The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) GIRLS Inspire initiative, funded by Global Affairs Canada, has been selected as a G20 Flagship Project by eSkills4Girls, an initiative launched at the Africa Partnership Conference, 12-13 June 2017, in Berlin, Germany.

eSkills4Girls is a joint project by G20 members, under the German G20 presidency and backed by a consortium of international organisations that includes UNESCO, UN Women, ITU, OECD, the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ). It is an online knowledge and exchange platform showcasing efforts to overcome the gender digital divide in particular in low income and developing countries. The G20 Flagship Projects are selected to provide an overview of best practices and projects that are promoting opportunities for women and girls in the digital economy.

GIRLS Inspire is a three-year initiative that uses open, distance and technology-enabled learning to provide vulnerable and hard-to-reach women and girls with opportunities for completing schooling and receiving skills training. The initiative aims to break the cycle of child, early and forced marriage and to help create enabling conditions for sustainable livelihoods for women in four Commonwealth countries with a high prevalence of child marriage: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Mozambique and Tanzania.

“GIRLS Inspire has found itself among an esteemed group of organisations and projects that are working toward a common goal,” said Ms Frances Ferreira, Senior Adviser: Women and Girls for the Commonwealth of Learning. “We know that, given the opportunity, girls can inspire positive transformations in their families, their communities and the world. Ensuring access to the technology of today is one step in ensuring those transformations can happen.”