“We are extremely proud of the incredibly innovative capacity demonstrated by the young girls over the past two weeks,” said Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

She was speaking at the end of a coding boot camp jointly organized by ECA and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) as part of activities to mark the UN’s 75th anniversary. The camp brought together over 2000 young girls online and in person at the UN Conference Centre in Addis Ababa from 30 November to 11 December 2020.

The event aimed at promoting ICTs as important tools for women’s empowerment. It featured sessions on gender equality, human rights, confidence-building, publish speaking, coding with Scratch, robotics and Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, design thinking, gaming, fashion, and animation. It culminated with an innovation fair and a competition to test participants’ skills in the areas mentioned.