Empowering and training young girls on the use of web 2.0 and social media tools and educating them on cybersecurity issues

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Empowering and training young girls on the use of web 2.0 and social media tools and educating them on cybersecurity issues

Suva, FijiSuva, Fiji
Organization type: 
nonprofit/ngo/citizen sector
Project Stage:
Idea
Budget: 
$10,000 - $50,000
Website:
http://www.picisoc.org
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

Pacific Island Chapter of the Internet Society promotes ICT and Internet for Development in the Ocean and Pacific region. The organisation promotes ICT for youths and marginalized group.

About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

The use of web 2.0 and social media tools is at the forefront of bringing innovative practices to sectors such as agriculture, health and education. As we move towards the era of web 2.0, youths, especially young girls are faced with increased cyber threats, privacy invasions, data loss and security risks, as well as viruses, cybercrime, child pornography, peer pressure, bullying and the risk associated with excessive use of social networking tools. So how do we as adults, educators, trainers and designers and developers of websites and social networking tools make us less vulnerable to all these potential threats in our transition to web 2.0? These are risks we all face and girls are more vulnerable. With training and education, we reduce the risks for our young girls.

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

All these issues have been extensively discussed in the internet governance forum (IGF), a multi-stakeholder forum for policy dialogue on issues of internet governance. They are well aware that these emerging tools pose security danger and privacy threats and as more and more people go on the internet, more risks and complications will arise. Educating young girls on the use of social media tools is a first step to making them aware of the risks such as pornography, cybercrime, peer pressure and online bullying. through training programs and also through school curriculum we can teach our young girls to be aware and to avoid taking risks whilst they are online. Through seminars and online mentoring programs, we can provide solutions to Young girls who are victims of online abuse, peer pressure, bullying and cybercrimes. If we can collaborate with agencies like UNICEF, we will be able to make a difference to these young girls.
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

The Pacific Island Chapter of the Internet Society and the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) is working with a number of international organisations to address appropriate cybercrime policies and legislation. SPC is supporting its 22 Pacific member countries to strengthen their cybercrime legislation by building capacity to mitigate the risks that emerge from the use of internet and web 2.0 tools. If we all work together, collaborate and form alliances, we will be able to reach our goal of making the internet a safer place for internet users: development organisations, government departments, youths and leaders of today and tomorrow. We have been working with a number of organizations to provide training modules to school children. Save the Children's fund is also a good example of tackling such issues. In 2011, SPC, in collaboration with international organisations, organized a web 2.0 learning opportunity workshop for development organizations and government departments in Fiji. The workshop introduced online social interaction and share tools such as facebook, twitter, google docs, blogs, and wikis and showed the participants how these could be used in their workplace to create innovative ways to disseminate information and allow stakeholders to communicate. It also focussed on guidelines on the use of these tools and also the risks associated through the use of these tools. We are planning to have another workshop for Youths. We also need to target the young girls who are more vulnerable to cyber risks.
Sustainability

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

I don't see anyone as competitors. If we are introducing an innovative idea we should be able to work with other stakeholders to promote this idea. The Pacific countries do not have enough resources and sufficient funding to succeed in innovative ideas. We have very little chance of competing with developed countries. Working together with an effective team can bring benefits to everyone right across the board. Rather than working in isolation,we can work together to tap into a pool of resources and also learn from each other. I don't see this as a challenge but an opportunity to make a difference. Developing countries like Fiji need to learn from the developed world on introducing innovative ideas that will work.
Team

Founding Story

Changing the mindset of young people can be challenging. One such issue that has been overlooked at is the impact of social networking, web 2.0 tools, social media in changing the mindset of youths, especially young girls. There is hardly any knowledge or online materials available regarding social issues like social media and cybersecurity issues. I may not be able to change the world but i can certainly guarantee one thing. I will be able to change the mindset of a group of young women who are always online (facebooking, using twitter, using other social networking tools) that can pose risks to their lives. I can stop a girl from getting abused online and being harassed by a sexual predator or a bully. I can stop one girl from committing suicide. I can save one girl from become vulnerable to possible cyber threats such as money laundering. I can save a girl from embarrassing herself or humiliating herself from public judging. I can make a difference to one girl.
About You
Organization:
Pacific Island Chapter of the Internet Society (PICISOC)
About You
First Name

