My name is I Yana. I am a global health uh professional now. Um But really I work with technology and introducing technology to the development settings. So most of my work has been done in Sub Saharan Africa.I mentioned that I'm based in Burkina faso in West Africa, but I'm from Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo. I grew up in the US, hence the English and currently I'm in Switzerland working out of here for the time being. So it's, it's good to be with all of you. And today I wanted to share some stories, a lot of them will be related to the use of technology and health. Uh If for those of you in health sector, I hope you'll enjoy it and those of you who are not, um you could hear and see what we're using, how we're using technology and health. Um Please feel free to ask any questions as I speak. I'll be more than happy to answer them again. My, I'm so sorry that I haven't been able to project my presentation. I had wonderful photos of everyone I'm going to speak about. Uh So just uh I mentioned um my work. Uh Currently I am working a lot with global health. I've been an advisor to the World Health Organization. I advise foundations um and nonprofit organizations and corporations who are looking to introduce the use of technology in health.

And my area of interest is really rural areas, areas where we wouldn't think technology could work and we even forget about some people when we're planning um to use technology. So those are the areas that II I dream of working around. I've worked in wide health emergencies like Ebola and smaller ones like polio and I've done a lot of maternal and child health as well. So the stories I have um four different stories I wanted to share with you today. One is about um how women are using technology to be heard. And that's the story about uh some of the women I worked with in *** in West Africa and how they um they felt forgotten until we provided them with, with uh with smartphones and tablets and their attitude towards people who are supposed to be taking care of them. So their government and NGO S really changed. The next story is about um women using technology to be seen and to connect with each other. And I'm a mother, I became a mother two years ago and the change was so drastic that um that I felt alone being before that a very driven career oriented woman and suddenly everything changed and I could not um do the things I used to before until I found um this woman who's based in Switzerland, um coincidentally um building a community of mothers um to help us move forward.

And then the other one is to survive. This is a very passionate um area for me, it's a story of um reproductive and women who are using technology to help others find reproductive and sexual health um services and, and advice. And then the last one is to thrive. This is a fun one about myself and the people I called my soul sisters who a lot of you are going to become, I'm sure after we're done here today and how we're using it to connect and uplift each other. So, starting with the ***, um there was, I was working on a project in ***. It's ***. It's um very religiously traditionally. Um I'll use the word conservative, but people really abide by traditional uh rules and, and, and, and, and are very adamant about practicing their religion, their religion. And so in that space, unfortunately, what happens is that some people's needs are have to be tucked away and they even if they can't be avoided. And that happens a lot with teenage girls. And so in the area where I was working, uh we, there was a huge problem with teenage pregnancies. So girls were getting, being married when they were very young. Uh We decided I worked with an organization that decided to put in place.

Um It's a small device called the talking book where we can upload several messages, uh educational messages about uh one's health and our intent or intention was to actually speak to the mothers of these young girls who are being married off too early and um try to uh raise their awareness about the importance of waiting a bit later to marry for daughters to get married.

Um you know, having to do with their own development or education and all of that. So we uploaded all these messages created by or UN organizations and nonprofit organizations and the government and we sent it in. There was one feature on the device that we sent um into this community and it had a feedback device and what we expected were people to send us questions about exactly about the messages that we put in. So uh about education, like how do we send our girls to school? Um We expected them maybe to put messages about how to use the device or, you know, things like that. We didn't anticipate what we ended up getting back, which turned into being a cry for help on something that they as a community haven't been able to deal with. Um the women in, in this area in *** um recorded several of them stories and the reasons of why they had to marry their daughters off and why that was difficult for them. So, the, the, in the understanding that we had from all the assessments that we conducted before we put this project to use that uh people did this without really thinking about the value of waiting until later for their daughters to be married just was um crushed.

They, they came to us and they shared that one of the biggest problems they were having in their community was that they are um the girls are getting pregnant early. And so that was really the cause for them to marry their daughters early. So if we could help them with figuring out how to ensure that the girls are not, are, don't get pregnant early, they can do their part in, in holding their daughters home a little bit longer. So that really changed the whole scope of the project. We thought the project was going to be about, um it was going to be about um uh you know, uh sort of educating the mothers about how to take care of their um their daughters and why they convincing them of the reasons of wait, uh waiting a bit later to marry the daughters off and they came back to us and said for years, we, we're getting people who come to us and tell us why.

It's not a good idea to marry off our daughters, but they never ask us why. So having that this mechanism, this device sent to them without anyone's um anyone without in and someone from the outside present, observing how they use it, opened up the door for them to share with us. And so now we knew that if we wanted to go work in this, in this community, that what we needed to do is help address um the teenage pregnancy. And what that turned into was that we, we shifted up the funding that we had that we were going to put towards convincing the moms and advocating for um to end childhood marriages, went towards working with the moms, working with the daughters on how to protect them. And along those lines came some, you know, stories that are really heartbreaking um of abuse that girls were facing. And, and we learned another critical thing was that these girls never are told, they never learned that um they have a choice and that if they said no to someone who um wanted to, to have sex with them without they, they had, they would have their mother's support.

