Since 2012, The United Nations has marked October 11th as the  International Day of the Girl. This annual campaign is used to shine a light on the challenges girls face while promoting girls’ empowerment and the fulfilment of their human rights.  

In 2021 UNICEF commemorates the Generation Equality Forum (GEF), launching 5-year commitments from civil society leaders, governments, corporations and change-makers from around the world for bold gender equality impacts. At the same time, we are in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has accelerated digital platforms for learning, earning and connecting, while also highlighting girls’ diverse digital realities. 

This year, the theme is “Digital Generation, Our Generation”. The gender digital divide in connectivity, devices and use, skills and jobs are real. It is an inequity and exclusion gap across geographies and generations. Gender equity in digital literacy is a driver of economic growth, a competitive business, and national advantage. Yet currently: 

• 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. 
• 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. 
• And in middle and higher-income countries, only 14 per cent of girls who were top performers in science or mathematics expected to work in science and engineering compared to 26 per cent of top-performing boys. 
• Only 22 per cent of Artificial Intelligence (AI) professionals globally are women, a massive gender gap in who is currently at the heart of designing the algorithms that will impact all of our lives. 

This is our challenge to address, if the digital revolution is to be for all, with all, by all. We must seize the momentum to drive action and accountability of GEF commitments made, for and with girls to achieve a bold vision of bridging the digital gender divide.

In celebration of the 2021 International Day of the Girl Child, Yarang Llamisi Foundation is pleased to announce a call for submissions for the annual International Day of the Girl Child Essay Competition for secondary school students in Gombe State. 

The essay competition encourages critical thinking towards propose solutions to girl child challenges of digital learning platforms in Nigeria. 

YLF International Day of the Girl Essay Writing Competition

To participate in this competition, our young ladies will be required to write a short essay of not more than 500 words on the theme “Digital Generation, Our Generation” exploring the importance of bridging the gender digital divide in Nigeria and what the Nigerian Government can do to help, for a chance to win a Computer Tablet and receive an educational grant worth N50,000.

Topic

“The importance of bridging the gender digital divide in Nigeria and what the Nigerian Government can do to help”.

Organizer

Yarang Llamisi Foundation

Prizes

A Computer Tablet and educational grant worth ₦50,000 + Other Consolation Prizes

Deadline

Friday, 2nd of October, 2021

Guidelines

Must be schooling in Gombe State.

Send your essay, your full name, age, school, phone number and email address to:

1. Via email to info@ylf-ng.org; or
2. Via Whatsapp on +44 7437 693985

Top 10 entries will be selected and the names of winners will be uploaded online.

Top 3 entries will be posted on our website.

The contest is open to girls age 12 – 16, and they must be in secondary school in Gombe State.

Each entry must include your full details – name, school, email address, phone number.

Entries received after the end date (Friday, 2nd of October, 2021) will not be considered.