One Girl Plus takes girls’ life-skills learning into digital space

Dar es Salaam. For girls living far from schools, support programmes and reliable internet, geography and household income can determine how much they learn and the opportunities they can access.

Msichana Initiative is now turning to technology to help close that gap through the One Girl Plus Digital Platform, launched in Dar es Salaam on Saturday, September 5, 2026, to give girls continued access to life-skills education beyond traditional face-to-face sessions.

The platform builds on a programme that has reached more than 10,000 girls aged 10 to 25 over the past four years, helping them develop self-awareness, confidence and goal-setting skills through games, storytelling, discussions and learning from female role models.

Msichana Initiative executive director, Ms Consolata Chikoti, said the move into the digital space was driven by what girls themselves had told the organisation.

“We listened to girls. They taught us that their desire to learn does not end when our session ends,” she said.

“Through One Girl Plus Digital Platform, we want to build a bridge that enables them to continue learning, asking questions and building confidence wherever they are. Technology gives us an opportunity to take this experience to many more girls.”

The platform is built around the programme’s three key pillars, known as K3 — Kujitambua, Kujiamini and Kujiwekea Malengo — which focus on self-awareness, confidence and goal-setting.

Girls can access interactive digital games, life-skills content and age-appropriate information in Kiswahili.

The system also includes an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot designed to provide a friendly space where girls can ask questions and access information to support their learning and personal development.

Ms Chikoti said the technology was not intended to replace the safe relationships created through face-to-face programmes, but to extend them.

“One Girl Plus gives us a great opportunity to use technology to ensure that life skills do not remain in a one-day training or meeting, but can follow a girl into her everyday life,” she said.

She said physical programmes often involved transport and other costs, particularly when reaching girls in remote communities.

“Technology breaks those boundaries and reduces those costs. It means this education reaches the girl directly,” she said.

However, she acknowledged that digital access itself remains a challenge.

“Not every girl has a smartphone, a computer or reliable internet, or the ability to afford the cost of data,” she said, warning that girls from low-income households and rural areas could otherwise be left behind.

The platform therefore also considers offline access, while the organisation says digital safety, privacy, cyberbullying and gender-based violence online must remain central as more girls move into digital spaces.

Government backs digital skills

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology representative, Ms Felister Mapunda, said digital skills were increasingly essential to girls’ education and future participation in society.

“Digital skills are not a luxury; they are a basic need,” she said.

Ms Mapunda said the government was strengthening the use of science, technology, innovation and practical learning through the Education and Training Policy, the improved curriculum and related guidelines.

She said technology could take knowledge to places where opportunities had previously been limited, adding that a girl’s location should not determine her ability to learn, lead or pursue her ambitions.

“When we empower a girl today, we are building the Tanzania of tomorrow,” she said.

The digital transition has been supported by Karimjee Foundation, which has also worked with Msichana Initiative on initiatives aimed at removing barriers facing girls.

The partnership includes One Girl One Bike, which provides bicycles to help address the challenge of distance between girls’ homes and schools.

Representing Karimjee Foundation, Ms Caren Rowland, said the organisation believed girls should be able to pursue their potential regardless of where they lived.

“We believe that every girl should have an opportunity to learn and reach her potential without being held back by distance or the environment she comes from,” she said.

She said the partnership, from bicycles to digital learning, reflected an effort to invest in solutions that reach girls where they are.

The launch brought together government representatives, civil society organisations, development partners, the private sector and technology stakeholders.