On April 24th (at 4.40p.m.), Lindsey appeared on The 51 Percent, on France 24, discussing the importance of ensuring girls’ and women’s access to digital technologies, as a key force in girls’ and women’s empowerment.
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As Lindsey emphasized in her interview with Annette Young, access to technology is at the core of W4’s work because digital technologies hold enormous transformative potential for women and girls around the world. This access remains limited for women: 25% fewer women than men have access to the internet in developing countries; and Europe is no exception to this trend. Lindsey argued that bridging the digital gender divide is essential in order to “harness two of the most powerful trends today: digital technologies and women’s and girls’ empowerment.”
Lindsey also offered concrete details about the W4 platform and the wide variety of grassroots programs available to donors through the website—projects devoted to enhancing women’s empowerment via many aspects of development, including education, training in ICTs (information and communication technologies), and safer access to sanitation and water. When asked about the challenges inherent in W4’s work, Lindsey addressed some of the security threats that programs in particularly sensitive regions face. She praised the crucial work conducted by W4’s partner program in Pakistan, despite the high levels of violence that the members experience on a daily basis in the tribal zones.
Lindsey ended by highlighting the power of “democratized philanthropy”, made possible by digital technologies such as crowdfunding, which mean that anyone with a computer or a mobile phone can now turn herself or himself into a changemaker. She mentioned, for instance, the striking fact that a donation of just five euros can provide a woman with a safe-birth kit, saving her and her child’s life.
For French speakers: Lindsey was also interviewed on the French version of this program, ActuElles, on Friday, April 24th at 4:15 p.m.
