WomenPRIDE.Africa was WSIS Prize 2022 runner-up. Out of 966 submitted projects, 360 were nominated for the online voting. More than 1.3 million votes were casted and WITIN’s Project – WomenPRIDE.Africa was among the top five most voted in Category 11 AL C7 E-employment.
The WSIS Prizes 2022 is an exceptional international recognition of WSIS stakeholders as winners and champions for their excellence in supporting the implementation of WSIS outcomes, in particular the action lines supporting achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
It was developed in response to requests from the WSIS stakeholders to create an effective mechanism to evaluate projects and activities that leverage the power of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to advance sustainable development. Since inception, the contest of WSIS Prizes has attracted hundreds of thousands of stakeholders.
The letter, which conveyed the UN recognition to WITIN, which was signed by the Program Coordinator, Strategic Planning and Membership Department, International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Vladimir Stankovic, reads: “Congratulations! It is with great pleasure to inform you that your project has been selected as the WSIS Prize 2022 Champion! Explore the results of the Selection Phase and meet all Champions here www.wsis.org/prizes
“Following our public announcement of the WSIS Prizes 2022 Champion on the aforementioned website, we are reaching to you with brief summary of this year’s annual awards and invitation to celebrate your achievement together.
“Out of 966 submitted projects, 360 were nominated for the Online Voting, following a comprehensive review by the Expert Group. We have reviewed more than 1.3 million votes cast and your project was among the top five most voted in your category. We would like to congratulate you on this amazing achievement and to invite you to promote this global recognition.
“Continuing with the last years’ much appreciated practice by the WSIS community, we are pleased to recognize the efforts and great work of WSIS Prizes 2022 runner-ups as WSIS Prizes 2022 Champions during the final week of the WSIS Forum 2022 (May 30 to June 3) and beyond. We will soon be sharing more detailed information about the program and proposals for your participation and promotion.”
Responding to the award, Mrs. Martha Alade, the Founder, Women in Technology in Nigeria (WITIN), said the recognition will give the body, immense visibility, “with our hashtag #WomenPRIDEdotAfrica trending for the first time. We saw people we have never met speaking up and acknowledging our efforts of two decades globally. This is motivating us enormously to work even harder, surpassing our target. Also, it gives us a platform to reach out to more partners.”
Alade, who said WomenPride.Africa is an acronym for (Women and Girls, Pivoting, Resilience, In the Digital Economy in Africa), disclosed that it was a COVID-response and an initiative of WITIN, which equips women and girls to thrive in the digital economy via three pivotal pillars, which are in-demand digital skills training; urban-rural partnerships and empowerment; and meaningful access and adoption advocacy.
She said it is a five-year action plan (2020 – 2025) in partnership with the International Telecommunications Union Girls in ICT and Partner2Connect coalition aimed at socio-economically empowering 100,000 women and girls in Nigeria and Africa at large.
The WITIN Founder said the organisation organises series of hybrid workshops for girls in May and June 2022, in line with the ITU approved toolkit for celebration of Girls in ICT 2022 events.