They always thought that it was their duty as women in this community to be to satisfy the male um their male counterparts in that way. So by just introducing this device, it allowed the mothers to raise their hand and say, hey, look, this is the problem um that we have and, and this is the problem that we really need to address and not what you're trying to um have us address. But it also give the daughters an an, an opportunity to say we didn't realize that you had our back where we didn't realize that if we said no, that you could, that you would support us. So it started, it, it raised awareness of the international community, but it also started a discussion within the community itself. And in that, in one of the particular communities um that I that we worked with the fathers became involved as well because they also did not have an understanding of what worried their, their wives and what worried their daughters. So that's um that was the uh my example of how women are you. Yes, empowerment.

The money is very important and just introduce this piece of technology that didn't just have messages for them to hear, but also give them the ability to provide feedback in a way that worked for them, which was, you know, to be able to speak and, and we can receive the messages back, really empower them.

And that small um it, it became the, the, the, the catalyst to really how women in these communities are viewed. Um The, the next story I want, I'm moving a bit fast. Here is about the um uh this woman in Switzerland who created the community for mothers that's gone beyond Switzerland. She's from Indonesia, like I said, I'm from Congo. Um And we are both very much career oriented women and being a woman of color in our space. It was already, you know, we worked hard to get here. And so at some point, we also wanted to what was valuable for us to start families. Everything went well in my and on her side as well. And we started a family. What happened afterwards was what was complicated. We um for me, for example, I learned in during my pregnancy, um traditional social media. Um of course, the algorithms that existed wanted uh continued alerted me to how dangerous it was to be a black woman and be pregnant. And so throughout my pregnancy, I had this fear of oh my gosh, I might die once I, I have a baby rather than everything else. Everyone else seemed to be doing where, you know, planning baby showers, setting up. Um you know, baby spaces for me, it was like this overwhelming fear that am I even gonna make it? Am I gonna be around afterwards to take care of this? Yes, exactly. Right. Um You did.

So that's the difference between having a black woman who's well connected um being going through pregnancy and having and, and what other people are. And of course, I felt alone because in my circle, no one else had ever talked about, talked about how this this experience was for them. And so I connected to my two friends, this woman and who was using Instagram to be really honest about her story, but decided that just sharing her story wasn't enough because I didn't find her as I was going to social, social media, I needed someone to say, hey, you're not alone.

There's someone else who's going through the same story. So she became very deliberate, like letting using low tech, letting everyone know um who are you who, who's out there? Who is going to what, what um what experiences. And let's use this tool that we have social media as a mechanism to deliberately connect so that just putting it out in the ether and hoping we'll find it because sometimes the design, the algorithms and designs of, of solutions are not made for us to be able to find each other.

It, they amplify other aspects. And so we've been able to find each other. Um her and I through her friend, we've connected with other people and I built a community of women where for us, those of us who are already mothers are working really hard to continue to, to highlight who we are as people as we adopted new rule. But really work on. We, we do our projects, we give each other career advice, um provide babysitting um with each other just and, and share those experiences with others. So we use social media to deliberately share the the pe share with people who are not into our areas on, you know, the importance of being a community and really connecting with each other. Um And also just not, you know, being a passive um a passive observer or consumer of uh of, of, of media. But using it to really be active. And even if you think you're alone, just putting your, your story out there, you, you never know who it could come in. And now again, it's um my, I wanna be clear that it wasn't just her, putting her stories and sharing that um help.

That's been helpful to me. It was the fact that she put the story out there with every intention of saying, hey, we're using this space to connect uh and to find each other. And if you find someone in your area who is, who with whom you can have this one on one connection, establish that. And we joke about how it's um sort of AAA positive dating app for, for mothers. But it's been such a wonderful experience for me to really be able to connect uh with these women and, and be able to share my experiences and not feel so alone. And so anytime I see a black woman who comes on board and is worried about being a mother and how that is dangerous for her, I'm also here to say yes, there are things that we have to watch out for the advice questions that we have to ask our doctors. But also here are some other practical ways to ensure that you do have a safe journey to motherhood, to parenthood. Um The last, the, the third story is about women using um technologies to survive. So I work in the humanitarian sector and you think our objective is really to make sure that those who have absolutely no resources um have what they need.

But there are people who don't even are so out of the, the, on the fringes that are not even included into um the, the work that's made for, you know, the poorest of them all. So I wanted to talk about, there have been uh some work that I've been doing where um to with advocacy groups. So there, these are sexual and reproductive health advocacy group groups and they are in Latin America, Africa, Asia. Um I haven't, I've been checked if there are any of them in Western Europe or um North America. But these, these are groups that are basically our 24 hour helpline for anyone who needs um advocacy services and what I love about these groups. Uh I have sexual and reproductive health, either advice or help finding um services. What I love about them is they use low tech and, and a mix of mixture of high tech. So they do things like, right? Um Phone numbers for whatsapp that people can call uh on the lowest bank notes. So in equivalent of like a dollar bill uh for, for the US dollar and that's how they circulate, that's how they advertise because um and they specifically target people in communities where openly seeking sexual and reproductive health makes you a target.

