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Olivier Nkunzurwanda: Empowering young entrepreneurs in Uganda’s Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement

A long-time #DOTYouth, Olivier Nkunzurwanda is a young social entrepreneur leading tremendous change in the Rwamwanja Refugee Settlement in Uganda. He is the founder of the Refugee Innovation Centre and has been delivering digital skills and entrepreneurship training to his peers since 2016. Olivier grew up in Goma, a city on the border of the […]

DOT and ITU Announce #GirlsinICT Street Team to Bridge the Gender Digital Divide

  April 22, 2021 This Girls in ICT Day, Digital Opportunity Trust (DOT) and ITU are pleased to announce the #GirlsinICT Street Team, a youth-led response to the gender digital divide and contribution to the EQUALS Partnership for Gender Equality in the Digital Age. Through the #GirlsinICT Street Team, DOT and ITU will support the […]

Meet DOT’s delegation of leaders to UN CSW65

This week marks the start of the 65th UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW65), and we are pleased to introduce DOT’s delegation of staff and youth leaders.  DOT’s delegation consists of 15 women from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Jordan, Tanzania, Lebanon and Canada who are gender equality and youth-led community development advocates and experts. […]

Five young women leading digital education in Africa and the Middle East

COVID-19 has created a global education crisis, and it disproportionately affects rural communities, people with disabilities and young women and girls.  In 2020, UNESCO reported that over 72% of students globally have been impacted by school closures , 3.6 billion people still have no access to the internet and other digital technologies and that one […]

Jennifer De-Graft Ninson: Supporting visually impaired youth with digital skills

In the hands of young social innovators, technology can be used to build more inclusive communities and countries. Jennifer De-Graft Ninson’s initiative, Beyond the Braille, is an example of this in action.  Beyond the Braille trains visually impaired university students in basic computer skills. Jennifer first identified the need for a solution like this in […]

DOT launches second cohort of the #DOTYouth Street Team to tackle COVID-19 community recovery

In April 2020, DOT launched its first #DOTYouth Street Team initiative – a coordinated support network of youth in Africa and the Middle East who are responding to COVID-19 with needs-based interventions.  Through the #DOTYouth Street Team, DOT supports the impact and reach of youth by connecting them with partners who can provide information, tools, […]

Caroline Kyimiza: the importance of community outreach and peer support

Community connection has always been important to Caroline Kyimiza—that is true both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic began. The young Ugandan innovator is the founder of Cari Innovation Limited, a social enterprise and empowerment centre that mentors women and youth to create solutions to the sustainable development goals. Caroline started the initiative in 2018 […]

How to Meaningfully Engage Young Social Innovators in Pandemic Recovery

In the midst of uncertainty and global crisis, youth are innovating.  At Digital Opportunity Trust, we’re seeing inspiring examples of youth social entrepreneurs in our network that have the digital skills, gender equality, and facilitation knowledge necessary to rapidly innovate and intervene where their communities need it most.  They are tackling the education crisis with […]

The Digital Shift: Youth Voices on Digital Inclusion and Skills

We are pleased to share our latest youth voices report:  The Digital Shift – Youth Voices on Digital Inclusion and Skills. Youth, especially young women, face a multitude of challenges when it comes to securing opportunities in the digital economy. COVID-19 is just the latest, and a goal of this year’s Tanzania Youth Digital Summit […]

International Youth Day: inclusive digital and social innovation

Happy International Youth Day!  This year’s International Youth Day is highlighting the efforts of young people around the world who are engaging with local, national and global institutions to solve social, economic and environmental challenges within their communities.  In light of this year’s global pandemic,  youth continue to show their resiliency, strength and drive to […]