Announced by the White House in March 2023, WiDEF is a joint effort between USAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate progress on closing the gender digital divide, managed by CARE, Global Digital Inclusion Partnership and the GSMA Foundation.
“From our experience, we have seen how the right technical assistance can truly help companies unlock impact at scale,” said Max Cuvellier Giacomelli, head of mobile development at the GSMA.
“Through this new round, we believe we can deepen the private sector’s contribution to the closing of the gender divide across low- and middle-income countries, in line with the GSMA Foundation’s unwavering commitment to addressing this challenge.”
The round of support takes the form of tailored technical assistance to scale products, services or approaches that can increase women’s access to and usage of the internet.
This second round follows a first round of funding and support that closes on May 6 for local organisations.
The technical assistance aims to unlock opportunities to close the digital divide. Examples include research into the barriers and needs of underserved segments of women to inform actions to better support them in accessing and using digital technology and the internet.
It also includes evaluation of existing products and services for women to inform their evolution and wider usage as well as testing specific approaches and services to ensure they best meet the needs of underserved women.
WiDEF will provide successful applicants in countries where USAID operates with tailored technical assistance for up to two years valued in the range of $50,000 to $150,000.
This support will be provided by the WiDEF Consortium and third-party suppliers engaged by WiDEF.
