About the initiative
On International Women’s Day, the organization Unstoppable Women of Web3 (WoW3) revealed its plans to offer education in Web3 to 6 million women in Africa. Of course, this is not just a promise; the organization has worked heavily in the previous months to come up with a plan, ensure reliable partners, and provide necessary resources.
The education will be offered at various levels, including free masterclasses, learning resources and in-person networking opportunities for women of all ages, available in English, French, and Portuguese.
The initiative is backed by the group’s partnerships with 26 companies including Polygon Labs, NFT Domains, African Leadership Group and Africa Women CEOs Network, which will offer Web3 and metaverse education through their own resources.
Examples of how the knowledge will be shared between participants:
- Unstoppable Domains will expand access to user-owned digital identity through free domains, which can be claimed in the next 30 days;
- Sankore 2.0 will develop and organize online and physical courses on metaverse knowledge and blockchain code development;
- Alchemy will offer blogs in French and English, focused on digital identity.
Each participant that completes the program will be issued a commemorative NFT-based education badge.
In their own words, they are committed to “inclusive education as we participate in the Web3 movement. By making diversity an integral part of encouraging everyone to learn, engage, and thrive in Web3, we prove that we don’t just believe in a more inclusive and decentralized future, we’re actively building it.”
The sole purpose of Web3 and blockchain technology lies in decentralization, equal access and ownership over one’s data and privacy, so it’s no wonder this mission is being expanded to Africa, focusing on women.
To be able to make decisions and participate in relevant discussions, people need education, especially those who have been cut off in the previous generations of the internet. Considering how fast-growing the world of Web3 is, the targeted part of the population in Africa will hopefully have new opportunities for employment and empowerment to build themselves a better future.
Why is this initiative taking place in Africa?
When it comes to gender equality, there’s always room for progress but some countries are in worse stages than others. Parts of Africa have limited to no access to education, especially for women and girls, so the opportunity to learn about emerging industries is definitely a much-needed oasis.
On top of that, Web3 is still among the male-dominated tech and engineering sectors that suffers from uneven representation and a lack of diversity.
Africa is the world's fastest-growing cryptocurrency market, and it's already the second-largest bitcoin market, and many African countries are already working hard to develop CBDC tokens, so it's no surprise that the organization has chosen to focus on this continent.
Source: ECD.rs
As a matter of fact, Africa has already witnessed a 1,200% increase in cryptocurrency payments between 2020 and 2021.
For those who need reminding about the importance of diversity, Unstoppable WoW3 have underlined the most crucial points in their pledge (all partner companies have committed to this):
- Companies that score high in gender diversity on executive teams are 25% more likely to have above-average profitability.
- When companies have more than 30% women executives, they are more likely to outperform companies that only have between 10-30%.
- Overall, teams that are gender-diverse are better at making business decisions 73% of the time.
We have yet to see how these plans will roll out but, considering the active presence of Unstoppable WoW3 in educating women and girls, and other minorities about Web3, their values and mission will leave a strong impact and definitely change a significant number of lives for the better.
