Header image credit: ITU
Across the globe, women and girls are rising to meet one of the most urgent challenges of our time: ensuring that digital transformation works for everyone, everywhere.
As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes industries, connectivity will determine access to opportunity more than ever before.
Yet women and girls, particularly in marginalized communities, remain underrepresented as creators, innovators, and leaders in tech. Bridging this gender digital divide requires more than just policies. It demands visible leadership.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), as part of its 160th anniversary, is supporting and spotlighting the next generation of young women leading digital change.
With support from the Government of Canada, ITU selected ten exceptional women between 18 and 25 years of age to amplify their work, engage with global tech leaders, and co-lead a workshop on gender equality in digital transformation during key ITU conferences in Geneva, Switzerland, in early July.
These “ITU160 Gender Champions” hail from diverse regions. They represent landlocked developing countries and small island developing states (SIDS), indigenous communities, and post-conflict communities.
Selected from over 1,100 applicants in over 150 countries, they are advancing responsible AI, broadband access, cybersecurity, and digital literacy, in bold, local ways.
Between 7 and 11 July, the young women took part in ITU’s WSIS+20 High-Level Event, the AI for Good Global Summit, and ongoing 160th Anniversary events, engaging with global leaders, amplifying their work, and co-leading a workshop on gender equality in digital transformation.
During the week, the ITU160 Gender Champions shared their powerful stories and insights on advancing gender equality in the digital age.
Through a dynamic session that blended personal storytelling with interactive dialogue, they exchanged directly with high-level officials, tech professionals, and representatives from non-governmental organizations.
Their presence brought fresh perspectives to the global conversation on inclusive digital transformation and sparked meaningful connections across generations and sectors.
Meet our champions
Neza Cilunda — Namibia
Neza Cilunda is a medical student and digital health innovator dedicated to improving maternal health outcomes through inclusive technology. As the founder of Mama+ Care, she is developing a multilingual mobile health platform that empowers rural women with accessible, life-saving health information. Neza’s work bridges digital development and gender equity, ensuring no woman is left behind in Namibia’s healthcare transformation.
Dorain Amanda Clarke — Jamaica
Dorain Amanda Clarke is the founder of Youth Climate Voice Caribbean, a youth-led organization empowering young women and girls in SIDS with digital tools to lead on climate resilience and advocacy. She has mobilized youth across multiple Caribbean islands through digital storytelling, policy engagement, and inclusive climate education, ensuring marginalized voices are heard and represented. As a passionate advocate for gender equity in the digital era, Dorain is committed to building a regional movement that puts Caribbean girls at the forefront of climate and tech leadership.
Amina Gabitova — Kazakhstan
Amina Gabitova is a public relations graduate from KIMEP University in Kazakhstan and a project manager leading inclusive tech initiatives at the ITeachMe Foundation. With a background in journalism and digital communication, she develops programmes that equip youth, especially those with disabilities and in rural areas, with practical digital skills. Amina is especially passionate about ensuring that young women and underserved communities are not left behind in Kazakhstan’s rapidly evolving digital landscape.
Nastaran Halim — Afghanistan
Nastaran Halim is an Afghan education advocate and founder of a digital learning platform that expands access to schooling for girls across her country. Her work combines online instruction with scholarship guidance, empowering students to pursue higher education and leadership opportunities. She believes that education is the most powerful tool to unlock girls’ potential and transform communities from within.
Loretta Jeff-Combs — Canada
Loretta Jeff-Combs, a Tsilhqot’in youth leader from Tlesqox First Nation in British Columbia, Canada, is a passionate advocate for digital equity in indigenous communities. She champions broadband infrastructure, indigenous data sovereignty, and safe digital access for indigenous women and girls. Her experience as a student, young mother and indigenous woman inspires her mission to ensure future generations thrive in the digital world while staying connected to their culture and traditions.
Malkia John — Kenya
Malkia John is a Kenyan engineer and feminist tech advocate whose work focuses on using AI, data science, and digital tools to strengthen response systems addressing gender-based violence. As founder of Sauti Salama, she has supported over 200 survivors with access to legal aid and mental health care, while training 500+ women and girls in digital security. Her work is grounded in lived experience and a bold vision: to build a safer, more just digital future for women and marginalized communities across Africa.
Edith Hattie Kalagho — Malawi
Edith Hattie Kalagho is a land surveyor, drone pilot, and passionate advocate for digital inclusion who co-founded the Spatial Girls Network, an initiative empowering girls and young women to lead in geospatial science and technology. Through hands-on training in open mapping, drones, and remote sensing, Edith is bridging gender gaps in digital transformation and building a future where women in Malawi can help shape solutions to climate, food security and development challenges.
Fatima Nisar — Pakistan
Fatima Nisar is a data science student and award-winning robotics innovator committed to bridging gender gaps in digital transformation through inclusive, community-led technology. She designs low-cost, locally adaptable solutions, such as climate-resilient tools for women farmers and Internet of Things (IoT)-based school safety systems. Beyond engineering, she mentors young women in Pakistan in science and tech, develops open-source guides in Urdu, and advises institutions on gender-responsive design.
Daniah Reaah — Iraq
Daniah Reaah is a computer engineer, digital literacy advocate, and UNICEF youth engagement officer who is redefining what it means to be a young woman in technology. From creating viral educational tech content in Arabic to developing AI-powered solutions that tackle misinformation, she is inspiring a new generation of girls in Iraq and the wider Middle East and North Africa region to view digital transformation as a field where they belong and can mobilize others.
Hiqmat Saani — Ghana
Hiqmat Sungdeme Saani is a digital transformation and communications professional from Ghana’s Upper West Region, a historically underrepresented area. As founder of Paahibu Space, she has reached over 10,000 women and girls with training in digital skills, entrepreneurship and cybersecurity. Her work is driven by personal experience and a clear vision: Women must be not just consumers of technology, but creators, decision-makers and leaders in the digital age.
Watch ITU160 Gender Champions video messages
