It’s almost August, and you know what that means – Women’s Month! As part of the celebrations, we’re going to be shining a light on some of the awesome work women are doing in the tech space.
We’re starting with five amazing Kenyan girls who developed an app to help combat what they see as a serious issue facing girls all over the world: female genital mutilation (FGM).
They are Stacy Owino, Cynthia Otieno, Purity Achieng, Macrine Atineo and Ivy Akinyi, all aged between 15 and 17. Their app has been selected to compete at the annual International Technovation Competition, which challenges girls to create apps that address issues within their communities.
The competition kicks off on August 6th at Google’s global headquarters in Mountain View, California.
The girls’ app is called I-cut, and it’s an app that connects girls at risk of FGM with rescue centres, and provides information for girls who’ve undergone FGM and who might be looking for medical and legal advice.
“FGM is a big problem affecting girls worldwide. It is a problem we want to solve,” Stacy Owino told Nairobi News ahead of the competition.
She also commented that the experience will change their lives. “Whether we win or not, our perspective on the world and the possibilities it has will change for the better.”
The United Nations Population Fund says that FGM is internationally-recognised as a human rights violation, and supports many initiatives that promote the abandonment of the practice.
Unicef, the United Nations’ Children Fund, further says that “At least 200 million girls and women alive today living in 30 countries have undergone FGM”, and that “…the majority of girls and women in most countries with available data think FGM/C should end”.
These five girls are the only Africans attending this year’s Technovation competition.
[Image – Shutterstock]
