"Info Ladies" in Bangladesh Bring Info to Ladies

For many in Bangladeshi villages, a computer is something they may not have seen until recent years.  Now they have access Internet thanks to women known as “infoladies” who bring Internet to these villages by bicycles.

These info ladies bike into Bangladeshi villages and provide thousands of people with laptops and Internet connection. This service has been especially beneficial to women, who are the top receivers, giving them access to government services and allowing them to have contact with their distant loved ones.

In Bangladesh, only 5 million of the population of152 million had access to the Internet. This service was created in 2008 by a local development group called D.Net that recruits and trains women for three months to use the computer, the internet, printer, and camera, and then provides these women with bank loans to buy the equipment.

This is amazing because not only does this service provide millions of people with access to the Internet and services, but it also creates jobs for women who are unemployed.  Both the “info ladies” and those being served in thesevillages are empowered by this project. 

These “info ladies” also provide communities with education.  They will meet with teenage girls to discuss health care and subjects that are not generally discussed, like reproductive health. They also give villagers a voice by providing them with the tools to initiate changes in government services.

These services are both free or come at a small cost, but the especially positive aspect of the work of these women is that they are empowering other women with the tools to succeed, with information, with access to technology, with education, and giving women a voice.  This is a huge step forward in terms of development and in terms of women’s empowerment, especially in a country with a high level of gender inequality.