I-Cut, a new app developed by five teenage Kenyan girls aged 15-17 that seeks to aid putting an end to female genital mutilation have been recognised
I-Cut, a new app developed by five teenage Kenyan girls aged 15-17 that seeks to aid putting an end to female genital mutilation have been recognised by tech multinational, Google are set to be flown to the company’s headquarters in California to participate in this year’s International Technovation competition.
The competition is for girls who have developed mobile apps that seek to end a specific problem in their communities. The teenage Kenyan girls are the only Africans to take part in this year’s competition.
The app connects young girls who are in danger of being brutally mutilated to rescue centres near them and also tells them where they can go seek legal and medical help if they have already been mutilated.
“Female genital mutilation is a big problem affecting girls worldwide and it is a problem we want to solve. This whole experience change our lives. Whether we win, our perspective of the world and the possibilities it has, will change for the better,” said Stacy Owino, one of the girls, in an interview.
According to the UN Population Fund, while female genital mutilation is illegal in Kenya, one in four Kenyan women have undergone it. Unicef has revealed that 200 million girls and women that across 30 countries around the globe have been victims of female genital mutilation.
“We just have to use this opportunity as a stepping stone to the next level,” Ivy Akinyi, one of the Kenyan girls, said in a statement.
Reuters
