October 11 is the International Day of the Girl Child, worldwide. The United Nations established this day in 2011 with Resolution N. 66/170 to promote the importance of the rights of young girls and women.
The theme of the 2018 edition, which is With Her: A Skilled GirlForce, aims to raise greater awareness on the need to promote the access of young women onto the labour market through advanced school curricula.
According to data published by UNICEF, 131 million girls do not go to school and women aged 15-29 are three times more likely than men not to work, study or receive training.
In order to accelerate Goal 5 - “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls,” the Fondazione Mondo Digitale has transformed its historical "ICT for Equal Opportunities” Area into a transversal action that pays particular attention to the participation of all girls and women, promoting the development of an original grassroots movement that has developed exponentially. The "Girls Who Programme the Future" continue to increase, year after year, and are now capable of organising spontaneous events to promote literacy and empowerment as part of the coaching tools they promote as part of the Life Education Model.
The Coding Girls Association was created in 2017. This is the first Italian association that promotes female talent in STEM fields through the multiplier effect of peer training and the development of a young female e-leadership. The fifth edition of the educational programme as presented just last week.
In 2017, we involved 34,000 women of all ages in learning activities ranging from coding to social media. Seven projects for young women (Bye, Coding Girls, Pink Cloud, She Means Business, Learn STEM in the Summer, STEM in the City, Women in Technology) involved 8000 women. The FMD joined the Facebook global programme for women in enterprise, She Means Business, thanks to which 3500 women are currently learning to use social media to drive the development of their enterprises. Project Women in Technology, an original course for women promoted with Costa Crociere, has allowed us to involve 220 young women in a pilot experience where they conceived an enterprise idea, developed prototypes in the Fab Lab and experimented with crowdfunding. Three crucial actions in one project: youth, women and southern Italy.
