Feminist Knowledge hub Zivo/Ulwazi addresses gender digital divide in Zimbabwe | Spiked.co.zw

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The creation of the Zivo-Ulwazi Knowledge Hub is a timely intervention that will empower women and girls through accessing Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) thereby contributing to addressing the gender digital divide in Zimbabwe.

The Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Network and UN Women officially launched the Zivo-Ulwazi Feminist Knowledge Hub today, Thursday 8 June 2023 at ZWRCN Offices.

The Feminist Knowledge hubs are being hosted collaboratively with the Institute for Young Women’s Development (IYWD) and Katswe Sistahood. The Feminist Knowledge Hubs have essentially integrated one-stop repositories of information related to violence against women and girls (VAWG), including women, and girls’ SRHR, gender equality, and the empowerment of women and girls through enabling them to easily access and share evidence-based research, best practices, and resources.

This is part of the UN Women Spotlight Initiative supported by Feminist Knowledge Hubs that aims to increase the number of researchers, academics, female entrepreneurs, activists, and representatives of women’s rights groups who are keen to contribute to the development and usage of feminist knowledge products.

“The Zivo-Ulwazi Feminist Knowledge Hub resonates with the aspirations of the 2023 International Women’s Day theme, “DigitAll: Innovation and technology for gender equality.” It aims to ensure that no woman is left behind in accessing information online and in empowering women through ICT and embracing the digital space through accessing information related to VAWG and other women’s rights issues,” said Dorothy Hove, the ZWRCN Executive Director.

Hove said the Zivo-Ulwazi Feminist Knowledge Hub, apart from being an ICT hub, will also serve as a safe space for convening young feminists to discuss feminist contemporary issues to promote shared learning and amplifying women’s voices with an opportunity for mentorship from experienced feminists across Africa.

This can be facilitated through virtual and in-person sessions. The hub will complement the young feminist digital platform that ZWRCN set up in November 2022 as a safe space for young feminists’ conversations on contemporary issues particularly around wellness and wellbeing.

Tinashe Sande, a gender mainstreaming and coordination specialist with UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment, said the Feminist Knowledge Hub is a significant step towards the fulfillment of the UN agency’s commitment to fostering innovation and technology for gender equality, a commitment that was made during the International Women’s History Month in March this year.

“It is a milestone that fosters the realisation of an equitable world where technology benefits all especially the often-marginalized women and girls. The International Telecommunication Union notes that over 90% of jobs worldwide already have a digital component and that most jobs will soon require digital skills.

“The sad reality is that gender gaps in digital access threaten to leave women and girls behind. The gender digital gap has increased by 20 million since 2019. The Feminist Knowledge Hub will benefit community champions, peri-urban women and girls, Women’s rights groups, female researchers, and CSOs who are in a constant search for Feminist knowledge and knowledge on Gender Equality and Women’s empowerment in order to facilitate evidence-based programming through feminist knowledge production and utilisation,” Sande said.

Lilian Matsika Takaendisa, chief director, Gender Policy Planning and Programme Management in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, Community, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development weighed in by saying the hub will be accessible to women and girls with limited access to digital infrastructure, digital devices and digital skills in a world where technology is no longer a luxury but a basic need that should be accessed by all.

“This knowledge hub feminist intervention aligns with the 2023 International Women’s Day theme, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality’, and CSW67 theme, ‘Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls’.

“There is still much work to be done to achieve gender equality and participation of women in various sectors including in the digital space and I am confident that these hubs will serve as an information dissemination center for feminist knowledge as well as a safe convening planetary and will also assist in bridging the digital gap between men and women. I am happy that the feminist knowledge hub is a great intervention towards the implementation of some of the Agreed Conclusions from CSW67 in innovative and technological change and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and women empowerment,” Takaendisa said.

She added that the platform will also help to amplify women’s voices and perspectives and inspire individuals and organizations to take action towards gender equality and women empowerment. The Feminist Knowledge –Zivo/Ulwazi will benefit women and girls particularly those living in marginalized communities who have difficulties accessing digital technologies thereby inhibiting their access to vital information that affect their everyday life.

She hailed the envisaged establishment of more solar-powered hubs in Harare, Bulawayo, Bindura, and Murewa and expressed hearty congratulations to ZWRCN and all the implementing partners that are working with us on the initiative.

Under the programme, ZWRCN and 4 more Implementing Partners of UN Women under the EU-funded Spotlight Initiative including the Katswe Sisterhood, Women’s University in Africa, Rozaria Memorial Trust, and the Institute of Young Women Development will work to increase girls and women’s access to digital technologies.

The European Union in Zimbabwe is funding this initiative through the Spotlight Initiative. The Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small, and Medium Enterprises Development pledged continued support and leadership in all these programmes in partnership with implementing partners that are rolling out the Feminist Knowledge Hub project.