We join the rest of the world in commemorating the International Day for Universal Access to Information. Information decides who gets to make informed choices about their bodies, their money, their safety, and their futures. For young women and girls in Zimbabwe, access to information is shaped by the cost of data, devices, language, distance, and who is allowed to speak and be heard. At The Girls Table, our work on digital inclusion is grounded in this reality. A girl who can find accurate information on her rights, on health services, on how to report abuse, or on funding and economic opportunities is better placed to claim what is already hers. Access also has to include the ability to use information safely, which is why online safety sits alongside connectivity in everything we do. Access to information is a right, and it is a precondition for exercising almost every other right. Governments, institutions, and organisations like ours share the duty to make information available, understandable, and reachable for the women and girls who need it most. #HerVoice #AccessToInformation #IDUAI

Last week, The Girls Table joined a two-day validation meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, for the “Strengthening Information Integrity in Southern Africa” country reports covering Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Across the countries, the discussions highlighted a clear pattern. Gendered disinformation is being used to undermine women’s participation in public life. Women politicians, journalists, electoral officials and activists are targeted through character assassination, sexualised insults, and narratives linked to morality, sexuality and witchcraft. These narratives undermine women’s credibility, influence how they are perceived, and can contribute to self-censorship and withdrawal from public spaces. The conversation also highlighted the importance of looking at information integrity through a grassroots lens. As The Girls Table, we shared experiences of young women in rural and marginalised communities whose access to information and connectivity is shaped by household dynamics and influenced by climate-driven migration, including migration to and from South Africa and Botswana. For us, strengthening information integrity also means strengthening women’s access to information, digital spaces and opportunities to participate. It means paying attention to whose voices are heard, whose experiences shape the conversation, and who has the resources to engage safely and meaningfully. We were pleased to contribute the perspectives of young women from Zimbabwe to this important regional conversation. #HerVoice #InformationIntegrity #DigitalRights #GenderAndTech