Intel, UN Partner KIND for ‘She Will Connect Campaign’ on International Day of The Girl Child

Intel Corporation today unveiled the ‘She Will Connect Campaign,’ a new program designed to expand digital literacy skills among young women in developing countries. The novel campaign was flagged off with an exclusive screening of the Intel ‘Girl Rising’ movie at the Silverbird Galleria Cinema.

The initiative seeks to reach 5 million women and reduce the gender gap by 50 percent.

The event, hosted by The United Nations and the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND) brought together young girls from schools all over Lagos State in celebration of the International Day of The Girl Child.

The event enjoyed the support of several NGO’s and other organizations namely: Zonta International Clubs in Nigeria, Kudirat Initiative for Democracy, Nigerians Report Online and the United Nations Information Centre, among others.

Speaking at the event, the Country Manager, Intel West Africa, Mr. Olubunmi Ekundare restated Intel’s commitment to bring about positive change for the African Girl Child, and stressed the importance of educating the girl child.

“Here at Intel, we believe, and I’m sure we all agree, that smart girls are the equivalent of a smart world. What we seek to do, more than encouraging you all to do your best in school and seize the opportunity, is to build a world where youth are inspired to be advocates for change,” he said.

Ekundare further stated that technology plays an important role in empowering the girl child through education. “The Internet has transformed the lives of billions of people. It functions as a gateway to ideas, resources and opportunities that never could have been realized before. But our research shows that girls and women are being left behind. We believe that closing the Internet gender gap has tremendous potential to empower women and enrich their lives as well as all the lives they touch,” he added.

Also speaking, internationally acclaimed producer and producer of the Intel ‘Girl Rising’ film, Holly Gordon explained in her address to the students, the rationale behind the documentary.

“When you educate girls, good things happen. The individual stories in this movie are not remarkable; they focus a light on barriers girls face trying to get an education every day,” she said.

The film tells the stories of nine girls in countries from Haiti to Nepal who fought for their chance to go to school in the midst of extreme poverty, natural disasters and forced labour.

The She Will Connect Campaign demonstrates Intel’s commitment to this action by not only providing digital literacy skills to girls and women, but also by pushing the concept of digital literacy forward through new, innovative and scalable models.

Intel has set out a grand design to work with a diverse set of partners including global and local NGOs, corporations and governments to achieve its goal of educating as many girls as possible starting from Africa.

In conjunction with the She Will Connect cause, Intel pledged a 2013 Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action and is celebrating the United Nations’ second International Day of the Girl on October 11. The theme for this year’s International Day of the Girl emphasizes the importance of girls’ education worldwide.