Google has announced a series of efforts that would help support the economic empowerment of women at a virtual edition of the Google for India event called Women Will on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
Speaking at the event, Sundar Pichai said, “The success of the Internet Saathi program has shown how digital access and digital literacy can help women to reach their full potential and improve their livelihoods. When women have equal access to opportunity, we all benefit from their perspectives, creativity, and their expertise, and this is true all over the world. Yet, when it comes to accessing opportunity, deep inequalities persist. Building on the Internet Saathi program success, we’re making a new commitment to help 1 million women in rural villages in India to become entrepreneurs through business tutorials, tools, and mentorship.”
Alongside this, he also announced a global Google.org Impact Challenge for Women and Girls, under which Google.org will provide $25 million in grants to nonprofits and social enterprises in India and around the world that are doing important work to help women and girls reach their full potential. “Women are almost twice as likely to lose their jobs during the pandemic and an estimated 20 million girls are at risk of not returning to school. We have the opportunity to build a future that is more equal and more inclusive—and we must take it,” he added.
New Commitments and Program Details are mentioned below, for readers to have a better overview-
Supporting 1 million women entrepreneurs in rural India
Women Will platform is designed especially for women aspiring to explore entrepreneurship. Through a “how-to” curriculum on turning an interest into a business, managing an enterprise, and promoting it for growth, the platform will provide guidance and support to women who want to convert an existing hobby or talent such as tailoring, beauty services, home tuition, food processing, etc. into some income. To begin with, Google will work with 2,000 Internet Saathi’s to help other women gain from this resource and start on their entrepreneurial journey.
Supporting 100,000 women agri-workers with NASSCOM Foundation
To support women with access to skills they need for the future, Google.org is committing a $500K grant to NASSCOM Foundation. With this grant support, NASSCOM Foundation will reach 100,000 women Agri workers with digital and financial literacy training in the six states of Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh. NASSCOM Foundation will also set up a helpline where the women agri workers will be able to call and receive further counselling on their entrepreneurship-related queries.
US$25 million Google.org Global Impact Challenge for Women & Girls
Google.org will provide $25 million in overall funding to nonprofits and social organizations in India and around the world that are working to advance women and girls’ economic empowerment and create pathways to prosperity. Selected Impact Challenge grantees will also receive mentoring from Googlers, Ad Grants, and additional support to bring their ideas to life.
GPay Business Pages for Homepreneurs
To empower homepreneurs, the vast majority of whom are women, Google Pay announced the launch of Business Pages which enables them to create easy catalogs of their products and services and direct people to them through a unique URL. Interested buyers can chat with the homepreneur about their order and pay within the chat-based interface on Google Pay.
Well with that said, do let us know your opinion on this new event by Google, by dropping a comment down below.
