Commonwealth+UNESCAP+CatalystImpact

Addressing the digital divide by empowering youth and women across different regions through online training and capacity building workshops

The Commonwealth - Dr Radika Kumar - Adviser infrastructure policy, Commonwealth Secretariat, UNESCAP - Dr Rajan Ratna - Deputy Head of ESCAP South Asia, Accelerate2030, Cardashift, Sustainable ADA, Catalyst School, C4C Education, Wada + Cardano Collective for Impact Network

[IMPACT]

Problem statement

Leveraging Digital Infrastructure to Address Digital Divide-Empowering Women Across the Commonwealth and ESCAP South Asia Countries

The COVID-19 pandemic has raised new barriers for inclusive development. Various restrictions imposed during COVID-19, including physical movement of cross-border goods, services and transport has negatively affected the economies of countries. Whilst the pandemic has made countries recognize the need for deeper digitalization, the digital divide has also widened within and across countries. The digital skills gap is one of the major deficits that many developing, least developed and small state economies are challenged with. The most affected from the digital divide are women across and within countries. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap report, it will take another 267.6 years to close the gender gap for women’s economic participation. The pandemic has worsened this as economies have contracted and unemployment has risen. The worst impacted are the women who are employed in the non-digital sectors in micro small and medium (MSME) enterprises such as in tourism, textiles, handicrafts, processed food and agriculture sector. Furthermore, most of the women are employed in MSME sectors of the economy that were unorganized or informal in nature. As such the lack of capacity, knowledge on IT skills and digitalization have affected these segments of society. As such there is a need to empower women through leveraging digital infrastructure to address digital divide through training and capacity building. E-commerce and digital marketing are tools which can be useful for bridging this gap as during COVID-19 period most businesses transacted using these platforms.

https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/d8files/knowledge-products/WP_21_12_COVID-19%2520and%2520LDCs_Impact%252C%2520challenges%252C%2520gaps%2520and%2520way%2520forward.pdf&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1647210641016812&usg=AOvVaw0QItNxB-Lq4TRIQuqSXsRN

Addressing the digital divide involves empowering youth and women across different regions through:

a) training and capacity building workshops to enable them to: 

• successful e-commerce and digital marketing experiences of women entrepreneurs
•  introduction to digital marketing and e-commerce
•  hands-on training on how to register and link their business to e-commerce and digital marketing platforms
• building a network of women entrepreneurs and provide an opportunity to display their products and services to fellow participants

b) Development and adaptation of Cardano and Project Catalyst E-Learning courses/resources related to leveraging digital infrastructure to address digital divide including training on new digital tools which women can use for business performance, courses for policy makers for them to better understand the synergies of the digital economy and the technical aspects to better feed into policy decision making.

c) Undertaking joint research for countries that will add value in the area of digital infrastructure policy development and also address the digital divide through addressing the knowledge gaps of the digital economy. 

Target audience:

The targeted audience for the project will be youth and women entrepreneurs from 54 Commonwealth member nations and UNESCAP region of Asia, Pacific, Africa, Europe and Carribean who will benefit from Cardano and Project Catalyst training and capacity building solutions to leverage e-commerce and digital marketing tools to promote their business and become part of regional and global supply chains and thereby also address digital divide. 

Furthermore, e-learning training will target policy makers to better understand the issues surrounding the digital economy for them to better feed into policy decision making. The joint research is aimed to benefit policy makers too in closing the knowledge gap that currently exists between the business tech and the policy making community. The target audience will be from the Commonwealth and ESCAP Asia countries, as well as the Cardano global community and stakeholders

Cardano4good Impact initiatives such as Catalyst School, Wada, Beanchain Coffee and The Blockchain Learning Center, within the growing Cardano4Climate Education collective, are evolving to fill the gap in education of Cardano and Project Catalyst. 

With collaboration within the Cardano ecosystem and beyond with The Commonwealth and UNESCAP, we seek funds to offer courses that will be made accessible on the Commonwealth e-learning platform in the first instance. This will in turn build bridges between ecosystems for greater collective intelligence capacity building and positive impact multiplier effects.

