Invisible Women in the Digital World
Faced with daily crises due to military aggression, many Ukrainians, especially elderly IDP women, lack the skills to access vital information and services online, increasing isolation and stress. Our organization aims to teach 60 women aged 45+ smartphone skills, using a self-developed method that has successfully helped 140 women. To raise awareness, we plan to conduct a city quest to highlight the daily challenges without internet access and emphasise the critical need for digital literacy.
In response to the invasion, we opened 3 shelters for internally displaced people (IDPs), with most residents being women aged 45+. We found that these women were struggling with employment and everyday tasks due to limited digital skills, which led us to provide them with the training they needed.
We trained 140 elderly IDP women to master social media, online banking, utilities, and government services. We have already received 60 new requests for future courses! As part of this project, we will conduct 4 trainings to address individuals' urgent needs and provide information and guidance. In the 1st level of training, participants learn to customise their phones.
The 2nd level focuses on social media and websites, while the 3rd introduces online banking and government services. An additional 4th module will repeat or expand upon one of the previous topics, based on the requests of the participants. Also, we want to organise a city quest to highlight the isolation of IDP women in the digitised world, inviting city residents, social services, local government, and the media. Participants will undertake a series of everyday tasks without using phones or the internet, such as making a doctor's appointment or predicting tomorrow's weather.
Completing these tasks will initially take 2 hours, but only 7 minutes with digital tools. Through these initiatives, we aim to provide direct support to marginalised people and advocate for digital literacy for them.