This thursday 24 april is held on International Day of Girls in ICT, a special date for to make visible and promote the active participation of girls and young women in the world of Information and Communication Technologies. It is a powerful opportunity for inspire, educate and build a future more equitable and digitally inclusive.
How did the reason for celebrating this day come about?
In 2010, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN's specialised agency for telecommunications, has approved to start holding every fourth Thursday in April a Girls in ICTs Day. Your purpose is reduce the gap digital gender and attract at young people to study science and technology careers. It was born to draw the attention of other UN agencies and to increase interest and opportunities for women and girls in ICTs during their early educational stages. In the final closure of the resolution, was invited to research centres, universities and other institutions to celebrate this day and organising activities on the occasion of the International Day of Girls in ICT. Since then, countries have been integrating the date and commemorating the event with exhibitions, awareness-raising activities and orientation workshops., among other proposals.
The raison d'être of the celebration of this day is the lack of women with ICT development skills which is causing a serious decline in the economic and social development of countries. At present, economic activities have a direct relation with technological elements. Therefore, if the female population does not have the necessary skills and knowledge to perform these tasks, there will be a lack of progress at the global level because the potential of more than half of the world's population is being overlooked.
This 2025 is being celebrated under the slogan «Girls in ICT for an inclusive digital transformation». A phrase that goes beyond the symbolic and goes straight to the heart of the change we need. It reminds us that the digital equity is not limited to access to devices or the internet, but also encompasses the creation of spaces where girls are protagonists, where they have the equal opportunities to learn, lead and create, where their talent is recognised and their voice is heard. Because a truly inclusive digital transformation cannot leave out half the world: it needs the eyes, the ideas and the transformative power of girls.
A gap that still exists, but is changing
For decades, the world of technology has been largely dominated by male figures. Global statistics continue to show that women represent an overwhelmingly male-dominated majority in the tech world. minority in STEM careers (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), especially in areas such as programming, cybersecurity or software development. But this is not because of a lack of talent, but rather because of lack of opportunities, role models and support from an early age.
However, the landscape is beginning to change. Thanks to educational initiatives, workshops, mentoring programmes and organisations that promote girls' participation in technology, we now see more girls rubbing shoulders, building robots, designing apps and imagining technological solutions for the world's major problems.
Today, we celebrate not only the girls who are being trained in technology, but also those who are already making their mark: from teenagers developing apps to solve local problems to young people leading coding communities in their schools. They are the new references, The ones that serve as an inspirational example for the generations to come.
What can we do to continue to support this movement?
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Educating without stereotypes: From home, at school or in the media, let's promote an egalitarian vision of technology.
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Providing access to technological resources: tablets, internet, online courses... it all adds up to open doors.
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Visibilising women's role models in tech: that the girls see that there are many like them, shining in this sector.
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Creating safe and motivating spaces so that they can explore, make mistakes and learn.
As we can see, investing in girls in ICTs not only closes that gap, but opens up a world of possibilities where everyone wins.
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