From the Cardano community established educators and stakeholders will contribute to this effort. The Catalyst School is key in our solution. The Catalyst School is a place created to enhance the impact of Catalyst as a whole by improving the contribution of all its different players and roles. We onboard new members and help improve their skills along the way, in any way they decide to engage with Catalyst: as a Proposer, a Community Advisor, a Veteran Community Advisor or without any specific role within the process. In order for Catalyst to flourish and reach its full potential, all these roles need to give their best contribution within the process.

So, this proposal seeks funds to provide capacity for Catalyst School to continue what they do best, and connect directly with potential new entrants, helping to bridge Cardano and the Catalyst community with The Commonwealth network, UNESCAP Asia countries, and the Accelerate 2030 and SDGs Building Bridges Week ecosystem, based in Geneva and the global UNDP and Impact Hub network."

The proposed solution will address the digital divide across countries through knowledge, training and capacity building and enable countries to build back better. It will also empower youth and women at grassroots levels to digitally engage in businesses, empower them and raise the overall standards of living. 

The proposed solution will also empower the policy makers through closing the knowledge gaps through provision of technical training in the complex area of the digital economy. As a result enable them to feed into better policy and legislative decision making in relation to the digital economy.

Women entrepreneurs face many challenges in expanding their businesses and becoming part of regional and global supply chains because of lack of knowledge and the scale of their businesses (micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME)). The offline commerce is traditionally male-dominated. However, the accessibility and reach provided by the potential of e-commerce can be a powerful tool for bringing greater gains to the women entrepreneurs as it addresses the outmoded barriers of geographic isolation and limited access to information and financing. Through its formal and informal networks and ongoing working relationships with several key stakeholders (women entrepreneurs and women associations), ESCAP through the project will mobilize the strong commitment of women entrepreneurs and women associations of the participating countries and secure their proactive involvement in the implementation of the project. By doing so, the project will enhance the long-term sustainability of the project results as the participated women entrepreneurs and women associations would develop a strong sense of ownership of the project. Sustainability will also be enhanced when policy options and recommendations proposed by the project are embedded in the regulatory and policy frameworks in support for women entrepreneurship and women empowerment. 

[FEASIBILITY]

Deliverables:

Training and capacity building for youth and women entrepreneurs via E-Training courses (Cardano, Blockchain, Project Catalyst)

Joint Research: Digital Infrastructure Maturity Model Framework

3 key output areas.

Roadmap:

Phase 1: (May - June) Adapt and create resources/courses for e-learning platform and for accessible use in the workshops in hubs across the global network

Phase 2: Promote new offerings throughout network and channels (May onwards)

Phase 3: Launch courses online (TBC - August) 

Ongoing monitoring and evaluation, review initial results, participation metrics and feedback (After 3 months/6months/12 months).

We are also having ongoing talks, developing a formal partnership with UK based One Million Mentors. One Million Mentors (1MM) is a unique, community-based mentoring project with one simple aim: to connect one million young people with one million life-changing opportunities. This is even more important right now given the impact of COVID-19 on young people.

We back the talents of young people to improve their career chances, while at the same time strengthening local communities. 1MM was founded on the belief that through personal, one-to-one mentoring, more young people can grow the knowledge, networks, skills and confidence they need to succeed.

By giving them online access to a trained mentor every young person in the country can have the chance to reach their potential. Together we are meeting the challenge and creating social change, on a national scale.

Project Management - $4500 

Creating/adapting Cardano educational materials/courses and how to guides for workshops (physical hub and Commonwealth and UNESCAP online e-learning courses) - $ 25,000

Courses will be developed and adapted for online and local contexts in conjunction with Catalyst School, Wada, Beanchain Coffee, Blockchain Learning Center, Cardano 4 Climate Education and Cardano Collective for Impact Network, and will make use of open source learning materials and resources provided by Cardano community projects such as Gimbalabs’ Open Source Cardano Starter Kits.

