Women in the Digital Economy Fund

Announced by the White House in March 2023, the Women in the Digital Economy Fund (WiDEF) is a joint effort between USAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to accelerate progress on closing the gender digital divide.  

USAID will commit up to $50 million in Gender Equity and Equality Action (GEEA) fund resources and $500,000 from the Inclusive Development Hub for disability inclusion, subject to the availability of funds, and the Gates Foundation will commit $10 million by the end of 2026, with at least half of each of these commitments focused on Africa. In addition to its commitment to WiDEF, the Gates Foundation has committed to invest $40 million toward closing the digital gender divide in Africa and South Asia.

CARE, Global Digital Inclusion Partnership, and the GSMA Foundation manage implementation of WiDEF, and support USAID and Gates Foundation to identify, fund, and accelerate investment in proven solutions to close the gender digital divide – including women-led solutions, products, and tools – thereby improving women’s livelihoods, economic security, and resilience. 

Employing a strong localization approach, WiDEF will create opportunities for organizations and businesses at the forefront of equitable digital inclusion to receive financial, technical, and operational support to advance their work. Working together, the consortium will ensure that WiDEF advances evidence-based, effective, and replicable approaches to transform digital ecosystems globally. In 2024, the consortium is launching the first three of seven Request for Applications (RFA) rounds: calendar year Q2 global RFA round, calendar year Q3 technical assistance RFA round for large companies, and calendar Q4 India RFA round. For more information, visit: widef.global/funding. 

Beyond direct delivery, WiDEF aligns itself with the Women in the Digital Economy Initiative to facilitate partnerships with diverse stakeholders, share insights through the Women in the Digital Economy Community of Practice (CoP), and incorporate a substantial policy and advocacy component to inform and influence action at every level of the development system, ultimately seeking to reshape the digital ecosystem.

WiDEF supports programs that advance digital access and affordability; develop relevant products and tools; provide digital literacy and skills training; promote online safety and security; and invest in sex-disaggregated data and research. It aims to support, wherever possible, women-led solutions, products, and tools. 

WiDEF aims to achieve the following core results:

1. Access and Affordability. Get more internet access and internet enabled devices into the hands of women and make sure that devices, digitally-enabled services including digital finance, and data are affordable, reliable, secure, and accessible, including for users with disabilities.
2. Relevant Products and Tools. Design, develop, and provide access to relevant products and tools (interfaces, voice technologies, applications, digitally-enabled services) that meet women’s needs and facilitate women’s demand for and use of mobile devices, particularly smartphones, internet, and other technologies, especially for income-generation purposes.
3. Literacy and Skills. Strengthen women’s digital skills and literacy, including media literacy, so that they can fully and safely access digital services and participate in digital spaces, including the digital economy.
4. Safety and Security. Address technology-facilitated gender-based violence and online harassment and strengthen safeguards for digital user protection, including on consumer financial protection, data protection, cyber security, fraud, and risk mitigation.
5. Data and Insights. Expand collection and responsible use of required sex-disaggregated data (and where possible, disaggregated by age and disability), research, and gender analysis (a) to better understand and address social norms and systems that influence gender disparities in technology adoption; (b) as a precursor to inform gender-equitable design of activities related to digital policies, protocols, platforms, products, and services; and (c) to track and benchmark change.   

WiDEF is a joint endeavor between the USAID/IPI’s Innovation, Technology, and Research Hub Technology Division and the Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Hub (GenDev). 

How to Get Involved 

Building on the success of the Women in the Digital Economy Fund, and in response to the historic commitment in the New Delhi G20 Leaders’ Declaration to halve the gender digital divide by 2030, USAID launched the Women in the Digital Economy Initiative in September 2023.  The Initiative brings together governments, private sector companies, foundations, civil society and multinational organizations to accelerate progress towards the closure of the gender digital divide, in order to improve women’s livelihoods, economic security, and resilience.  

The Women in the Digital Economy Community of Practice (CoP), launched during the 2024 Commission on the Status of Women and implemented by EQUALS, brings together WiDEF funders, members of the Women in the Digital Economy Initiative, and key stakeholders from across the globe who are engaged in work to close the gender digital divide. The CoP aims to support and grow partnerships to foster knowledge-sharing as well as greater collaboration and coordination among stakeholders working to close the gender digital divide.

For any questions about this partnership opportunity or the Women in the Digital Economy Community of Practice please contact: genderdigital@usaid.gov. 

For information on the WiDEF consortium and funding rounds, please visit: widef.global