Bridging the Digital Divide: Marwa’s path back to IT
Bridging the Digital Divide: Marwa’s path back to IT
Marwa studying in the Digital Learning Centre, reading aloud for the class.
“Everything is becoming technology. Without it, we cannot do anything.”
For Marwa Abdallah, a 24‑year‑old refugee from El Fasher, Sudan, technology is more than a field of study, it is a pathway to rebuilding her future.
Before conflict forced her to flee Sudan, Marwa was a fourth‑year Computer Science student at the University of Nyala. Displacement interrupted her education, separating her from her studies and ambitions. Today, living in Iridimi refugee camp in eastern Chad, she is once again pursuing her dream of a career in Information Technology (IT).
On the International Day for Women and Girls in IT, Marwa’s story reflects two challenges that often overlap for women in displacement: access to technology and gender inclusion in the digital world.
Access begins with connectivity
For refugees, continuing education, particularly in IT, depends on one essential factor: connectivity. Without reliable access to the internet, devices, and learning platforms, opportunities to learn simply disappear.
At the Digital Learning Centre in Iridimi, Marwa and other students have access to the tools they need to keep learning. The Centre provides reliable connectivity, equipment, and structured learning opportunities, supporting around 175 learners each day.
Students in the Digital Learning Centre connect to an English course from Arizona State University.
Through partnerships with education institutions and the University of Geneva, students can take online courses in IT, English, Community Health, and other disciplines that build practical skills and qualifications.
Opened in April 2025, the Centre has become a vital space for learning and connection, bringing global classrooms into the camp and allowing students to study at their own pace, wherever they are.
Women and girls in IT
Even when access exists, women and girls remain underrepresented in IT worldwide. Structural, social, and cultural barriers continue to limit participation, challenges that are often intensified for women and girls affected by displacement.
At Iridimi, efforts to expand access go hand in hand with creating inclusive pathways into technology. The Digital Learning Centre recently launched IT training programmes, including courses in Internet of Things (IoT) and Cisco Certified Technician, with around 30 students enrolled in the first cohort
For refugee women, these skills can be transformative, opening doors to education, employment, and financial independence, regardless of their circumstances.
Technology enabling continuity
For Marwa, access to the Digital Learning Centre has meant one simple but powerful outcome: continuity.
She is not starting over. She is continuing.
Through online learning, she connects with teachers and fellow students around the world, accesses new information, and builds skills that bring her closer to her goal. “Every day I feel like I am moving forward,” she says.
Cyril Penalva, UNHCR IT Lead, keeping Digital Learning Centre programs running with IT.
Behind that progress lies a foundation that often goes unseen: the infrastructure, connectivity, systems, and our IT experts that make digital learning possible in displacement settings. There is a certain simplicity to the idea that IT itself is what is allowing Marwa to continue studying IT.
Without it, as she puts it, “we cannot do anything.” With it, she has the tools to shape her own future, and to be part of the field shaping the world.
