The Web Foundation — together with the EQUALS Global Partnership and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) — has launched a new fund designed to expand digital skills training opportunities for women and girls around the world. The EQUALS Digital Skills Fund will provide small grants to existing initiatives providing gender-sensitive skills training across countries in the Global South in order for them to scale up their programs.

Women comprise the majority of the nearly 4 billion people still offline today. While there are a number of reasons for this — ranging from an inability to afford a basic internet connection to deep-seated cultural issues — research has shown that a lack of digital skills is one of the most significant factors keeping women from accessing and using the internet. Only by working specifically to tackle the barriers to access and use faced by women and girls around the world will we stand a chance at closing the digital gender gap — and the wider global digital divide. The EQUALS Digital Skills Fund aims to do just that.

The Fund will be managed by the Web Foundation, with initial funding provided by BMZ, and plans to start distributing grants in late 2018/early 2019.

To learn more about the EQUALS Digital Skills Fund, please visit https://webfoundation.org/digitalskillsfund/