Reliance Foundation commits $10M to Women in Digital Economy Fund

Reliance Foundation will provide up to $10 million to the Women in Digital Economy Fund (WiDEF), a joint effort by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Announced by US Vice President Kamala Harris in March last year, WiDEF aims to improve women's livelihoods, enhance economic security, and strengthen resilience by identifying, funding and advancing effective solutions for women's economic empowerment, according to a press statement.

WiDEF in India is a joint effort between USAID, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Reliance Foundation, and is managed by the GSMA Foundation with support from the global WiDEF managing consortium. Its aim is to accelerate progress on closing the gender digital divide.

Reliance Foundation’s support will double the available WiDEF funding in India and support the 2023 G20 Leaders' commitment under India’s presidency to halve the digital gender gap by 2030. Additionally, it will also support learning through development of knowledge products and dissemination of promising practices and other tools, and bolster measurement and learning for all India grantees, said the statement.

This partnership also builds on Reliance Foundation and USAID’s collaboration on WomenConnect Challenge India that was created in 2020 to help bridge the gender digital divide for 6 lakh women across the subcontinent.

The initiative has selected 17 awardees across two rounds, focusing on innovative and culturally contextual solutions to bridge the gender digital divide. The awardees were selected based on criteria that emphasised the ability to effectively dismantle barriers, ensure equitable access, and digitally empower women from marginalised communities through innovative solutions.

In India, Reliance Foundation is also working with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to empower one million women entrepreneurs in several states of India. In addition, Reliance Foundation is supporting Reliance Jio and GSMA (Global System for Mobile Communications) on a national roll-out of the Digital Skills Program, under the broader GSMA Connected Women Commitment initiative.

The initiative aims to provide training to rural women and individuals from marginalised communities to help them make meaningful use of digital access.

Isha Ambani, Director, Reliance Foundation, said, “We are committed to increasing our efforts to advance digital inclusion to improve women’s livelihoods, economic security and resilience. Through WiDEF, Reliance Foundation will work together to accelerate innovative solutions to empower women through technology in India and also share best practices with other countries to help drive global progress towards this shared vision for a more equitable future.”

USAID/India Acting Mission Director, Dr Alexandria Huerta, said, “Building on our longstanding partnership and impactful results, USAID and Reliance Foundation aim to empower millions of women across India, ensuring that the benefits of the digital economy are accessible to all and fostering a more equitable future.”