In the rural areas of developing countries like Rwanda, women often face unique challenges that hinder their economic and social empowerment. However, technology has emerged as a powerful tool for transforming their lives, despite some challenges that still arise.
Rita Nishimwe, a young girl from Karongi district's Rubengera Sector, is one example.
Despite facing challenges such as limited opportunities and lack of access to resources, Nishimwe found a way to create a job for herself by becoming an MTN agent, thanks to a simple mobile phone, she now facilitates transactions for different people and earns a monthly salary.
"A mobile phone has helped me to meet my basic needs such as clothing and shoes, without having to rely on anyone else. It has also enabled me to secure a steady source of income through my employment as an MTN agent, allowing me to save and thrive," she said.
Nishimwe added that her phone has become an indispensable tool for her daily life as she uses it to call and connect with other people, send money to friends and family.
"I encourage girls who are still at home and may be hesitant to start a business or seek employment to make productive use of their phones instead of resorting to begging or engaging in other immoral activities to earn money. Becoming an agent is a great option because it doesn't require a big investment," she said.
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In the same sector, Christine Uwamahoro, a married woman, sells Isambaza, a type of fish, which she sources from a supplier in the neighboring Rutsiro district.
With the help of her mobile phone, she is able to call both her clients and suppliers, making it easier to conduct her business.
"It helps me every day to sell Isambaza and provide for my children," she said. "I sell Isambaza to get basic needs and strive for development."
Uwamahoro also emphasizes the importance of gender equality and equity, explaining that she and her husband share equal responsibilities.
"For instance," she said, "I sell Isambaza while he farms. He also helps me care for our children by washing them before they go to school whenever I'm trading. We also collaborate to purchase their school materials."
Uwamahoro believes that supporting each other as partners is not only fulfilling, but also beneficial for their children, allowing them to grow up in a loving environment free from conflict.
Technology empowers women and girls not only in trading but also in accessing online services and training.
Liliane Uwonkunda, an intern at Rope Technology Ltd, is learning about software development and hopes to create her own application. She has already learned about sessions and calculator software.
"Using technology is crucial for girls because it fosters open-mindedness, critical thinking, and discovery, motivating us to learn more," she said. "I use technology to enhance my learning, such as learning new codes, and to achieve my goals."
Uwonkunda encourages other girls not to be intimidated by ICT and not to believe that it is only for boys. Instead, she urges them to embrace it, develop a passion for it, and make the learning process more manageable.
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Yvette Mukakizima, a married employee at Rope Technology Ltd, utilizes both a computer and mobile phone in her daily work.
She assists individuals with applying for various services on Irembo, tax declarations for RRA, banking, and job opportunities. Additionally, she prints and scans different documents and IDs as part of the job. She has been working in this capacity for four years since she was unmarried.
Mukakizima notes that technology is crucial, as it enables individuals to apply for services online and access information.
With gender equality, she believes that both men and women should have equal opportunities, stating that "whatever a boy can do, a girl can do too."
Mukakizima also highlights the importance of having confidence in one's abilities and utilizing ICT to reach one's goals.
Gender digital inclusion - the path ahead
According to Sylvie Nsanga, a feminist and digital inclusion activist, gender digital inclusion involves addressing gender digital injustices that aren't really different from the injustices women face daily in the offline world.
These injustices, she said, lead to issues such as poverty, which can prevent women from accessing necessary technologies as well as social norms and cultural values that also contribute to unequal access to technological devices.
These injustices, she said: "poverty, illiteracy, GBV and negative social and cultural norms prevent women from accessing and using meaningfully needed digital technologies. The lack of women from the conception and development of technology and lack of gender balanced digital narrative encourage sexist systems and content, hence deeping gender digital gap."
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Nsanga acknowledged that technology has the potential to empower women, particularly young women in Rwanda, by improving their living standards and providing new career opportunities.
Nsanga acknowledged that technology has the potential to empower women by improving their living standards in Rwanda, particularly young women by providing them with needed information and new career opportunities if a human right based approach is applied. She said this is very possible if policy makers and tech players focus on people's digital capabilities and wellbeing.
She called for the creation of customized technology that can give women in rural areas access to information on topics relevant to them such as weather and fertilizer, declaring that technology is now an essential component of women's lives and cannot be separated from their experiences.
She reminded that women's digital needs may differ due to age, education level, profession and location. She called for the creation of customized technology that can meaningfully respond to specific women especially women in rural areas to access information and content on topics relevant to them such as farming knowledge, weather, and fertilizer, declaring that technology is now an essential component of women's lives and cannot be separated from their experiences
Regarding online and ICT-facilitated violence, Nsanga stated that online violence against women is the extension of offline violence and abuse women face. It is targeted harassment and prejudice against women through technology such as cyberbullying and cyber sexism.
Nsanga highlighted that Rwanda has established a clear law that outlines the appropriate behavior for individuals online, and she urged women to report any cases of online abuse and seek justice.
She commends the government of Rwanda for passing the cybercrime law that outlines the appropriate behaviour for individuals online and gives provision for punishing perpetrators.
She also reminds women that their inability to feel safe online is an impediment to their freedom and basic human right and urges them to report any cases of online abuse and seek justice.
"The world is aggressively becoming digital and Rwanda is on a great marathon to become a digital economy for the last two decades, and this should go hand in hand with investing in digital citizenship. It is very possible for us to hope for a gender-just digital country due to the high political will to bridge the gender digital divide starting from H. E president who has centered his politics on ending gender inequalities," said Nsanga. "As a He For She champion, he pledged to bridge the gender digital divide in 2015. In 2017 at the Transform Africa summit our first lady lead the Smart women declaration requesting Africa at large to bridge the gender digital divide. The Smart Rwanda master plan itself had a dedicated pillar to promote women through digital technology. And most importantly, since July 2021 president Kagame is co-leading the world to use Technology and Innovations for gender equality. If all those initiatives are implemented, I am optimistic that we will someday soon end this gender digital gap."
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Nsanga recognizes that meaningful digital participation of women will be determined by how they are accessing it, how they are using their mobile phones, and how secure they are.
"We need to make sure that women have the right skills. If they don't have basic literacy and numeracy, it is very hard for them to have digital skills, but there is still a way. We can use applications that have voice alternatives talking to a person," she added:
Concluding, Nsanga said "the digital divide is multifaceted and success will depend on women's digital experience which will be facilitated or prohibited by the availability of meaningful digital tools; affordability of digital commodities in comparison to other basic need pricing; by how relevant the content we provide to an individual and specific category of women is and more importantly by the quality of digital services. All this coupled with basic digital literacy, privacy and safety will position Rwandan women to participate and enjoy the digital revolution."
For this to happen, she continued, the government, development partners, CSOs and the private sector, especially tech corporations, have to work together.
