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A. The absence of workable woman role models further drives their under-representation. B. The camp inspired me in the world of technology and made me develop an interest in it. C. AGCCI works both to train and empower girls and to increase their inclusion in the tech sector more generally. D. Everything changed for Sizolwethu when she attended a coding camp run by the African Girls Can Code Initiative (AGCCI) E. Now she is using the skills she learned to develop applications that help her community, such as a bus booking system and more. F. A lack of exposure to tech coupled with strong gendered norms（性别标准）continue to keep girls out of the field from an early age. |
AGCCI builds digital skills and momentum（动力）towards a better future
In the rural Rwandan village where Chantal grew up, access to digital technology was basically non-existent. But when she was selected to attend one of the country's top high schools, Chantal took to computer science right away. After doing well in her exams, she told her mother she wanted to pursue a career in programming. Her mother's response, she says, did not surprise her: "She laughed and said 'Do you know where you are from? That's for students from the cities, rich families or boys, '" Chantal recalls.
Though the details vary, versions of Chantal's story are shared by girls across Africa and around the world. Even for girls who do have exposure to tech, their interest is often dampened by a lack of gender-responsive and interdisciplinary curricula. This was the experience of Sizolwethu, whose high school offered classes on information and communication technologies: "I was fortunate, " she says, "but I was never that much in love with it, " The courses had failed to connect technology to the real-world challenges she saw facing her community and country -- a key driver of many girls' career choices, research shows.
There, she says, her passion for tech grew as the camp "opened eyes to the game changing innovations that can impact Africa. I learned that with little or no resources, I can make a huge difference if passion and determination are there."
Launched in 2018 by UN Women and the African Union Commission (AUC), AGCCI working to empower girls across Africa by helping them build digital literacy（数字素养） a computer skills and placing them on the path to tech careers.
AGCCI's coding camp was a turning point for Chantal, too. She credits the initiative was pushing her to pursue. Information Technology at the university level -- despite the pressure she was receiving against it.
Awa Ndiaye -Seck.. UN Woman Special Representative to the African Union and UNECA says. "We are to address not only the policy-level bothlenecks related to access to technology and finances, but also the gender-based harmful norms and practices that prevent women and girls for pursuing STEM fields."
