Banyan Global implemented the global Women’s Economic Empowerment and Equality Technical Assistance (WE3 TA) task order, awarded under the Advancing the Agenda of Gender Equality (ADVANTAGE) indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract. Under the direction of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation’s Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Hub, Banyan Global provided advisory services to stakeholders to better analyze, design, implement, and monitor interventions addressing women’s economic empowerment and equality constraints and opportunities in support of USAID’s Gender Equality and Female Empowerment Policy.

USAID developed its first-ever Digital Strategy “charting an Agency-wide vision for development and humanitarian assistance in the world’s rapidly evolving digital landscape.” Within the Digital Strategy is the “Closing the Gender Digital Divide” initiative, the objective of which is to: (1) scale understanding across the agency of the gender digital divide; (2) provide tools for USAID staff to support host countries in overcoming the various barriers to women’s access and use of digital technology; and (3) provide further evidence for the benefits and risks of women’s access to and use of information communication technology. Under WE3 TA, Banyan Global conducted a desk review and remote interviews to inform the production of a desk review report and two robust sets of technical documents related to USAID’s Digital Strategy. The first set of technical documents are designed to help USAID staff and implementing partners integrate issues related to the gender digital divide into gender analyses with a women’s economic empowerment and gender equality lens. The second set of technical documents provide concrete recommendations on how to mitigate potential negative implications of women’s engagement with technology. Banyan Global developed a slide deck for USAID to use to provide an overview of the gender digital divide and the related tools.

In early 2021, Banyan Global worked with Marketlinks to house the Gender Digital Divide (GDD) tools and resources on their website, which includes the Desk Review Report, the Gender Analysis Technical Resource, and Risk Mitigation Technical Note. For a brief summary of the Gender Digital Divide tools and resources, read the Gender Digital Divide Overview Document.