An African youth development organisation, Advancing and Harnessing Opportunities for the Youth (AHOY) has launched an essay competition to empower young women and promote gender equality through technology.

The competition, open to female students in tertiary institutions in Ghana, requires participants to submit essays of not more than 1500 words on the topic, “How can technology be used to empower and create equal opportunities for young women”.

The competition, which runs from February 23 to March 2, 2023, will award prizes to the top three winners, including laptops, MiFi devices, and data subscriptions. The winners will be announced and awarded on International Women's Day, March 8, 2023.

Meanwhile, AHOY will host radio discussions on the IWD theme, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”, bringing together SRC Women's Commissioners and campus-based gender groups. The discussions will run through the two weeks commencing 26th of February 2023 on selected Accra-based radio stations.

AHOY will also organise a Twitter Space live discussion on “the dangers women face in the digital space, particularly online gender-based violence”. The event will be hosted on @ahoyafrica Twitter Space on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, at 7 pm and will feature panellists such as Genevieve Partington, the Country Director for Amnesty International, Jennifer De-Graft Ninson, the Social Inclusion Lead for Ahoy, and Thelma Hayford, the Gender Adviser for Oxfam Ghana as moderator.

Overall, AHOY’s activities aim to celebrate International Women's Day by promoting gender equality and empowering women through technology.

AHOY is a call to action to engage, develop, and empower young Africans to build ‘the Africa we want’ in the social, economic, and political spheres of life. Based in Accra, Ghana - but with a continental focus – its core principles are active advocacy; holistic development; optimistic outlook; and youth-inspired work in Africa.

Female tertiary institution students in Ghana who are 30 years old or younger and interested in participating in the essay competition can scan the QR code on AHOY’s promotional materials for details, and submit their entries to competition@ahoyafrica.org, including their full names and contact details.