First Ladies, Government Officials, Heads of regional and international Organizations and UN bodies have inaugurated today the first ever  Africa Smart women summit previously to the closing ceremony of the three-day Transform Africa Summit in Kigali.

Launching the summit, the First Lady of Rwanda Jeannette Kagame highlighted the need for joint efforts in advancing ICT development for women and girls, ““We, as citizens of the world, are called to leverage our diverse positions to join governmental and non-governmental efforts for the inclusion of women and girls in the heart of the current ICT revolution,” she said.

The First Lady also stressed the importance of involving women and girls in ICT, “ICT should be considered as a tool of women empowerment and helps them realize that they can contribute for their communities to fully thrive.” “Let us ensure that no one is left behind in the 4th industrial revolution we all should be a part of.” First Lady added.

Speaking at the Summit, the Minister of Gender and Family Promotion, Nyirasafari Espérance said that women should not be left behind in the Smart Africa process: “the Smart Africa goals cannot be achieved without the involvement of women and girls who ought to walk side by side our male counterparts.”

Minister Nyirasafari reiterated the Smart Africa Women and Girls declaration that was designed to push forward the initiative of accelerating Governments to put in place systematic national mechanisms to bridge the Gender Digital Divide and attain parity in the access and usage of ICT. “Increasing access, affordability, and safety of women in tech; empowering women and girls with digital skills, and increasing participation of women and girls in STEM are the principles that will help us bridge the digital divide in Africa.”  She noted.

However, the Minister mentioned that realizing these principles a lot will be done such as combatting cultural norms around ICTs as well as the promotion of positive masculinity, mentorship programs, inclusiveness of women with special needs such as those with disabilities, knowledge transfer and cross country exchanges, research and collection of disaggregated data. A strong monitoring and evaluation mechanism is key in this journey. She therefore called upon development partners, the Private Sector, International and National Organizations, Agencies, Cooperations, the Academia to join the journey towards closing the gender digital divide following the guidance provided for by the then named “The Kigali Africa Smart Women and Girls Declaration.”