IBM, Peace Corps Boost Women Empowerment In West Africa

Historic public-private partnership with the Peace Corps supports Lets Girls Learn initiative via high impact, pro bono consulting assignment in Ghana

Breaking through the proverbial glass ceiling may soon become somewhat easier for Africa’s female population.

A recent landmark initiative between global technology company IBM and the US Peace Corps has further boosted ongoing efforts to advance the cause of women’s rights and empowerment in West Africa.

In an innovative and unique example of public-private partnership, the two institutions have teamed up to help the Ghanaian government’s extant efforts to bring women into the mainstream of national development.

Neighboring countries in west and central Africa should also benefit from this plan to galvanize sustainable personal and professional opportunities for women, as African governments begin to actualize their economic integration efforts.

Women’s rights were placed on the global development plate in 2000, when the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325, which recognizes the indispensable role of women in matters of peace and security, and by default in all affairs pertaining to human development.

Indeed, since the passage of UN Resolution 1325, countries and companies have intensified efforts to bring women into the mainstream of business, politics and society. In Asia, a continent like Africa also steeped in trado-cultural norms that often exclude women from the social and economic mainstream, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has introduced “Womenomics”, a set of policies aimed at getting companies to hire more women.

Clearly, Africa’s business and political leaders need to take a cue from the Japanese leader’s example. They would do well to adopt “Womenomics”, as it could be instrumental to the revival of their economies. Historically, women have always been major contributors to the social and economic ecosystem in most parts of Africa, but their contributions are often relegated in national policy formulation, and largely confined to the informal sectors. According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), if countries eliminated the gender gap in their labor force, they would see their GDPs rise by a cumulative 12% over the next 15 years.

Last year, US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama launched the US Peace Corps ‘Let Girls Learn’ program, a U.S. government effort that aims to address the range of challenges preventing 62 million adolescent girls from attending and completing school, and from realizing their potential as adults. Bringing this initiative to the heart of Africa, IBM has collaborated with Peace Corps volunteers to support the Peace Corps’ Let Girls Learn program in Ghana.

Last week in Accra, the Ghanaian capital, a team of IBM specialists working with the Peace Corps presented recommendations to Ghanaian authorities on a range of issues aimed at supporting Ghana’s drive for technology utilization, academic development, gender equality and social transformation.

Concluding a month-long, pro bono consulting assignment in Accra, the 12-person IBM team, from eight countries, was the twelfth group since 2010 to provide assistance to Ghana as part of IBM's Corporate Service Corps, which provides problem-solving support from IBM's top employees to educational institutions, small businesses, non-governmental organizations, and governmental agencies in emerging markets.

During their assignment in Ghana, they worked on several projects at the country's Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, and government agencies responsible for national academic programs and curriculum development, female empowerment and mentorship. Designing programs to promote education, training and opportunities for young women and disadvantaged citizens, they also worked with TECHAiDE, a technology-focused social enterprise that addresses girls' empowerment and citizens' development needs.

This was the first overseas collaboration between IBM and the Peace Corps since the two agencies launched an innovative public-private partnership to allow highly skilled corporate professionals to serve overseas in short-term, high-impact pro bono consulting assignments through the Peace Corps Response program. The project in Ghana will serve as a model for at least two more overseas collaborations later this year -- one in the Philippines that will focus on disaster preparedness and resiliency, and the other in Mexico, focused on environmental issues.

As one of Africa’s fastest growing economies, Ghana urgently seeks to improve girls’ education, women entrepreneurship and empowerment, and the integration of women into its national development process. Jobs creation, mass literacy and youth empowerment have been identified by the United Nations as crucial to Ghana’s economic and social development agenda.

“Ghana continues to make very good progress in her quest to foster academic, economic, social and financial inclusion,” said Dr. Stephen Adu, Deputy Director-General of the Ghana Education Service in the Ministry of Education. “Our work with IBM and the Peace Corps will help us solidify ongoing plans to bring women and disadvantaged sections of society in to the mainstream of development efforts.”