India has a significant gender digital divide, especially for low-income women. Prevailing social and gender norms, especially due to caste and mobility, make it difficult for women to own and use internet-enabled phones.

With a grant from the WomenConnect Challenge, USAID’s global call to close the gender digital divide, EPoD India at KREA University collaborated with the government of the state of Chhattisgarh to change behavior and expand mobile connectivity among rural women.

In conjunction with the local government’s distribution of two million smartphones to women, EPoD India launched Mor Awaaz, a corresponding digital education program to teach women how to use the smartphones and access important government services and benefits.