A presentation at the Global Digital Health Forum in Nairobi drew attention to a stark reality: in low- and middle-income countries, 90% of adolescent girls are offline. Without safe online spaces and targeted digital inclusion efforts, many girls face the risk of being left behind with limited opportunities for learning, skills development, and income pathways.
Colleagues from the Council’s GIRL Center shared research on disparities in digital access for adolescent girls, noting a strong general interest in digital inclusion but persistent gaps in programming for adolescents. The study found that two-thirds of national digital technology policies had a strong to moderate focus on the digital inclusion and development of young people, yet very few policies specifically addressed the needs of girls, with most policies referring to youth in broad terms rather than girls in particular.
Researchers emphasized that understanding who is using digital resources designed to improve adolescent health and who is being left out is an urgent research priority. Translating lessons from established safe spaces programs into the digital realm requires a shared learning agenda that closes evidence gaps and tests practical approaches to make online environments safer and more accessible for girls.
For Pakistan, these findings underscore the importance of embedding digital inclusion for adolescent girls into national policy and programming. Policymakers, civil society and development partners should prioritize targeted measures to expand safe online access, inform digital policy with gender-specific evidence, and pilot ways to adapt safe-space models to digital platforms so that young women can access learning, skills and income opportunities equitably.
