Last year, 15 women were announced as World Pulse Ambassadors at the International Conference held by ‘Women Deliver’ in San Francisco. The founder/CEO of the world’s largest social network of women leaders, Jensine Larsen introduced each woman as a leader in her own right.
I heard there was an air of celebration as the audience got to its feet and applauded. One of the women who was being applauded was me.
I was not in San Francisco at that time, but I could still feel the wave of joy. I wanted to accept this responsibility placed upon me to advocate for the digital empowerment of girls and women, but coupled with this moment of joy was also a little voice of uncertainty of how I would carry out my role and if I would match up to expectations.
To be able to do justice, the conviction that’s needed to back your dedication comes from reports on how the digital gender gap is growing wider with Africa reporting the largest divide at 23% and America the narrowest at 2%. These facts, make it all the more necessary to bring more girls and women online.
My message to the women who will come after me as ambassadors is that, you’ll doubt yourself for sure, but that’s how you grow. At times you will wonder how a program can be organised unless you have funding. Who would be interested in your message? Who are the people most likely to be receptive? Is it possible to even carry out all the activities and initiatives while you have a full-time job (like I did) or run your own organisation or have family commitments?
The ‘how’ will become a constant, but let it not be a barrier because these will be your answers soon. That is what I discovered that helped me decide what could be the message, the dos and don’ts, what approach works and what you eventually will walk away with at the end.
My Year As A World Pulse Ambassador
The year I spent as an ambassador of World Pulse was super eventful. In the last 12 months where I represented World Pulse in international and national conferences as a speaker, my message was to increase the use of the internet by girls and women and build connections between them to address social norms that lie at the crux of the many social problems in India or elsewhere.
To champion digital empowerment of girls, women and the marginalised it is critical to connect the dots between these social evils and the women who are not using their voice to end them. It is important to get more girls and women online so that they can tell their stories and issues pertinent to their community, political background or cultural setting and pitch for the change they want to see.
One such conference was the UNICEF National Consultation on Social Norms and the Rights of Women and Children. It was attended by close to 100 academic professionals on March 27 and March 28, 2017, in Bangalore, India. The discussions centred around the impact of social norms on the development of children and women. It also revolved around topics like the antenatal period in a tribal woman’s life, child birth practices, feeding practices, education, gender based violence, menarche and the culture of silence, addressing challenges on maternal, child and adolescent health as experienced by the health department and the gender stereotypes in media.
Initially, you would have to work a little to come up with how the use of the internet could be seen as a related subject associated with a solution to a wide number of problem. It took me a day to come up with how I would fit the vision of World Pulse and the use of the internet into a discussion on social norms. The forum was meant for sociologists, development communication experts, social researchers and program practitioners, and I pitched for the role of the media and citizen journalists (stories of women by women and for women). It was important to make people understand how they could play a role in changing the negative social norms to positive social norms and design outcomes related to the rights of women and children.
After the first time, it is easy to visualise the depth of internet use in every possible space of intervention. This is when you truly become an advocate of digital empowerment of women.
I always like to quote Chi Yvonne, who is the founder of Gender Danger, an NGO for education towards the eradication of the harmful traditions against women and girls in Africa and what she achieved using digital skills. Look at the social evil of breast ironing in Cameroon, where mothers believed that this measure would prevent the rape of their daughters. She used the internet and her digital skills to tell stories and relay her recommendations on why and how to end breast ironing. She succeeded in bringing global visibility to this inhuman practice and campaigned for its eradication, aligning like minded individuals and organisations to support her. In the process, she also helped develop a resistance to practices that are harmful to girls.
World Pulse envisions the transitioning of a girl/woman from an existence of being a mere spectator to being vocal and suggest solutions and lead her community to change in partnership with other women around the world.
The Important Takeaway’s From My Experience
During the year I learnt that you do not have to set aside a program specifically for advocating the use of the internet; you can integrate this message in many of your current activities and public appearances during your job and your organisation work too. Additionally, if you need a success story of a woman change maker who uses the internet to enhance impact, you will not face any difficulty in identifying her, thanks to the internet. I found Olutosin Oladoshu Adebowale from Nigeria, Zephaniah from Pakistan, Neema Namadamu from Congo, Beatrice Achieng Nas from the Republic of Uganda and so many other inspiring women!
If you do not have a staff or a team to help you, do what I did! I reached out for help. Busayo Obisakin from Nigeria helped me out during the Women Digital Skills Training I conducted in April 2016 for a small group of 10 women sales professionals in Bangalore by being my co-facilitator using Skype to connect with us in India and sharing her experience in using the internet.
Olutosin Adebowale, Stella Paul and Upasana Chauhan extended their support by being panellists on the International Women’s Day Skype Program held on March 8, 2017, where close to 30 callers from around the globe joined the Skype based conversation and many viewers connected to our Facebook Live streaming.
During the Nepal National Training on Menstrual Hygiene Management held in Nagarkot in February 2017, I conducted sessions on digital tools to enhance program implementation on menstrual hygiene management program for 60 participants from Nepal and Pakistan who were government officials from different departments. The participants shared how useful that session had been to unlock their own apprehensions on sharing on social media or on online portals for fear of loss of privacy, lack of idea on benefits of networking and thinking it was only for the new generation to be online.
Noteworthy are accounts of two of my colleagues, who were also trainers like me. They shared that the session had completely changed their view on being connected to others.
Abdulwahid Ahmed Jama working with Kenya Red Cross Society shares his experience of attending the digital skills session and says, ‘This training was extremely useful in instilling in me a culture of sharing information in real time. I found there is no greater advocacy than using social media to push for a cause.”
Ayesha Riaz, another participant from Pakistan who works in the education department says, “Digital skills training was so inspiring because no body receives training on this topic unless your line of education is this. People might buy the latest gadgets but how many know how to use it well and for good?”
And then there were ample opportunities in my friend circle, among colleagues, with family where I could give hand-holding support to set up a Skype account, or an email, take a picture and share it with friends and so on. You will be surprised to find the number of people who find the confidence to be online through your help.
The journey that was meant to facilitate the learning process in others also left me with lessons that will change my life forever, one being that the biggest resource we have is ourselves. With that alone, we can move mountains. The other learning is, digital skills are not stand-alone topics, a subject of learning or occupation; instead they are skills that can be used alongside any other activity in any industry you work in or in your personal life- everyone can benefit from it! I found several teams and persons I want to continue working with, a new confidence and peace of doing my best in my circumstances. I also drew closer to World Pulse sisters and take delight in being considered as a focal person or point of reference for other women who train others.
I found several teams and persons I want to continue working with, a new confidence and peace of doing my best in my circumstances. I also drew closer to World Pulse sisters and take delight in being considered as a focal person or point of reference for other women who train others.
I thank all my friends, sisters, volunteers and others who supported me to accomplish the goals I had set for myself. Thank you, World Pulse, for giving me the opportunity to serve the global sisterhood and my World Pulse family.
