Five Kenyan girls selected to take part in 2017 Google Technovation

Five Kenyan girls, Stacy Owino, Cynthia Otieno, Purity Achieng, Macrine Atieno & Ivy Akinyi, are the only Africans selected to take part in the 2017 Google Technovation. Technovation is sponsored by Google, Verizon and the United Nations, and  aims to teach girls the skills they need to become tech entrepreneurs and leaders. The event will be held at the headquarters of Google in California, the United States.

The girls, aged between 15 and 17 years old developed I-cut, an application that aims to end Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). I-cut presents a total assistance mechanism to girls at risk of FGM. It also connects victims to rescue centres and gives legal and medical help to those who have been cut.

The app has five buttons – help, rescue, report, information on FGM, donate and feedback – offering users different services.

One in four Kenyan women and girls have undergone FGM, which involves the partial or total removal of the external genitalia, even though it is illegal in the East African nation.

Staff Writer