Johannesburg—Intel believes that when girls and women are connected to the world through technology, they are connected to a world of opportunity. However, according to the Women and the Web report, in developing countries, 25 percent fewer women are online than men, and in sub-Saharan Africa, the gap rises to 43 percent. As a result of this belief, Intel created the Intel® She Will Connect program to work with an ecosystem of partners to close this gap globally, beginning in Africa. The initiative strives to halve the digital gender gap in Africa, by empowering five million women through digital literacy programs, with initial pilots in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia.
Intel is partnering with The Rockefeller Foundation to announce their collaboration on Intel® She Will Connect at the upcoming World Economic Forum (WEF), taking place in Nigeria between 7 and 9 May 2014. WEF is an international institution that is committed to improving the state of the world through public-private cooperation in the spirit of global citizenship and as such, it is the perfect platform to announce this collaboration to boost the Intel She Will Connect program.
Intel’s Vice President, Sales and Marketing Group General Manager, Intel World Ahead Program, John Davies, who will be attending the WEF says: “Technology in general and the Internet in particular, has transformed the lives of billions of people. It opens up opportunities and possibilities that never could have been realized before. But women and girls are being left behind—which is why we are investing alongside other organizations to close the gap through Intel She Will Connect.”
The Intel® She Will Connect program is an innovative combination of digital literacy training, an online peer network, and gender-relevant content. As a result of this effort, these young women will have the opportunity to acquire or improve digital literacy skills and expand their understanding and use of technology so that they can connect to health, government, and educational information, economic opportunities, and gender-specific resources. Consequently, these young women will be able to receive a better education, enhance their political participation, have a stronger voice in their communities, and increase their income by connecting to new economic opportunities.
The partnership with The Rockefeller Foundation will seek to connect those trained through the program to employment opportunities. Mamadou Biteye, Managing Director of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Africa Regional Office elaborated on the Foundation’s role, “We see great alignment between the Rockefeller Foundation’s Digital Jobs Africa initiative and She Will Connect. We will work together with Intel to connect high potential but disadvantaged young women in our target African countries to online jobs through tools and training that will provide them with best practice guides to assist them in successfully accessing online jobs, earn an income and build their skills and digital work experience. We will seek out more partnerships with pioneering private sector players who have a shared vision around addressing the youth employment challenge,” concludes Biteye.
Digital Jobs Africa is a Rockefeller Foundation initiative launched in 2013 and aims to impact 1million lives by connecting high potential but disadvantaged youth to jobs in the digital economy creation.
About Intel
Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is a world leader in computing innovation. The company designs and builds the essential technologies that serve as the foundation for the world’s computing devices. As a leader in corporate responsibility and sustainability, Intel also manufactures the world’s first commercially available “conflict-free” microprocessors. Additional information about Intel is available atnewsroom.intel.com and blogs.intel.com, and about Intel’s conflict-free efforts at conflictfree.intel.com.
About The Rockefeller Foundation
For more than 100 years, The Rockefeller Foundation’s mission has been to promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world. Today, The Rockefeller Foundation pursues this mission through dual goals: advancing inclusive economies that expand opportunities for more broadly shared prosperity, and building resilience by helping people, communities and institutions prepare for, withstand, and emerge stronger from acute shocks and chronic stresses. To achieve these goals, The Rockefeller Foundation works at the intersection of four focus areas—advance health, revalue ecosystems, secure livelihoods, and transform cities—to address the root causes of emerging challenges and create systemic change. Together with partners and grantees, The Rockefeller Foundation strives to catalyze and scale transformative innovations, create unlikely partnerships that span sectors, and take risks others cannot—or will not. For more information, please visit www.rockefellerfoundation.org
For more information please contact:
Achieng’ Otieno, Communications Officer, the Rockefeller Foundation Africa Regional Office, aotieno@rockfound.org, +254 704848792
Adim Isiakpona, Intel PR & Marketing Manager (West Africa), adim.isiakpona@intel.com, +2347064189105
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