The Nihka Technology Group as part of its ethos to inspire positive social impact is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals. SDG 5 on Gender Equality is part of the company’s major focus on bridging the digital divide for girls and women.

Nihka recently partnered with NGO. PAICTA, to run a youth-focused digital discussion on 4IR in South Africa. Two of the panelists were 12-year Lesandre Slabbert and 13-year-old Keshaan Abrahams who are young girls involved in a robotics youth programme being run in the Westbury area in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The webinar was instrumental in highlighting the need for young girls to be involved with and leading problem solving projects with a digital focus.

Watch the webinar here:

The origins of International Day of the Girl Child

On December 19, 2011, United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 66/170. October 11 was declared as the International Day of the Girl Child, to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face globally.

Some of the challenges that girls and women face run through every facet of society.

• Globally, 750 million women and girls were married before the age of 18 and at least 200 million women and girls in 30 countries have undergone FGM.
• The rates of girls between 15-19 who are subjected to FGM (female genital mutilation) in the 30 countries where the practice is concentrated have dropped from 1 in 2 girls in 2000 to 1 in 3 girls by 2017.
• In 18 countries, husbands can legally prevent their wives from working; in 39 countries, daughters and sons do not have equal inheritance rights; and 49 countries lack laws protecting women from domestic violence.
• One in five women and girls, including 19 per cent of women and girls aged 15 to 49, have experienced physical and/or sexual violence by an intimate partner within the last 12 months. Yet, 49 countries have no laws that specifically protect women from such violence.
• While women have made important inroads into political office across the world, their representation in national parliaments at 23.7 per cent is still far from parity.
• In 46 countries, women now hold more than 30 per cent of seats in national parliament in at least one chamber.
• Only 52 per cent of women married or in a union freely make their own decisions about sexual relations, contraceptive use and health care.
• Globally, women are just 13 per cent of agricultural land holders.
• Women in Northern Africa hold less than one in five paid jobs in the non-agricultural sector. The proportion of women in paid employment outside the agriculture sector has increased from 35 per cent in 1990 to 41 per cent in 2015.
• More than 100 countries have taken action to track budget allocations for gender equality.
• In Southern Asia, a girl’s risk of marrying in childhood has dropped by over 40per cent since 2000.
  Source: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/gender-equality/

While this situation seems grim, the movement to bring women to the forefront for leadership keeps momentum and is shifting the landscape with positive results.

#EmpowerMoves

UN Women Australia has taken to TikTok to bring mainstream awareness to International Day of the Girl Child. While the moves at first glance seem like a normal dance routine, it is a choreography of basic self-defense moves for women.

The dance, choreographed first by Karla Mura, follows the international theme for women and girls, ‘My Voice, Our Equal Future’.

The Generation Equality Forum leading this theme is committed to bridging the digital divide for women and girls to ‘achieve meaningful and sustainable change for a digital revolution by, with and for all.’

The Nihka Technology Group is a South African technology company based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The Group is focused on bringing the digital future to both the private and public sectors, locally and globally by delivering innovative, integrated technologies and intelligent solutions. Nihka offers end-to-end multi-dimensional consulting with an emphasis on integrating the human potential. Bringing EQ into AI.
www.nihka.co.za