International Women's Day 2023 - KGGTF Grant Programs

IWD 2023

The International Women's Day - Women in Online Work in Kosovo 

International Women's Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. This year, International Women's Day 2023 marked a call to action for accelerating digital gender equality under the theme of DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality. This month's newsletter highlights the contribution of the Korea Green Growth Trust Fund (KGGTF) to gender parity in celebration of International Women's Day 2023. Women are left behind because of the digital gender divide and growing inequalities are increasingly apparent in digital skills and access to technologies. The need for inclusive technology and digital education is therefore crucial for a sustainable future. The KGGTF provided financial support to the efforts of addressing gender inequality in the digital sector and creating economic opportunities for young women while facilitating the digital economy. The KGGTF Year 2 Grant Program – Innovative and Green Growth for Rural Areas: Investing & Scoping (TTL: Natalija Gelvanovska-Garcia, Senior Digital Development Specialist) supported the World Bank team to design and implement a pilot project for unemployed and underemployed women on the request of the Ministry of Economic Development (MED) in Kosovo. 

The Women in Online Work (WoW) pilot project explored the opportunities for online work of young women in Kosovo. The two-phase WoW pilot helped five municipalities and trained young women in skills that had a growing demand for the online freelancing market. The WoW pilot also encouraged female participants to work with career counselors, participate in networking events, and build skills in presentations, communications, and basic management. The pilot project showed that online work was a promising option for helping young Kosovar women find jobs and gain financial independence. After two phases, 78 program graduates earned $25,000 from jobs they gained online.


Insect farming

Insect farming provides a supply of nutritious food and healthy proteins for humans and animals. Opening a business is viable at a low cost and does not emit carbon emissions. Insect farming offers immense opportunities to create climate-resilient jobs and empower women, youth, and refugees by increasing their access to livelihoods and agricultural resources. The KGGTF Year 8 GrantNovel Protein: Insect Farming for Food and Feed for a Circular Green Growth Economy (TTL: Dorte Verner, Lead Agriculture Economist) - supported the development of training modules on insect farming and hydroponics to build skills of small entrepreneurship for women in Kenya and Gambia, grow their own food, and have more access to income-earning opportunities.


Energy storage

The  Energy Storage Partnership, hosted by the World Bank Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP) and the Global Women’s Network for the Energy Transition (GWNET), offers the Women in Energy Storage Mentoring Program" to engage young women in developing their career in the energy storage sector. It is a meaningful opportunity for both mentors and mentees to expand their knowledge and shape the direction of future generations of junior female professionals. Chong Suk Song, Energy Specialist at the World Bank, joined this mentoring program as a mentor with the support of the KGGTF Year 7 Grant  - Capacity building and technical Learning workshops on Energy storage to Accelerate energy Transition, CLEAN, (TTL: Chandrasekar Govindarajalu, Lead Energy Specialist).


Waste management

Solid waste management in South Asia creates tremendous opportunities such as a more attractive environment for tourism, new jobs for waste treatment as resources, and business opportunities for local entrepreneurs. Women also make a strong contribution to solid waste management and the circular economy as engineers, collectors, and recyclers. The KGGTF Year 5 Grant - Solid Waste in Mountainous Regions of India, Pakistan, and Nepal (TTL: Rahat Jabeen, Environment Specialist) - supported female opportunities such as organizing Mother's groups by women's committees, promoting female leadership in decision-making roles at the community level, and providing waste process training and micro-financing loans.