On September 14, 2022, Tim Prewitt, President and CEO of The Hunger Project, spoke about digital equity at the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) Global Summit, a gathering of policymakers, regulators, academia and private sector leaders.
Tim spoke alongside Maggie Hobbs, Director, Mawingu Networks, Virginia Lam Abrama, Co-Founder, Starry, and Ryan Palmer, Global Digital Equity Strategist, Airband Initiative, Microsoft.
Digital equity is an important challenge to address as more of the world’s services and resources transition to online platforms.
%
of the world’s population is now online
Most of the people with internet access are in high and middle-income countries. In low-income countries, only one in five people have adequate access to online resources. We at The Hunger Project are partnering with industry leaders to increase meaningful access for women, people with disabilities, and rural communities. In Ghana, we are partnering with Microsoft, BLUETOWN, Digital Frontiers and USAID to meaningfully connect 6,000 women to online resources. In Malawi, we are working with Microsoft and UltiNetS to connect women and people with disabilities in particular.
At the conference, Tim shared about the progress we’re seeing as we work with community leaders to connect women to online tools to foster community-led development and to information to end hunger. Through this initiative, communities are learning new farming techniques to increase their yields and vary their diets and learn how to add value to their crops.
Most of the people with internet access are in developed countries. In less-developed countries, only one in five people have adequate access to online resources. The Hunger Project is partnering with industry leaders to increase meaningful access for women, people with disabilities, and rural communities. In Ghana, we are partnering with Microsoft, BLUETOWN, Digital Frontiers and USAID to meaningfully connect 6,000 women to online resources. In Malawi, we are working with Microsoft and UltiNetS to connect women and people with disabilities in particular.
At the conference, Tim shared about the progress we’re seeing as we work with community leaders to connect women to online tools to foster community-led development and to information to end hunger. Through this initiative, communities are learning new farming techniques to increase their yields and vary their diets and learn how to add value to their crops.
It was an honor to speak at the DSA Global Summit in Paris this past week and to share the success of our partnership with Microsoft’s Airband Initiative in supporting women as they meaningfully connect to online resources that will support their livelihoods, dreams and futures.
Alongside these successes in Ghana and Malawi, Tim shared that The Hunger Project is exploring connectivity partnerships in Mexico, Mozambique and Ethiopia to bring this work to scale and reach millions of people. He shared our vision for these programs and explained that in Mexico this would be an opportunity for indigenous women from the mountains of Mexico to access nutrition information and to engage with the government digitally from their remote villages. In Mozambique and Ethiopia farmers would have real-time access to weather trends, which is vital for these countries, which have been severely impacted by climate change.
Globally, there is a gender gap in the digital divide. We must not only support women with the opportunity to connect but ensure that both men and women understand the opportunities connectivity and access to information can bring. We are proud to collaborate with our partners to support these opportunities for women globally and to support the impact it has on their lives.
