Quzhou girls explore digital future with UN project

This summer, 11 girls from Jiangshan, a count-level city of Quzhou in Zhejiang province, had a unique opportunity to participate in a special education charity project from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The project, called "HER Digital Future Bootcamp", is a creation camp that aims to inspire and empower girls aged 12-18 to learn about digital technology and artificial intelligence.

UNDP is promoting the digital initiative globally because it is predicted that by 2050, 75 percent of jobs will be related to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Today, only about a third of STEM students worldwide are female.

The project was brought to Jiangshan by Chai Lidi, chairman of the Sunshine Charity Center in Jiangshan. He applied for the project and was one of 25 public welfare organizations in China to be approved by the UNDP.

Chai Lidi also recruited seven female college students who returned to Jiangshan as volunteer lecturers. They received online training from the UNDP and then took various courses, such as design thinking, problem-solving, and mobile app development.

The girls and volunteer lecturers worked together to explore and solve local problems related to sustainable development. They designed two apps during the camp: one to prevent children from spending impulsively and one to avoid being ripped off by scenic spots.

Chai said that he hopes the project will encourage more girls to take an interest in STEM and believe in their potential. He said that he would continue to introduce more educational projects to Jiangshan to help more students.