"But when this war began, it was a really big shock. I couldn’t believe it and we immediately decided to leave. And I made some antiwar declarations and now it’s not safe for me to go to my hometown. It is super sad."

"When we choose where we should go, the main criteria is if there is injustice."

"Who can solve the problem of a female if she cannot tell you the problem, and find her own solution?"

"Unless you really are in the industry, there is no one to look up to in technology."

"We started to fight, they heavily beat me, broke my nose, and tore my jacket."

"Before this, I thought that we could in small steps change life in Russia, despite the fact it’s a very corrupt state."

"Parents have an expectation of what you should be — if you’re a good student, you’re a doctor, you’re not an engineer or in the computer science field... They haven’t seen any female being in STEM and being successful."

"I think now they understand the value of the quality of the education that’s provided, and the enabling environment for entrepreneurs in Ethiopia. It’s a struggle every day, but we have seen a lot of progress."

"But the sad thing is, even if they want to, they won’t be able to apply it after they finish their high school education."

"Since the first day, it was a story of fighting injustice. That is what really motivates me, because in my life, I had a lot of injustices."

"Technology inspires you. Having that feeling of freedom and being able to do something gives you that sense of accomplishment and that sense of accomplishment drives you to do more things that you love, more things that excite you."

"More than that, it’s about equipping kids to cope in the 21st century,It’s about problem solving, analytical thinking and self-learning, as well as digital literacy. It means understanding how the internet works, how to get information from it, how to identify wrong and false information, how to keep your privacy and make sure your data is not being used. We think these are really important lessons, especially in this day and age."

"And if some of them achieve success, we have a good chance to invent a new kind of tech entrepreneurship that changes the trajectory of modern capitalism. This is my goal."

"The boys imagine more, they want to do something that’s big and inspired, the girls they really want to help their community from the core."

"The biggest thing we have in Africa is a young generation. So if we train the young generation in tech, we’ll be able to build something that is everlasting."

"Teaching young girls coding and seeing them become confident and inspired reminded me of how I felt when I started coding."

"It doesn’t matter if you went to a great university – what matters is if you have a computer, access to the internet and the drive to achieve."

"Ethiopia’s youth have no lack of ideas, energy or ambition,but they can’t fulfil their potential alone. What we see in Ethiopia is a lack of co-creation centres where like-minded people can come together and create and innovate."

"My aim is to democratize technology."

"The girls get the coding education but also other skills and the necessary knowledge to keep themselves away from problems – or at least be aware enough to report them."

"“People with disability don’t want preferential treatment we want the playing ground to be given so we can compete as competitively as anybody else.”"

"There is a lot of potential for fintech in this part of the world."

"The frustrations and disappointments that come with entrepreneurship can break you, but if you are in it because you want to make a difference or you believe in what you are producing, then that spurs you on."

"All my life I’ve been told to remove the word ‘I can’t’ from my vocabulary and replace it with ‘I’ll try’ and by grace, everything I’ve tried I’ve been successful at."

"I intend to change perceptions with my story."

"A strong female lead, gives a role model for girls to want to emulate."

"I was frustrated; frustrated with societal perception of people with disabilities and frustrated with reading about a foreigner's perspective of the "African Story", which usually involves wars, famines, AIDS and child soldiers. I think it is time for us to tell our own stories.Farida speaking on the inspiration for her writing"

"Representation matters, and persons with disabilities are sorely underrepresented."

"We first of all have to cultivate the habit of reading, before more people would be motivated to write."

"Persons with disabilities are usually portrayed as being feeble and asking for handouts, in the media. I want to change that perception. We have weaknesses and strengths like everybody else and it’s about time the focus moved from what we can’t do to what we CAN do."

"I didn’t set out to impact anybody. I set out to prove to myself and to society that I could be a successful software developer despite having a neurological condition."

"You must put in the work. Do not expect a free pass just because you have special needs. You need to be exceptionally good at what you are doing but institutions also need to put up an enabling environment that lets people with special needs be as productive as they can be."

"Ironic that the largest minority group which cuts across race, religion and sexual orientation is (one of) the most discriminated against."

"Nobody is perfect. We all have a part of us that doesn’t work well. Identify your disability and turn it into greatness."

"If you don’t have a passion for your product and you want to become an entrepreneur because of the money, close up your business and look for a well-paying job."

"I tell myself, “You can do this, you’ve done more difficult things and survived. And even if you don’t make this deal or you can’t do this task, life goes on”. My faith has also played an important role."

"So, strategies for infusing HCI into curriculum involve changing the conversation, For example, we integrated HCI into our core curricula through courses such as design thinking. I think the best approach to evangelize HCI throughout Africa is to jump on the 4th Industrial Revolution bandwagon and integrate HCI with new emerging courses such as AI, Machine Learning and Data Science, and Cybersecurity. So, we are developing the newly hyped programs with HCI integrated."

"HCI is less well known now than a decade ago and that students graduating with degrees in HCI end up being unemployed due to the lack of recognition for the importance of this work."

"A decolonisation project is concerned with how researchers, wherever located, might contribute to dismantling and re-envisioning existing power relations, resisting past biases, and balancing Western heavy influences in technology design."

"Innovation priorities span artificial intelligence, precision agriculture, digital health, and building telecommunications infrastructure – with plans for an “AI Institute” to upskill youth and export virtual AI capabilities."

"Our challenges are not unique to our region. Many parts of the world will face similar pressures. Resource constraints create challenges that require innovative solutions, and this is what we are here to do."

"We need a fundamentally new way of skilling people. We can take our unemployed youth and put them through fast-paced, project-based “bootcamps”. I don’t believe in purely theoretical training anymore. A project-based approach where they learn just-in-time skills by working on real-world projects is ideal."

"Overcoming a speech and language disability, I have emerged as a powerful advocate for disability rights in Uganda. The YALI Fellowships transformed my life, nurturing my personal growth and empowering me to harness my strengths."

"Through celebrating diverse experiences, the program can create welcoming environments where all young African leaders thrive. I am committed to ensuring no youth is left out of this transformative opportunity due to identity, ability or circumstances.”"

"With newfound confidence and honed public speaking skills, I have championed increased educational and employment opportunities for persons with disabilities."

"My efforts have yielded significant progress, including expanding affirmative action slots for disabled students at public universities, introducing a scholarship scheme for disabled students at Makerere University Business School, and securing employment for disabled individuals at MUBS."

"Despite progress, youth with disabilities still face barriers to fully participating in society, including accessing education and leadership growth opportunities like YALI fellowships. From online applications lacking accessibility features to prohibitive technology costs, hurdles restrict inclusion at every step."

"Borobudur Temple was built with an overwhelming mass of images and more than 1,400 narrative relief illustrating the life of Buddha and Buddhist texts."

"Recent economic and technical growth in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Brunei demands a common regional language to foster linguistic and literary understanding in these interconnected & frequent activities."