USAID, Reliance Foundation join hands to bridge gender digital divide in India
By Newsmeter Network Published on 12 Aug 2020 10:31 AM GMT
Mumbai: Under the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) initiative, a new partnership between the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and Reliance Foundation will bridge the gender digital divide in India.
The partnership was announced at a W-GDP event hosted by Deputy Secretary of State of the United States, Stephen Biegun, special guest, Ivanka Trump, Advisor to the President of the United States and Deputy USAID Administrator Bonnie Glick.
“I am delighted and proud to announce that Reliance Foundation is joining hands with W-GDP, through our partnership with USAID. Together, we shall launch the W-GDP Women’s Connect Challenge across India, in the fall of 2020. At the heart of this partnership, is our shared goal to help bridge both the gender divide and the digital divide in India,” said Nita Ambani.
The W-GDP Women’s Connect Challenge (WCC) supports private sector-led approaches that close the gender digital divide, expands business opportunities and empowers women. As part of the programme, W-GDP will partner with the Reliance Foundation to create an India-specific expression of the WCC and incorporate the lessons of previous W-GDP WCC Rounds.
“The W-GDP Fund was created to source and scale the most innovative programmes to advance women’s economic empowerment. We are leveraging the resources and expertise of the U.S. government and the private sector so that activities have enduring, deep effects on the communities they reach,” said Ivanka Trump, Advisor to the US President.
"Global prosperity will remain out of reach if we exclude half the population. At the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), we believe investment in women is the key to unlocking human potential on a transformational scale. The W-GDP Fund at USAID is financing innovative solutions to close the economic gap between women and men and help our partners advance on their journeys to self-reliance," said John Barsa, Acting Administrator, USAID.
