Girls’ Digital Access & Skills Hub (GDASH) Project

Tabora Region, Tanzania, is facing an acute crisis of youth exclusion, directly compromising the economic potential of young women. It records the nation’s highest school dropout rate (7.4%), driven primarily by a devastating combination of poverty, early marriage (58%), and teenage pregnancy (27%)—meaning nearly one in four girls aged 15–19 is already a mother. Girls who drop out, like Salma Idd (whose story of bullying and lack of support is common), are not allowed to return to formal education and face profound social stigma, economic harassment, and lifelong dependency. These young women are locked out of the job market and traditional livelihoods, with no available second-chance pathways. The problem is not a lack of potential, but a catastrophic failure to provide a safe, skills-based opportunity for reintegration into the modern economy. Without an immediate, accessible intervention like the Girls’ Digital Access & Skills Hub (GDASH), this cycle of poverty and exclusion will be passed on to the next generation.

Description du projet

The Girls’ Digital Access & Skills Hub (GDASH) is a small-scale, community-based project designed to provide out-of-school adolescent girls and young women (aged 15–24) with practical digital and livelihood skills. It targets 50 out-of-school adolescent girls and young mothers (aged 15–24) who face severe economic exclusion and stigma due to early marriage, teenage pregnancy, or school dropout. Tabora is an urgent intervention point, recording the nation’s highest school dropout rate (7.4%) and high rates of teenage pregnancy.

L’objectif principal est de restaurer la dignité et l’autonomie en dotant les participantes de compétences pertinentes pour le marché dans l’économie numérique.

Composantes clés

• Formation aux compétences numériques : A comprehensive curriculum covering typing, graphic design, AI, social media marketing, basic coding, and photo/video editing.
• Entrepreneurship & Soft Skills: formation en planification d’entreprise, communication et leadership, préparant les filles à lancer des micro-entreprises numériques.
• Soutien psychosocial : mentorat et sessions entre pairs hebdomadaires pour traiter les traumatismes, reconstruire l’estime de soi et favoriser la résilience à long terme.
• Engagement communautaire : dialogues impliquant plus de 1 000 membres de la communauté pour déconstruire la stigmatisation et promouvoir un environnement favorable aux secondes chances des filles.

Le projet prévoit la création d’un Hub numérique permanent avec des ordinateurs donnés, servant de ressource communautaire durable pour l’apprentissage et l’incubation d’activités économiques. L’objectif est que 70 % des participantes génèrent un revenu grâce aux activités numériques dans les 12 mois. Les meilleures diplômées recevront des kits de démarrage numérique (micro-subventions) pour lancer leur entreprise, contribuant à un fonds auto-soutenu pour les cohortes futures. Avec plus d’une décennie d’expérience de terrain, CODEWA s’engage à transformer ces jeunes femmes marginalisées en leaders numériques confiantes et économiquement indépendantes.

Objectif du Projet

To empower out-of-school adolescent girls and young mothers in Tabora by providing them with digital skills, entrepreneurship training, and psychosocial support, enabling them to reintegrate socially and economically, generate income, and rebuild their self-esteem, while fostering gender-equitable norms and shifting societal attitudes toward second-chance education and economic opportunities for girls.

Objectifs spécifiques

Focus Area	Objective Statement
Réintégration économique :	Promote the social and economic reintegration out-of-school adolescent girls and young mothers in Tabora  by equipping them with market-relevant digital skills, entrepreneurship knowledge, and access to startup resources.
Impact économique :	Reduce gender-based stigma and economic exclusion by enabling at least 70% of participants to generate income through digital livelihoods , while shifting perceptions about the value of girls who have dropped out of school.
Changement de mentalité communautaire :	Foster gender-equitable norms and support for second-chance education by engaging at least 1,000+ parents, teachers, community leaders, and peers through dialogues and awareness campaigns.
Bien-être psychosocial :	Améliorer le bien-être psychosocial et la résilience à long terme des participantes grâce à un mentorat continu, un soutien en santé mentale et des réseaux sûrs entre pairs, mesurés par des enquêtes pré/post sur la confiance et la santé mentale.

Bénéficiaires du projet

The beneficiaries are clearly defined in two groups:

Beneficiary Type	Description	Key Intervention
Bénéficiaires primaires (directs)	adolescentes et jeunes mères hors du système scolaire (15–24 ans) des zones urbaines et périurbaines de Tabora. Elles ont quitté l’école en raison de grossesses adolescentes, mariages précoces, abus ou échec aux examens et font face à la pauvreté et à la stigmatisation.	Interventions : compétences numériques, soutien à l’entrepreneuriat, services psychosociaux et accès au Hub numérique.
Bénéficiaires secondaires (indirects)	plus de 1 000 membres de la communauté, incluant parents, enseignants, responsables locaux et pairs	Interventions : campagnes de sensibilisation ciblées et dialogues communautaires pour déconstruire la stigmatisation, promouvoir l’acceptation et encourager des normes équitables entre les sexes.

Project Status: Active & Operational (Updated February 2026)

We are proud to announce that the GDASH Digital Hub has officially moved from the planning phase to full operation. As of March 2026, the hub is live and serving its first cohort of students.

Milestones Achieved:

• Infrastructures : A modern, secure Digital Resource Hub is fully operational in Tabora Municipality.

• Equipment: The center is equipped with 10 high-quality workstations, along with essential multimedia tools including a projector, printer, and camera.

• Operational Readiness: Room painting, electrical installations, and furniture procurement (desks, chairs, and secure storage) are 100% complete.

• Training Launch: The first cohort of 10 out-of-school girls and young mothers has been enrolled and has begun their 12-weeks journey into AI, coding, graphic design, and entrepreneurship.

🤝 Comment s’impliquer

The Hub is open, but our journey is just beginning. To ensure our students can learn consistently and reach their full potential, we invite partners to support these critical needs:

• Digital Startup Kits: Support our top graduates by contributing to a micro-grant fund. These kits provide them with the hardware and initial software licenses needed to launch their own digital micro-enterprises immediately upon graduation.

• The “GDASH Mobile” Lab (Truck/Minibus): Our most ambitious goal. We are seeking a dedicated vehicle to be converted into a mobile computer lab. This will allow us to bring digital literacy to rural areas of Tabora, ensuring that girls who cannot travel to the city center are not left behind.

• Solar Power Solutions: To overcome local power outages and ensure uninterrupted learning, we are seeking partners to help us install a solar backup system to keep our workstations running 24/7.

• Reliable Internet Connectivity: High-speed data is the lifeblood of our Hub. Your support helps cover monthly costs for research, AI training, and global connectivity.

• Safe Transport & Nutrition: Many of our participants are young mothers traveling from peri-urban areas. Contributions help us provide transport subsidies and daily refreshments, ensuring they can focus on their studies without the burden of hunger or travel costs.

• Equipment Upgrades: As demand grows, we aim to increase our capacity from 10 to 20 workstations, allowing us to double our impact in the community.

• Expert Mentorship: Share your skills in AI, Graphic Design, or Business. Whether in person or via Zoom, your expertise can change a life.

Ensemble, nous pouvons faire du Centre un espace dynamique d’apprentissage, d’innovation et de transformation communautaire.

Aucun effort n’est trop petit. Chaque contribution compte.
Faisons du Centre un lieu d’espoir et d’innovation — ensemble.

Questions ? Contactez-nous : info@codewatz.org