This is such an awesome and beautiful example of applying technology to solve real pressing problems that impact millions of young girls and women around the world.

Two such problems include female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriage.

According to UNICEF, as of March 2024, over 230 million girls and women worldwide have undergone FGM – defined as “all procedures involving partial or total removal of the female external genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.”

Below is a video produced by the World Economic Forum of Kenyan girls who developed an app with the mission of ending FGM and child marriage.

The app informs girls about FGM and helps them empower themselves by selling artisanal work.

I wonder how many VCs will be lining up to fund them.

Folks, this is what real innovation is all about!

Call it responsible innovation or whatever, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that it solves problems that have been negatively impacting millions of people for many generations and explores routes to safeguard future generations.

It’s not easy, I know. But as a society, we must prioritise this type of innovation over spending billions on AI gimmicks that, at best, provide you with some “creative recipes” – just watch out for stoney pizza recipes (ie putting stones in your pizza – courtesy of Google Gemini).

Please share so that we can push for impactful and responsible innovation that can actually change the world for the better — link in the comments.

Well done to these amazing young innovators and future FemTech leaders 👊🏽

‼️ FGM is a violation of girls’ and women’s human rights ‼️

FGM is condemned by a number of international treaties and conventions, as well as by national legislation in many countries. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for health and well-being,” and this statement has been used to argue that FGM violates the right to health and bodily integrity. With FGM considered as a form of violence against women, the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women can be invoked.

Similarly, defining it as a form of torture brings it under the rubric of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Moreover, since FGM is regarded as a traditional practice prejudicial to the health of children and is, in most cases, performed on minors, it violates the Convention on the Rights of the Child. An interagency statement on FGM, issued by 10 UN organizations, was issued in 2008. [Source: UNICEF.org]