GSMA mWomen is in the verge of celebrating the winner of the 2014 GSMA Global Mobile Award for “Best Mobile Product or Service for Women in Emerging Markets”, it aims at saluting an innovative product or service specifically designed to meet the wants and needs of underserved women in developing countries.

The nominees of this year have already been shortlisted and winners are to be announced on Tuesday, 25th February. The 2014 shortlist for “Best Mobile Product or Service for Women in Emerging Markets” come from around the globe, all with offerings that increase women’s access and use of mobile phones:

• Easypaisa
• Etisalat for Etisalat’s mWomen program – Weena
• Millicom for Tigo Ghana Market Women MFS project
• Vodafone Foundation in India, the Self Employed Women Association (SEWA) and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women (CBFW) for RUDI Sandesha Vyavhar (RSV) project
• Yesteam Solution Private Limited for SHG E Bookkeeping

In 2013, Ooredoo’s Asiacell won the prestigious prize with the Almas Line, it is a deep and comprehensive consumer insights research allowed Asiacell to understand the wants and needs of women in its market and to tailor Almas Line offerings to the demands of Iraqi women for mobile technology.  It Included “step charging,” which offers a 50 percent discount after the third minute; freedom for women to choose their own off-peak hours; discounted rates for off-network calls; and a free “bye-bye” service that blocks potential harassers from calling or texting.

Since the launch of the product in April 2011, the proportion of Asiacell’s female customers has grown to close to 40 percent and about 1.8 million women in Iraq have been connected to friends and family, allowing Asiacell to significantly increase its customer base while strongly contributing to closing the mobile gender gap in Iraq.