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A+ Alliance Partners Launch Catalyzing Inclusive AI Research Network to Advance Gender Equality

A+ Alliance Partners Launch Catalyzing Inclusive AI Research Network to Advance Gender Equality

Women-Led Organizations to Drive AI Innovation for Gender Transformation Across Africa

IDRC partnership enables women’s rights organizations to become AI creators, not just consumers

[Cape Town, 8 October 2025] 

The <A+> Alliance for Inclusive Algorithms, Women at the Table, and Code for Africa today announced the launch of the Catalyzing Inclusive AI Research Network (CIAIRN), an 18-month initiative supported by Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) that will transform how women’s rights organizations across Africa harness artificial intelligence for gender equality.

The groundbreaking project addresses a critical paradox: while women’s rights organizations possess deep knowledge of their communities’ most pressing challenges—from economic exclusion to healthcare access barriers—they often lack the technical infrastructure to translate this expertise into scalable AI solutions.

“We’re flipping the script on who gets to create AI technology,” said Caitlin Kraft-Buchman, Strategy Lead at Women at the Table. “This isn’t about importing solutions from elsewhere—it’s about empowering African women’s rights organizations to build the AI tools their communities actually need.”

 

THE INNOVATION SANDBOX APPROACH

CIAIRN will establish the AI Innovation Sandbox for Gender Equality—a secure, human rights-focused digital environment equipped with open-source language models and AI development tools. Through a structured “prototype → pilot” approach, at least 15 women’s rights organizations in Eastern and Western Africa will move from concept to implementation.

The program follows a progressive funnel model:

  • Training phase: Blended learning in AI concepts, data feminism, and human rights-based development
  • Concept phase: Research proposals addressing community-identified gender challenges
  • Prototype phase: Hands-on development with dedicated technical mentorship
  • Pilot phase: Real-world implementation with measurable impact assessment

“Women’s rights organizations shouldn’t have to rebuild the same tools in isolation,” said Athandiwe Saba, Principal Investigator at Code for Africa’s iLAB. “The Sandbox provides shared infrastructure and expertise so they can focus on solving problems, not reinventing wheels.”

 

BUILDING LASTING CAPACITY, NOT DEPENDENCY

Unlike traditional technical assistance models, CIAIRN invests in building permanent technical capacity within organizations themselves. Participating organizations will form the Gender & AI Innovation Collective—a lasting network with feminist collaborative governance that continues beyond the project timeline.

“We’re creating a replicable ‘innovation-in-a-box’ model,” explained Jessica Manim, Chief Operating Officer at Code for Africa. “Complete technical specifications, training curricula, and operational frameworks will enable other regions to implement this independently, without ongoing dependence on us.”

The project targets tangible outcomes:

  • 3+ validated AI innovations with demonstrated positive impact on gender equality
  • 15+ organizations with enhanced technical agency and AI development capabilities
  • Peer-reviewed research on gender-responsive AI innovation pathways
  • Replicable methodology enabling independent implementation across diverse contexts

     

CHALLENGING THE STATUS QUO

CIAIRN directly challenges the conventional model where technology is developed in the Global North and deployed elsewhere. By positioning women’s rights organizations as creators rather than consumers, the initiative ensures AI tools reflect diverse African women’s experiences often excluded from mainstream datasets.

The Sandbox will leverage curated, high-quality datasets countering AI bias and “AI slop”—the knowledge dilution occurring as publicly available AI services train on low-quality baseline data. Organizations will also receive support to digitize offline information and build lexical databases on under-resourced languages and topics.

“This is about knowledge democracy and technical agency,” said Amina Soulimani, Project Manager at Women at the Table. “We’re proving that transformative AI innovation happens when those closest to the problems have the tools to create solutions.”

 

ABOUT THE PARTNERS

The <A+> Alliance for Inclusive Algorithms is a global coalition advancing feminist approaches to algorithmic systems and AI governance.

Women At The Table is a gender equality, technology, and systems change think tank that has consulted on Gender and AI for AI4D since 2021.

Code for Africa is the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism initiative, with teams in 21 countries building digital democracy tools.

The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is a Canadian federal Crown corporation that invests in knowledge, innovation, and solutions to improve lives and livelihoods in the developing world.