Ethiopia still faces a persistent gender gap in its civil service: only 36% of the country’s 2.5 million civil servants are women, with most in lower-level positions.¹ This imbalance extends to the digital sphere, where women are underrepresented in decision-making and lack access to digital skills essential for today’s world. To close this divide, UNDP’s FutureSmart Flagship initiative - led by the Global team for Public Goods and Services (GPGS) together with the Ethiopia CO and the Federal Civil Service Commission (FCSC), and in partnership with the UNDP’s Digital, AI and Innovation Hub and its Digital Capacity Lab (DCL) - has launched the Women’s Digital Champions (WDC) Training of Trainers (ToT), aiming to transform Ethiopia’s digital landscape by empowering women leaders. 

The WDC training is one of seven trainings delivered under the Capacity Building for Ethiopia’s Public Administration and Civil Service Reform. This structured three-month learning journey equips female civil servants with critical digital and leadership skills, enabling them to design and deliver gender-responsive digital trainings in their institutions. 

Building Confidence and Skills for Digital Leadership 

Last month, 36 mid- to high-level women civil servants from Federal Civil Service Commission and seven line ministries gathered for an intensive three-day in-person training. Many participants began the workshop with little to no digital background, yet by the end, they confidently navigated new technologies and demonstrated their ability to design engaging training prototypes. 

The interactive sessions included: 

• Prototype development: Participants created drafts of digital training programs they will deliver to their colleagues.
• Soft skills training: Public speaking workshops focused on empowering women’s voices, along with confidence-building exercises like power poses.
• Introduction to emerging technologies: Hands-on practice with AI tools, and essential sessions on cybersecurity and technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV).
• Engaging facilitation: Icebreakers and energizers kept the energy high, with several activities led by the participants themselves. 

The result was remarkable: all 36 women completed the full three-day course, each receiving certification. Participants expressed newfound confidence in discussing and applying digital topics - many for the first time. Fatuma Seid, Executive Officer, Women and Social Affairs Executive Office, Ministry of Health commented: “What we have learned from this workshop, especially in relation to technology, is that when we provide our services to the community and our customers in order to deliver better quality of service, there are technologies we believe need to be changed at the national and regional level to align with those used globally. We have learned many things in detail that are useful for improving our service delivery, which are implemented in different countries, including ours—such as what artificial intelligence is—with the help of the trainers. We have also learned a lot about cybersecurity, especially the important things we need to know. We have learned a lot about digital technology, particularly what we need to look out for in terms of service delivery and digitalization.” 

Watch this video to explore the experiences shared by trainers and participants. 

Towards Sustainable Gender-Responsive Digital Transformation 

The WDC program doesn’t stop at one workshop. Building on this success, a three-month mentorship program is now underway, where 10 groups of participants will receive guidance on conducting user research, designing effective trainings, and mastering delivery techniques. This mentorship will enable them to cascade their knowledge to peers, creating a sustainable ripple effect of capacity-building for women across Ethiopia’s civil service. 

By equipping women with essential digital and facilitation skills, the Women’s Digital Champions initiative directly contributes to progressive shifts in gender norms and practices within Ethiopia’s governance structures. It strengthens the foundations for a more inclusive digital transformation - one where women not only participate, but lead. 

The FutureSmart project is supported by Denmark, Luxembourg and Republic of Korea.  

1 https://newaethiopia.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Ethiopian-Gender-Development-Index-2021.pdf