Example course module titles:

• Project Catalyst - entrepreneurs
• Business solutions with Cardano
• Positive social and environmental impact acceleration - Cardashift partnering opportunities for network of entrepreneurs

https://cardashift.com/

https://cardashift.medium.com/cardashift-and-sustainable-ada-announce-their-partnership-17ba64945706

Marketing and communications/promotion of courses: $400

Total: $29,600

The Commonwealth - Dr Radika Kumar - Adviser infrastructure policy, Commonwealth Secretariat.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/radika-kumar-989b3944/

• The Commonwealth Secretariat is a voluntary association of 54 independent and equal countries.It is home to 2.5 billion people, and includes both advanced economies and developing countries. 32 of our members are small states, including many island nations.Member governments have agreed to shared goals like development, democracy and peace. Their values and principles are expressed in the Commonwealth Charter.The Commonwealth's roots go back to the British Empire. But today any country can join the modern Commonwealth. The last country to join the Commonwealth was Rwanda in 2009. https://thecommonwealth.org/about-us

UNESCAP - Dr Rajan Ratna - Deputy Head of ESCAP South Asia.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-rajan-sudesh-ratna-83b14ba0/

• The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)  is the most inclusive intergovernmental platform in the Asia-Pacific region. The Commission promotes cooperation among its 53 member States and 9 associate members in pursuit of solutions to sustainable development challenges. ESCAP is one of the five regional commissions of the United Nations.

• The ESCAP secretariat supports inclusive, resilient and sustainable development in the region by generating action-oriented knowledge, and by providing technical assistance and capacity-building services in support of national development objectives, regional agreements and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. ESCAP also provides support to partners at the national level. ESCAP’s national offer is rooted in and linked with the implementation of global and regional intergovernmental frameworks, agreements, and other instruments. The outline of the ESCAP’s Offer of Support at the national level is available here.

• ESCAP pursues this objective by carrying out work, in close cooperation with other United Nations entities and intergovernmental organizations in the region.

https://www.unescap.org/our-work

Sustainable ADA - Razali Samsudin https://www.linkedin.com/in/razali-samsudin

• Educator, Editor, Digital Economy, Blockchain & Sustainability Researcher, Social Entrepreneur, Catalyst Proposal Mentor, Wada UN SDG and Education Coordinator, Co-Founder of Sustainable ADA, Contributor for Positive Blockchain & Catalyst School Core Member.

Trishala Adwaine Suresh - https://www.linkedin.com/in/trishalasuresh/

• Impact Lead at SmartChain, Impact Assessment Lead Cardashift, Active Cardano Community Member, Project Catalyst Proposer since Fund 7, Co-founder of YouthBlock and Debug Lab, a podcast series. 

Cardashift - https://cardashift.com

• Cardashift is a community-run launchpad that raises funds, builds and accelerates startups that are solving social and environmental issues.
• Cardashift supports this proposal via their Impact assessment team consisting of Vincent Katchavenda (co-founder of Cardashift), Anais Bouchet and Yannis Baala ( Impact Project Managers). 
• Vincent Katchavenda - https://www.linkedin.com/in/vkatchavenda/
• Anais Bouchet - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anais-bouchet/
• Yannis Baala - https://www.linkedin.com/in/yannis-baala-39b912138/

Catalyst School - Catalyst School is a place created to enhance the impact of Catalyst as a whole by improving the contribution of all its different players and roles. We onboard new members and help improving their skills along the way, in any way they decide to engage with Catalyst: as a Proposer, a Community Advisor, a Veteran Community Advisor or without any specific role within the process. In order for Catalyst to flourish and reach its full potential, all these roles need to give their best contribution within the process.

Catalyst School Details:

What is Catalyst School -

https://twitter.com/school_catalyst

https://linktr.ee/CatalystSchool

We are in talks with several partners and allies about sharing resources for greater impact in delivery at scale, and avoiding duplication and working in silos. These partners include:

• One Million Mentors (1MM) is a unique, community-based mentoring project with one simple aim: to connect one million young people with one million life-changing opportunities. This is even more important right now given the impact of COVID-19 on young people.
• We back the talents of young people to improve their career chances, while at the same time strengthening local communities. 1MM was founded on the belief that through personal, one-to-one mentoring, more young people can grow the knowledge, networks, skills and confidence they need to succeed.
• By giving them online access to a trained mentor every young person in the country can have the chance to reach their potential. Together we are meeting the challenge and creating social change, on a national scale. https://onemillionmentors.org.uk/about-1mm/

