Reliance Foundation Partners With USAID To Bridge Gender Digital Divide In India

Mumbai: To bridge the gender digital divide in India, Reliance Foundation has signed a partnership with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) under the Women’s Global Development and Prosperity (W-GDP) initiative.

The partnership was announced at a W-GDP event on Tuesday. The event was hosted by US Deputy Secretary Stephen Biegun and attended by special guest Ivanka Trump, advisor to the US President, and USAID’s Deputy Administrator Bonnie Glick.  The event was live-streamed at www.state.gov

Speaking on the occasion, Ivanka said that the W-GDP Fund was created to source and scale the most innovative programs to advance women’s economic empowerment. “We are leveraging the resources and expertise of the US government and the private sector so that activities have enduring, deep effects on the communities they reach,” she added.

In his address, USAID acting administrator John Barsa said that global prosperity will remain out of reach if half the population is excluded. “At USAID, we believe that investment in women is key to unlocking human potential on a transformational scale. The W-GDP Fund at USAID is financing innovative solutions to close the economic gap between women and men and help our partners advance on their Journeys to self-reliance,” he pointed out.

In a virtual video message, founder and chairperson of Reliance Foundation Nita Ambani said “l am delighted and proud to announce that Reliance Foundation is joining forces with W-GDP, through our partnership with USAID. Together, we shall launch the W-GDP Women Connect Challenge across India, in the fall of 2020. At the heart of this partnership is our shared goal to help bridge both gender divide and digital divide in India.”

The W-GDP Women’s Connect Challenge (WCC) supports private sector-led approaches that close the gender digital divide, expand business opportunities, and empower women.

As part of the programme, W-GDP will partner with the Reliance Foundation to create an India-specific expression of the WCC and incorporate the lessons of previous W-GDP WCC Rounds.