The Women in the Digital Economy Fund (WiDEF) announced on Wednesday the launch of its second competitive funding round for enterprises to develop and scale solutions that can narrow the gender digital divide in developing countries.
WiDEF – a joint effort between USAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – said it is now inviting applications from large private enterprises for "tailored technical assistance to scale products, services or approaches that can significantly increase women’s access to and usage of the internet."
Technical support on offer from WiDEF for this round includes research into the principal barriers and needs of underserved segments of women; evaluation of existing products and services for women to guide their evolution and wider usage; testing specific approaches and services; product adaptation and iteration, including analysis of service usage data, user feedback and further design research; and business modelling and support for scaling products and services.
WiDEF added that because it aims to support "commercially sustainable, scalable and evidence-based solutions to close the gender digital divide", applicants will have to explain in detail how their solution – and whatever assistance they receive from WiDEF – will address at least two of four core priorities: improved access to affordable devices and online experiences; increased availability of relevant products and tools; elevation of digital literacy and skills; and enhancement of safety and security
All applications will also need to generate insights and data that add to the existing pool of gender-disaggregated research and analysis.
WiDEF also advised applicants that the technical assistance it has in mind "aims to help to unlock opportunities to significantly close the gender digital divide, rather than supporting an enterprise’s ongoing 'business as usual' activities."
WiDEF said it will provide successful applicants in countries where USAID operates with tailored technical assistance for up to two years valued in the range of US$50,000 to US$150,000.
USAID currently operates in 25 “priority countries”, including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. USAID also provides services in 18 other countries in Southeast Asia, Central South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.
This latest round follows WiDEF’s first round of funding and support that closed on May 6, 2024 for local organisations. Applications for the second round are due by September 12, 2024.
"Through this new round, we believe we can deepen the private sector’s contribution to the closing of the gender divide across low- and middle-income countries, in line with the GSMA Foundation’s unwavering commitment to addressing this challenge," said Max Cuvellier Giacomelli, head of Mobile for Development at GSMA.
The GSMA Foundation helps manage WiDEF along with CARE and Global Digital Inclusion Partnership.
The International Telecommunication Union’s latest Facts and Figures report, issued in November 2023, said that the gender divide for internet connectivity continues to be a problem. Globally, 70% of men were online vs 65% of women at the end of 2023. Both are slight increases from 2022, but the gap is wider in low-income countries and least-developed countries (LDCs) by at least ten percentage points. Meanwhile, the gender divide has gotten worse among the offline population, where women outnumber men by 17% (compared to 11% in 2019).
