UNICEF Belize joins the global community in celebrating the International Day of the Girl

BELIZE, 11 OCTOBER, 2021 - One of the major shifts resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, in Belize, has been the accelerated advancement of digital platforms for learning, empowering, earning and connecting. Technology once perceived as luxury and leisure has now become the anchor on which we are keeping systems and processes afloat that are necessary for the functionality, continuity and productivity of our society.

As much as it has been an opportunity, we also recognize the huge inequities across gender, rural/urban as well as wealth quintiles. The theme of today’s commemoration asks us to recognize that there can be no digital revolution without girls! The global internet user gender gap is growing, from 11 per cent in 2013 to 17 per cent in 2019, and widest in the world’s least developed countries at 43 per cent. Additionally, some 2.2 billion people below the age of 25 do not have internet access at home, with girls more likely to be cut off. Globally, the percentage of females among Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) graduates is below 15 per cent in over two-thirds of countries.

Belize’s digital transformation will require more than increased connectivity. Girls must have equal access to devices. Girls must benefit from strategies to increase the education and training opportunities for them to acquire skills and qualifications in STEM subjects. Girls must benefit from gender equity measures that promotes fair and unbiased employment opportunities in otherwise male-dominated fields. Gender equity in digital literacy is a driver of economic growth, and a national advantage on the road to recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The growth and development of Belize’s innovation sector will require gender equity fostered through policies and programmes to address gaps and amplify opportunities.

UNICEF joins the call for continued and increased investments from all actors and stakeholders of intentional approaches to closing the gender digital divide – access to devices, connectivity, skills, safety – thus opening up pathways for all girls, to live their full potential. I wish to also use this opportunity to call upon young girls, to take on the challenge as agents of change in their generation. Break the glass ceilings! Be innovative and ask questions. Stand up and speak up, and together, we can make a difference for every girl.