint initiative by LACNIC and IDRC that seeks to address the digital divide in Haiti. Specifically, this pilot program aims at testing strategies to connect Haitian women from low-income households with online job opportunities, raising them out of poverty and empowering them through access to employment.

With a special gender focus and considering implications for least developed countries, this Lightning session expects to contribute to previous debates at IGF on the Future of Work by sharing Ayitic Goes Global's lastest findings. 

 

Session Time
Report

- Session Type (Workshop, Open Forum, etc.): Lightning Session

- Title: Empowering women through Digital Markets: the case of Ayitic Goes Global

- Date & Time: Tuesday, 13 November, 2018 - 13:20 to 13:40

- Organizer(s):

Development and Cooperation Manager, Laura, KAPLAN, Technical Community, LACNIC

Head of Strategic Relations and Integration, Kevon, SWIFT, Technical Community, LACNIC

Coordinator of Development Projects, Carolina, CAEIRO, Technical Community, LACNIC

Development Projects Assistant, Beatriz, IRISARRI, Technical Community, LACNIC

 

- Presenter: Carolina Caeiro

 

- Rapporteur/Notetaker: Kevon Swift

 

- Theme (as listed here):  Human Rights, Gender and Youth

 

- Subtheme (as listed here): Gender Equality

 

- Please state no more than three (3) key messages of the discussion. [150 words or less]

This session presented an overview of Ayitic Goes Global and lessons to date. The goal of this joint LACNIC/IDRC initiative is to bridge young Haitian women from disadvantaged backgrounds with online employment opportunities.

 

The Project is a pilot program to test whether online work can offer sustainable livelihoods for women in Haiti and what type of capacity building it takes to get women from disadvantaged backgrounds participating in the digital economy. The program has trained its first cohort with an 86% graduation rate and is beginning to work with these women in applying for jobs online. The goal is to train a total of 300 women.
 

The discussion with the audience developed around how to effectively work with graduates from the online trainings in making their first steps in online employment and the challenges of going from a training to actually performing jobs.