Five hearing-impaired Nigerian girls shine at global tech summit

Five hearing-impaired Nigerian girls from Government Secondary School, Kuje, Abuja, have made global headlines by emerging as finalists at the 2026 Technovation Girls World Summit in Bengaluru, India. The team, known as the STRIM Girls, developed an AI-powered application called Saving Pad, which aims to improve access to menstrual products for students, particularly those with hearing impairments.

The application features an interactive map for locating pad banks, a request system, period tracking, and menstrual health education. The girls, who were mentored by the Technology Beyond Disability Initiative and the Deaf Women Aloud Initiative, received a warm welcome upon their return to Nigeria, with a special airport welcome led by the Director-General and CEO of the Maryam Babangida National Centre for Women Development.

Brief written by urgent.news from Punch Nigeria's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.