Anju

Last Name

Mangal

About Your Organization
Organization Name

Pacific Island Chapter of the Internet Society (PICISOC)

Organization Country

, Suva

Country where this project is creating social impact

, Suva

Age of Innovator

18-34

Gender of Innovator

Female

How long has your organization been operating?

More than 5 years

Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them

This organisation has received the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) award for the best participatory GIS community mapping project. It has also won other awards.

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Innovation
How long have you been in operation?

Still in idea phase, but looking to launch soon

Which of the following best describes the barrier(s) your innovation addresses? Choose up to two

Access, Cost, Transparency, Quality, Equity.

Social Impact
What solution(s) does your initiative address to better the lives of girls and women by leveraging technology? (select all applicable)

Access to technology, Access to education/training, Access to economic opportunity, Policy change/advocacy.

What has been the impact of your solution to date?

With the emergence of social media and web 2.0 tools, very few have thought of risks associated to using social media tools. The impact of my solution is not only on girls but majority of the women in working field who are still at the their youth age. Many organizations still don't understand what goes on across their networks, and don't have any clue about the online traffic patterns and also the potential risks. As a trainer, I am concerned about the state of training among our government ministry colleagues, especially on the use of social media tools. Through research and collaborative learning, there was great impact on engaging the best and creative young people. Through my training programs, young people want to produce, contribute and share through the use of social media. So i thought of leveraging and replicating the training program to include youths, especially young girls who could learn about the risks associated to using social media, especially facebook,blogs etc.

What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?

This training program will have an impact for more than 3 years. It is a process of all thinking and creativity. Our young girls will be able to memorise and learn how to solve problems through the first training programme. They will become trainers and will help other young girls to teach them how to use social media tools and how to think and not just tell them what to do. We need to involve the first trainees to be young mentors to the other girls. This will have a huge impact and also be sustainable. If you teach one, she will teach another and it will become a program of young mentors teaching other young girls who are at threat when they go online. They will become teachers and trainers and will advocate on the use of social media and the risks associated and also the implications.

What barriers might hinder the success of your project? How do you plan to overcome them?

As a woman, I have gained from train a multistakholder group. We haven't faced any barriers apart from not having enough resources and skilled people who will assist during the training program. We are hoping to get funding from other sources or organizations that can assist with the training. So far we have had contribution from donors, international organisations that assist with training. Even though the above barriers are a challenge, we will engage government contribution and also donor funding to dentify what barriers we are encountering that hinder our success.At this point i don not see any major barriers.

Winning entries present a strong plan for how they will achieve and track growth. Identify your six-month milestone for growing your impact
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your six-month milestone
Task 1

Complete a needs assessment and survey on girls that are using Internet, identifying the real issues

Task 2

Seek funding from other sources, donors or organisations that can assist with this project

Task 3

Provide a complete proposal, set realistic timeframes, project budget/costs/resources, human capacity, training capacity

Now think bigger! Identify your 12-month impact milestone
Identify three major tasks you will have to complete to reach your 12-month milestone
Task 1

Look for more funding, more similar projects, more resources, outline costs and budget for sustainability purposes

Task 2

Realistically do another assessment to see the initial impact and also to analyse the risks

Task 3

Control/reduce project costs, ensuring that milestones are me, minimising risks, provide objective analysis

Sustainability
Tell us about your partnerships

We have been able to seek partnership with organisations like UNESCO, SPC and other international donors that continue to assist us in small-micro projects.

Please elaborate on any needs or offers you have mentioned above and/or suggest categories of support that aren't specified within the list

The need to develop, print manuals and guidelines for young girls. Miscellaneous costs for printing and photocopying.