GES 2017 : Michelle Bekkering says "mobiles to bridge gender digital divide"

Hyderabad Nov 30: The Global Entrepreneurship Summit Day 3 has begun and various discussions took place on Day 2 of the summit.Various delegates have attended the summit and spoke on the various issues at the summit.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator Michelle Bekkering has participated at the GES summit and said that "we have long supported programmes (deploying technology for women empowerment) and about to launch a couple of more that look at what we call combating the gender digital divide".

She has added that "mobile phones are a great equaliser, providing women access to resources such as money, helping them open a bank account and have their wages directly deposited."

"Just having a large number of mobile phone connections does not mean that the women actually have access to them, the USAID is also keen on improving access to the internet for women" she added.

Michelle Bekkering Finally said that "Water, sanitation and hygiene are areas in which the US through the USAID supported programmes in India. Healthcare is one of the big projects the agency is coordinating with the government of India."