Um can get you in trouble in some places, can, can even get you arrested and be thrown in um to jail. And women before the introduction of social media or technology in these communities, they were you, you had to wait and sort of have someone figure out a way for people to, to trust you. There is no way to, to have uh to be anonymous in, in your health provision and the use of uh whatsapp, for example, has allowed people to send messages where to, you know, existing phones where you know, your phone number isn't going to be saved. You, it's going, you know that the person receiving your message is trained and helpful and will be able to give you trusted advice that you can then take and use as you as you see fit. So that's um that's so social media is literally and the use of technology is literally helping people um reach out for a lifeline and, and helping them survive. I don't know if there are any questions I see that there's a lot of activity in the chat. You're all chatting with each other, which is wonderful. But if anyone has any questions on what I've shared and ways that you can in from your perspective and your work, you can be helpful um to the the types that there's categories of women at that I've talked about.

I think my call to action Oh, yes. So, the, the question on the dangers for black women is that, um, even in the United States, which is where I was, uh, for most of my pregnancies, the statistics show that more black women die of, uh, from giving birth than any other women. And I'm still researching to understand exactly why I was fortunate enough to have great care. The doctor who took care of me was a friend. Um, but it didn't, it didn't. Yes, exactly. It didn't stop. Um, the fear. Imagine going through nine months, you know, excitement of, of becoming a parent. And you're thinking, oh, my gosh. Because, because of what I look like I might not even be able to enjoy this experience. And I found out that there are many, um, women who deal with this, this fear, um, alone, most of their, most of their pregnancies. And then when you come out on the other side it's, it's, you know, I didn't have a, a nursery prepared. You don't have all these things that other people have because it's, you know, just going through the process is very much, you don't know. And so it's often linked to, to care and how doctors relate to, um, to black women.

And I, and, and, um, and our own ability to be educated enough to be able to ask questions, um, advocate for ourselves and show that there is, uh, you know, we have to come with a question not very little information is shared with us. So that's the, um, that's what, that's what I mean and all of my life because I hadn't gone through it. I wasn't aware that this was an issue even though I, you know, I, I felt I was well informed with issues that concerned black women, but that specifically came up as I was going through the experience, uh myself. And, uh, and it showed that. yes, yes, I um I would, I'm not connected with, with Finland yet, but juice, I would love to connect and we, yes, I, what I've also found, you know, even in Switzerland in, in many in other countries around Europe and, you know, there are women who are experiencing these issues.

So I will reach out to you, hopefully, um you on linkedin and we can, we can speak and see, you know, if any, if there's any way, what I, I think what I want is for those of us who are working with technology to remember that we may not necessarily think about these women in um as we're planning our work, as we're, as we're creating our solutions, our um in our, you know, in our design spaces, but they're out there and the technologies that are really created to be used for, you know, sort of fun activities are being, are, have been life saving for, for many people.

Sometimes it doesn't require any sophisticated technology to really save a life. It just requires being able to um get information out there. Um Margaret, I make note of, of five X more. Uh I'll have a look at, at, at this. Thank you for sharing. Um And Tanya, thank you also for, yes, thank you for, for sharing um your experiences. I Yes, exactly. I mean, it's good to, to have found a community even here. I'm on the, I'm around, I know we were at time from my particular session. There are other sessions that are starting, but I'm around and I'm very much uh having, like I mentioned in my, in my work, I've, I, I've been an advisor to who I'm working with a lot of foundations working with a lot of organizations that looking at health issues currently where I'm doing some research on A I and how do I ensure that it does not leave um marginalized individuals um behind as technology becomes more and more powerful.

So I am very much interested in, in to understand what are some of the issues out there that are that aren't we're not addressing, as I mentioned, I was focused on rural areas, but I'm realizing that these issues touch women even in the most developed um well connected places.

Yes, I'll be in touch with. Did, thank you so much for uh for joining and for sticking with me even though my presentation could not work. Sandra Lee. Thank you so much uh for being here I, I'm also making note to connect beyond this. I'm gonna stick around if anybody else who wants to connect just um put, say something on the chat and I'll reach out Sarah. I'll definitely reach out to you and Benny, thank you for being here. It's good to meet you. It always goes by so fast, but I'm secure to see who else would love to connect later. Oh, and I saw Tracey, you left a message earlier as well. So I'll be making a lot of connections beyond this. Thank you all again, so much for um joining the session. Oh, do is wonderful for being proactive. I look forward to connecting with you and maybe through you, I can connect with other um Olivia. Thank you so much for being here sticking by me. Uh staying around for the rest of the session. It's so good to meet you. Yes, Doris. Well, we're all very grateful for you wanting to connect with us, you connecting with us and hopefully we can maybe if I missed anyone um through you via linkedin, we can connect. I can be connected to everybody else. Well, again, thank you all so much. I mentioned that I prepared. Uh Everyone has left, most people have left, but I created a presentation.

So for anyone who wants to see it um Beyond this, I wasn't able to share, please just reach out and I'm more than happy to send it to you all. Right, everybody. Thanks again so much for being here and I look forward to connecting with you all in, in the main area uh on chat. Have a wonderful rest of the conference. Bye.