• Accelerate2030 is the world’s largest program supporting entrepreneurs from developing and emerging markets to scale their solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• We leverage the strengths and reach of the global Impact Hub network, United Nations organisations, corporates, investors and expert partners to scale entrepreneurial innovations while contributing to a shift towards a more sustainable economy. https://accelerate2030.net/

• Wada - Wada gives voice and access to people of African heritage and interest by providing the tools to reimagine new socioeconomic models in a way that reflects local cultures, values and future aspirations. Although our focus is on Africa, Wada is an all inclusive organization structured to provide seekers with providers. This is done with a focus on decentralization, self-organisation and distributive governance. Introducing our rapidly expanding team below. https://www.wada.org/about-us/

• Beanchain Coffee - We want to be the best place to sit down and have a cup of coffee in Arizona. Having a calm place to relax, talk, and study is important to all of us. Our mental health relies on being able to grow and learn with each other and from each other. This coffee shop will be built with love, fairness, and a shared sense of purpose. https://linktr.ee/BeanChainCoffee

• Blockchain Learning Center - We believe that blockchain technology is bringing some amazing opportunities to people and if used correctly could give some power back to those that have been disadvantaged for so long. It's empowering co-ops and worker directed enterprises. It's challenging old industries that have held power for centuries. Allowing people to generate income with what little they have and find new and creative ways to change the world around them.
• In the blockchain learning center we'll host a self guided experience with the intent of teaching anyone the basics of the blockchain in a very relaxing and inviting environment. For those that have a greater curiosity we'll also be hosting classes that can take you from novice to expert in the blockchain space. https://blockchainlearning.center/

• Cardano 4 Climate Education Group - Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are the evolution of a decentralized and transparent ecosystem. We are active in Cardano because it does more. Cardano is “a platform built for a sustainable future, to help people work better together, trust one another, and build global solutions to global problems. Cardano is a fork in the road. It takes us from where we’ve been to where we’re destined to go: a global society that is secure, transparent, and fair, and which serves the many as well as the few.” Cardano aims to disrupt the trajectory of the developing world by “Making the world work better for all.” https://cardano4climate.com/

[AUDITABILITY]

Progress will measured through 

(i) assessing the Number of women entrepreneurs trained and moving to online businesses.

(ii) Number of e-learning courses developed and delivered to policy makers and feedback from the participants.

We will have dedicated google folders where we will put together all the presentations, progress reports. 

These resources won't be just for youth and women, we will allow for anyone to access them. There will be a monthly summary, accessible for all, explaining the work done, deliverables, and KPIs achieved during the month. Through this process it will be able to provide a valuable resource for all with a focus on onboarding youth and women.

Definition of done:

Educational courses on technology, Cardano and Project Catalyst related courses for countries which address the digital divide aspect, empower policy makers and women in the Cardano community and across blockchains for example, and its related learning modules, are hosted on The Commonwealth E-learning platform for open access, self-paced learning.

They are made accessible for free, to all in the world, for online access and use in physical workshops across The Commonwealth and UNESCAP hubs.

This is a new proposal. The team are behind several other positive social and environmentally focused initiatives, and proposals that are aligned with SDGs and impact:

Add SDG ratings to proposals - AIM F6: Partnerships for Global Adoption

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/367569

Research in Applying Frameworks-AIM, F6: Partnerships for Global Adoption

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/369294

Global Sustainable Stories/Usecases F6: Grow Africa, Grow Cardano

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/369883

Proposal Framework Tool - AIM F6: DLT Entrepreneurship Toolbox

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/369300

Proposal Framework Tool - AIM F7: Open Source Developer Ecosystem

https://cardano.ideascale.com/c/idea/383692

SDG Rating

SDG goals:

Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development

SDG subgoals:

4.3 By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university

4.5 By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations

4.7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

17.16 Enhance the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in all countries, in particular developing countries

17.17 Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships

17.18 By 2020, enhance capacity-building support to developing countries, including for least developed countries and small island developing States, to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts

Key Performance Indicator (KPI):

4.7.1 Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment

#proposertoolsdg