Implemented by World Education’s Bantwana Initiative, the Waache Wasome (“Let them Learn”) project is empowering girls and young women in Tanzania with protective assets and supporting them to complete their education and take control of their futures. Designed to support education retention of adolescent girls through an inclusive, human-centered design, the 5 ½-year Waache Wasome project has impacted thousands of Tanzanians students and their teachers and caregivers. In addition, the initiative has produced nationally adopted models and materials that foster safer schools, address gender-based violence, and enhance family capacity and commitment to girls’ education.
Even as internet connectivity spreads around the globe, the UN has found that the digital usage gender gap is growing — and is about 43 percent in the least developed countries. Among the 2.2 billion youth (below 25) who do not have access to internet, girls are more likely to be cut off. And, globally, females constitute less than 15% of STEM graduates in the majority of countries.
The project aims to close the gender digital divide by mainstreaming ICT and digital platforms into ongoing, integrated programming whereby building essential, everyday skills and opening up new educational and career avenues for women. The project supported teachers and students exposure to technology through ICT Clubs in 28 schools, developing a compressed curriculum that equipped teachers with participatory training skills and provided opportunities for students to gain hands-on, practical use with computers. In its first year of operation, the ICT Club program led to 1,259 students (53% girls) registering for computer science examinations — a first for almost all the participating schools.