Economic empowerment of women and girls in the digital realm is a necessary precondition for strengthening their agency, and ability to actively participate and contribute in the digital economy. Women do not only need capacity to succeed in their businesses and entrepreneurial journey, but also the skills necessary to navigate and overcome the complexities of the digital environment characterized by online harassments, cybersecurity threats and other forms of malicious intents that makes the digital realm unsafe and unsecure for them. Women and girls also need the necessary skills to understand their individual rights and freedoms online – including their privacy and protection of personal data. The Belgian development agency, Enabel has supported the digital entrepreneurship and digital rights capacity building in Uganda and Burkina Faso with the view to enhance women’s economic participation and to enable women and girls to assert their rights in the digital realm. Economic empowerment through advancing entrepreneurial skill-sets and digital rights awareness are complementary approaches for the empowerment of women and girls online. The session will explore experiences and lessons learned in Uganda and BFA and solicit approaches from participants on how to effectively support the empowerment of women and girls in an inclusive rights-based manner. The session will further explore how private sector actors can contribute to advancing business by human rights for women and girls, and to enable them to shape and contribute to digital policy processes. Speakers will be drawn from Enabel Uganda partner institutions such as the Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), Collaboration on International ICT Policy in Eastern and Southern Africa (CIPESA) and Start-up Uganda.
Proposed Speakers:
- Malick Tapsoba – Digital Entrepreneurship Expert, Enabel BFA
- Florence Achieng Otieno – Intervention Officer, Digitalisation Enabel
- Sandra Aceng – Executive Director, Women of Uganda Network
- Daisy Achum – Woman Entrepreneur, Karamoja