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From skills to safety, our shared digital future depends on investing in girls as digital transformation leaders. 

International Girls in ICT Day will be celebrated this year on 24 April 2025. 

This global call to action celebrates girls and young women not only as technology users, but as leaders, creators and changemakers of the digital age. 

It¡¯s fitting that on this day, 35 years ago, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched into orbit¡ªa scientific milestone made possible, in part, thanks to Dr. Nancy Grace Roman.  

Known as the ¡°mother¡± of Hubble, throughout her career. She was discouraged from entering astronomy, told that space was . But she didn¡¯t let that stop her. Dr. Roman¡¯s efforts to win legislative approval for Hubble have helped humanity map new discoveries, build a new body of scientific research and pave the way for further space exploration. 

From inspiration to determination 

I love this story because I¡¯ve always been captivated by space. My own career began in satellite policy, and that fascination has never left me.  

As Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)¡ªthe United Nations agency for digital technologies¡ªmuch of my work involves making communication work for everyone¡ªon Earth and in space.  

Dr. Roman¡¯s determination reminds us of what¡¯s possible when women are given the chance to lead, innovate and shape the future. But too many girls with that same curiosity and potential are still being left behind. For many of them, the challenge starts with getting online in the first place. 

Making connectivity meaningful 

Globally, only 65 per cent of the world¡¯s women were online in 2024, compared with 70 per cent of men. That¡¯s 189 million more men than women using the Internet.  

While most of the world is moving towards gender parity in Internet use, the gap is widening in the Least Developed Countries. 

Behind these statistics are real women and girls who don¡¯t have opportunities to learn, earn, connect and create. Connectivity is the foundation of these opportunities. For it to be meaningful, we need affordable, safe, relevant and transformative online spaces where girls can thrive. That requires overcoming some long-standing barriers: unequal access to education and digital skills, harmful social norms, affordability constraints, and online spaces that too often exclude or endanger women and girls. 

Empowering women and girls to lead 

This year, International Girls in ICT Day is focused on empowering all girls and young women to not only participate but lead the world¡¯s digital transformation.  

In practice, that might look like a young woman from a rural area accessing government services online rather than standing in line at a faraway office. 

It could also be a visually impaired girl receiving an education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) or finding a job in STEM. 

Mobile money alone has lifted millions out of poverty, with women-led households experiencing some of the greatest gains. Some estimate that closing the gender gap in mobile Internet adoption in low- and middle-income countries could add in gross domestic product to the global economy. That¡¯s why ITU is working to make sure digital transformation works for all women and girls.  

Our , now entering a new phase, aims to equip 100 million women and girls with digital skills by 2035. The brings together tech leaders and academic institutions to offer free, tailored training in artificial intelligence. Through our annual report, ITU helps countries pinpoint and address persistent gender gaps, because we cannot manage what we do not measure. 

But data alone won¡¯t get us there. To succeed in providing digital opportunities to women and girls, we need leadership, investment and, above all, intention. Digital strategies must place a priority on including women and girls from the start. 

The recently adopted Pact for the Future and its Global Digital Compact offer solid examples of placing gender equality at the heart of digital cooperation and governance. And the United Nations itself is in leadership after decades of imbalance. 

Rewriting the digital transformation story 

When I joined ITU as a young policy analyst, I often found myself as the only woman in the room. Today, as we celebrate our 160th anniversary, ITU is rewriting that story©¤one policy, one programme, one girl at a time.  

Still, we¡¯ve got a long way to go. Despite growing awareness, only , a figure that has not changed in the past 10 years. Beyond the numbers, the real cost is in the untapped potential of girls who could be the coders, entrepreneurs, engineers and digital diplomacy leaders that our world desperately needs. 

International Girls in ICT Day is a call to action, as well as a day of recognition. It¡¯s about building a movement that offers every girl, no matter where she lives, the chance to connect, to participate and to lead in digital spaces. 

At last year¡¯s commemoration, we were joined by an extraordinary girl of 12 years of age who had participated in the ITU initiative, ¡°Her Digital Skills¡±. She developed an app to teach children about horses. Her next project might transform global education or improve digital health.  

We launched International Girls in ICT Day in 2011 to help open doors so that women and girls around the world could be digital leaders. Today, that mission is more urgent than ever. 

As we mark International Girls in ICT Day 2025 with events in Kyrgyzstan, Mauritania and Switzerland, and with an dedicated to women leaders shaping the future of space, let¡¯s make sure that every young woman and girl has the chance to be meaningfully connected with ample opportunities to become digital transformation leaders. Because true transformation can only happen if girls are not just in the room and at the table, but at the forefront of digital change.