Session
Organizer 1: Waqas Hassan, Global Digital Inclusion Partnership (GDIP)
Organizer 2: Umera Asmat Rana, Pakistan Telecom Authority
Organizer 3: Ananda Gautam, Youth IGF Nepal
Speaker 1: Onica Makwakwa, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 2: Malahat Obaid, Government, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 3: Amrita Choudhury, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 4: Sarim Aziz, Private Sector, Asia-Pacific Group
Cagatay Pekyorur, Head of Community Engagement & Advocacy for Africa, Middle East & Turkey, META (replacing Sarim Aziz)
Ms. Josephine Miliza, Policy and Regulation Lead on Local Networks initiative at Association of Progressive Communications (replacing Amrita)
Waqas Hassan, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Ananda Gautam, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Umera Asmat Rana, Government, Asia-Pacific Group
Classroom
Duration (minutes): 60
Format description: The panelists and moderator will sit on the head table so that the audience can clearly see them. Also, there will be a case study to be presented at the start. Therefore, it would be best that the audience can clearly see the slides and the panelists to engage with each other. Scene-setting by moderator (5 min) Gender Strategy Presentation (10min) Panel Views on Policy Questions (15 min) Audience Q&A (30 min)
A. What are key barriers and challenges for digital gender inclusion in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs)? B. What are best policy, regulatory, industry or community practices to bridge the digital gender divide? C. What are required policy changes that can put gender empowerment on the top of digital governance agenda? D. What are ideal ways in which the community, industry and platforms can help overcome barriers to digital inclusion of women and influence positive governance practices on this issue? E. What are the effective mechanisms that can ensure implementation of the existing instruments and initiatives for gender empowerment?
What will participants gain from attending this session? The session will help participants develop an understanding of the key barriers and opportunities related to digital gender divide. Representatives of the regions with highest gender gap (Africa and South Asia) will find an opportunity to present the challenge at the global stage. The session will highlight the need for a whole-of-society approach to generate awareness, discuss issues and stress upon experience sharing and collaboration to reduce the digital gender gap in the developing countries. Most importantly, it will offer networking opportunities for stakeholders to forge partnerships, share resources, and collaborate on future initiatives pertaining to the digital empowerment of women in LMICs.
Description:
Digital gender gap remains relatively unchanged across the Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs), according to GSMA’s Mobile Gender Gap Report 2023. Almost 900 million women still do not use mobile internet and two-third of such women live in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. While there is a statistically proven fact that the internet has a positive impact on the lives of women who use it on daily basis, the world needs to bring 100 million women online every year to close the gender gap by 2030. There are commendable efforts being made on the international and national level to close the digital gender divide, however, there is a dire need to have gender-first policies and strategies, embedded into the governance systems. One such initiative is the Digital Gender Inclusion Strategy developed by Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in collaboration with UNESCO. The strategy will be presented as a case study to set the context of panel discussion that will follow. In a nutshell, this session will discuss the current state and challenges of digital gender gap and how prioritizing the gender inclusion can bring socioeconomic benefits to the LMICs.
The session will produce policy recommendations to overcome the barriers to digital gender empowerment through responsible digital governance in the form of an outcome report. Moreover, PTA will be looking for interested international organizations to become part of the working groups for implementation of the gender inclusion strategy. The discussion will encourage the audience to sensitize their community about the issue and inspire policy changes in their countries. Above all, the session may serve as an opportunity for international organizations to start projects in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa that have the widest gender gap, according to GSMA.
Hybrid Format: All speakers are confirmed to be onsite, therefore, it will not be difficult to facilitate discussion with online audience. There will be an online moderator to monitor the chat comments and questions. Floor will also be open for online participants if they would like to take the Mic. There will be atleast 30 minutes for Q&A, therefore, enough time for audience to engage with speakers.
Report
Digital gender inclusion is a global issue having severe social and economic implications, especially in the Low Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) that are set to lose USD 524 billion over the next five years if the gender digital divide persists. Therefore, it is essential the digital governance embodies a gender-responsive approach that empowers the women to utilize their potential and capitalize on the digital opportunities. This was the main policy recommendation and the key session outcome agreed by the panelists.
The session began with scene-setting by the moderator and introduction to the panelists. Pakistan’s Digital Gender Inclusion Strategy was presented as a model of inclusive policy making by the Government of a developing country. That was followed by moderator questions to each of the panellists, as stated in the session proposal. The panel had an insightful discussion on the key barriers to digital inclusion, stakeholder collaboration and the profound impact of innovative community-centred connectivity solutions on women empowerment. The speakers highlighted the importance of supportive policy making, keeping in view the needs and priorities of women, with specific and measurable targets and objectives. The systematic sociocultural barriers, coupled with lack of digital literacy/ and inadequate resources, prevent women from capitalising on the digital opportunities. When they are able to overcome such barriers and start using the internet, women have to face a new set of challenges such as cyberstalking, online gender based violence, privacy and digital rights etc. The panellists highlighted the critical difference made by inclusive digital policies and frameworks in providing safe online experience and effective redressal of complaints by women and LGBTQ+. During the audience interaction, a Columbian example of women-centric community network was shared by a participant while another participant asked about PTA’s methodology to reach out to women and marginalized groups in the far flung areas of Pakistan. Another question was asked about how community networks can be viewed as more than a rural area connectivity solution. All of the questions were responded by the panellists. In the end, Onica shared information about Women in Digital Economy Fund by the USAID and the Gates Foundation that provides funding scale up digital solutions for gender inclusion in the LMICs.
The session ended with a note of thanks to all the speaker and participants by the moderator.