Digital Equality for Girls: A South Asian Imperative
In today’s fast-paced digital world, access to the internet and technology is crucial for education, job opportunities and overall development. Unfortunately, approximately one-third of the global population, or 2.6 billion people, remains offline. Most of them are women and girls.
South Asia is the fastest-growing region globally and can achieve unprecedented prosperity by addressing the digital gender divide. In South Asian households, sons are more likely to have digital devices than daughters, and girls and women are 31% less likely to access the internet than boys and men.
This situation is unfair; withholding digital tools from girls limits their development, learning opportunities, and competitive skills for their futures. Furthermore, it reinforces harmful stereotypes in a region where girls already face numerous disadvantages.
Why digital inclusion for girls matters?
Whether it’s learning how to use laptops, exploring the internet or connecting with friends and networks online via smartphones, when girls have access to digital tools, they can study, innovate and imagine a world of possibilities for themselves and their communities. Digital literacy enables them to:
- Access better education and career opportunities
- Stay informed about health, rights and social issues
- Gain confidence and participate in decision-making
- Work in technology, challenging stereotypes about women in workplaces
Ensuring digital access for girls isn’t just about fairness; participating in the digital economy offers girls and women the chance to become financially independent and grow professionally.
How is UNICEF bridging this gap in South Asia?
To overcome the digital divide, UNICEF strives to give every girl and boy digital access and a fuller, more global education.
Five key strategies drive this initiative:
- Connectivity: Expanding internet access to schools and communities
- Affordability: Making devices and services accessible to all children
- Content: Equipping children with essential digital literacy skills and ensuring that they have access to age-appropriate and context-specific content
- Online Safety: Protecting children from harm online
- Gender Inclusion: Addressing the unique social barriers faced by girls in accessing digital tools
Harnessing results for girls
To put these strategies into action, UNICEF has implemented 15 digital inclusion programmes in five South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Pakistan. Our efforts are delivering results for girls. For example:
Bangladesh: digital skills through WASH monitoring
In Bangladesh, UNICEF launched Enhancing Adolescent Girls’ Digital Skills through WASH Facility Monitoring. As part of this programme, 1,000 girls shared 100 digital tablets to monitor water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. They also received online safety training. By September 2024, they had mapped 1,200 water points. The programme also includes online safety courses.
“I never imagined I could use a device called a tablet! Now that I have been given a tablet, I can access so much information that it feels like it has opened a door to a new world for me. We are now using tablets not just as devices, but as gateways to knowledge, confidence, and connection.”
Nafisa Aiman, 18, Bangladesh
India: expanding connectivity for girls
UNICEF India’s Ensuring Improved Access to Digital Technologies for Girls’ Empowerment focuses on connecting government schools to the internet and providing girls with tech-based career guidance. Using funds from the Universal Service Obligation Fund, the initiative aims to engage 10 million adolescents, train 100,000 teachers and involve 1.5 million parents in digital awareness campaigns.
"For a long time, girls were expected to stay away from technology or science-related work. I’ve now learned how to design a working LED, build sensors, and even understand how to automate everyday things."
Sri Lanka: virtual classrooms for equal learning
In Sri Lanka, UNICEF’s Digitally Paired Twin Classrooms (DPTC) initiative connects well-equipped schools with underprivileged ones through virtual lessons. This initiative addresses teacher shortages and provides support to ensure that students in remote areas receive high-quality education. Already, 517 students in eight zones have benefited from the initiative.
"Before this, we didn’t have teachers for some subjects. Now, we can learn everything with the other schools — it feels like we’re all in one big classroom."
UNICEF’s global efforts
Globally, UNICEF’s efforts to expand digital use have been encouraging:
- Giga: Aims to connect every school to the internet by 2030. Giga has already mapped 2.1 million schools across 141 countries and expanded internet access to 14,500 schools, benefiting 7.8 million students.
- The Game Changers Coalition: This initiative partners with gaming companies to create a more inclusive gaming industry. It has reached 100,000 girls, teachers, and parents and has encouraged young girls to develop their own games and be the designers of a more inclusive, diverse and secure digital future.
- Learning Passport: In collaboration with Microsoft, this digital learning platform reaches over 10 million users in 47 countries, and it is accessible in areas with little to no internet..
- Internet of Good Things (IoGT): IoGT is a free online youth and community engagement platform that offers life-saving information and educational content to over 37 million users in 61 countries. It is fully optimized to use small amounts of data, making it more affordable and accessible.
The road ahead
Everyone has a role in efforts to close the digital divide and ensure equal opportunities for girls and boys in South Asia.
Governments can:
- Invest in digital infrastructure, particularly in rural and underserved areas.
- Implement policies that promote gender-inclusive digital education and online safety.
- Provide affordable or free internet access to schools and community centres.
Parents and caregivers can:
- Encourage girls to use technology for learning and creativity.
- Teach children about online safety and responsible internet use.
- Support digital literacy programmes in their communities and advocate for equal access for all children.
Private Sector can:
- Partner with governments and non-profits to enhance subsidised internet access in rural and low-income regions.
- Supply affordable or donated devices to students.
- Allocate resources for digital literacy and mentorship programmes, such as internships and on-the-job training.
- Invest in developing educational platforms and courses offered in local languages and designed with gender inclusivity in consideration.
South Asia currently ranks as the second most digitally connected region in the world. The region has the potential to drive global innovation and growth if every child– particularly girls – receives equal access to digital resources and opportunities. This will also ensure that no child in South Asia is excluded from the digital future.
