Across the world, 122 million girls are out of school. Nine out of 10 adolescent girls and young women in low-income countries are offline, while their male peers are twice as likely to be connected.
In total, 2.7 billion people remain offline, and the vast majority are girls and women.
Even within the same households, boys are more often given access to devices like mobile phones than girls. This divide cuts millions of girls off from the very tools they need to survive and thrive, especially in times of crisis.
Digital exclusion means girls are left behind – not only in the classroom, but also in acquiring the skills that open pathways to future jobs. There are 32 countries/territories in which adolescent girls and young women are 35% less likely than their male peers to have digital skills. Advanced skills like coding or programming remain out of reach for nearly all, reinforcing cycles of inequality.
And access alone is not enough. Online spaces must be safe. Around the world, adolescent girls face technology-facilitated gender-based violence – harassment, abuse, and exploitation that silence their voices and drive them offline. The challenge is not just to connect girls, but to connect them safely and meaningfully.
To mark International Day of the Girl Child 2025 on October 11, Evoca Foundation – together with Giga, a UNICEF and International Telecommunications Union (ITU) initiative – is shining a light on this urgent issue. A new animated film, “Close the Gap,” brings to life the stories of connection and disconnection: the possibilities that open when girls are online, and the inequities that persist when they are not.
In line with this year’s UN theme, “The girl I am, the change I lead: Girls on the frontlines of crisis,” Evoca’s campaign highlights digital access as a lifeline and a launchpad. For girls navigating conflict, climate breakdown, economic precarity or displacement, access to the internet is not simply a luxury. It is a bridge to education, a channel to find community and solidarity, and a platform to raise their voices where decisions are made.
When girls are connected – safely and affordably – they can chart their own futures, strengthen their communities and transform the world. Closing the gender digital divide is not only a matter of equity. It is a matter of justice.
About the Artist
Cécile Cuny is an illustrator who lives and works in Brussels. Inspired by retro anime, folklore and her love for cute personified objects, she builds a colourful universe where wide-eyed girls and their friends are at the heart of the story, carrying both playfulness and deeper meaning.
For more information about the campaign, please visit Evoca Foundation’s page here.