SaharGamal
Ms.Gamal
Independent Member, Egypt.
CSW65 Side Event: Connect2Include.Include2Connect, Thursday, 18 March 2021.
International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Women in power and decision-making, The girl child, Women and the economy, Human rights of women, Education and training of women, Violence against women, Women and poverty, Women and health
SDG3 – Good Health and Well-Being, SDG4 – Quality Education, SDG5 – Gender Equality, SDG8 – Decent Work and Economic Growth, SDG9 – Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure, SDG 10 – Reduced Inequality, SDG11 – Sustainable Cities and Communities, SDG17 – Partnerships to achieve the Goal
Bullying (2016), Disability (2016), Harassment (2016), Tolerance of Minority Groups (2016), Young Members (2016)
The session focused on the importance of connectivity and digital inclusion of women and girls as a powerful enabler and empowering tool . This coincides with GWI's Marketplace Initiative and, in turn, with FUWA's ICT Literacy Course targeting 100% literacy of FUWA members.
This session was the second stop in ITU's "Road to Addis" for their "World Telecommunication Development Conference" (WTDC-2021) that will be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 8-19 November 2021 preceded by a Youth Summit. ITU aims at achieving digital inclusion of women and girls, children,youth, persons with disabilities, older persons, indigenous peoples, and people living in remote areas. They aim to do so by ensuring that technology is people centered and that no one is left behind due to lack of connectivity or due to lack of accessibility of digital information, products and services. To achieve that, there is a need to develop appropriate policies, strategies and actions that address the specific needs for this digital inclusion. ITU promotes the building of inclusive digital societies because connectivity will help accelerate the global socio-economic recovery after the current pandemic. To accelerate connectivity for sustainable development, ITU identified "6 enablers" which are "Partnerships, Inclusion, Financing, Leadership, Innovation and Youth". Participants of this session concluded that "Connectivity and Inclusion" should be regarded as the 18th SDG and digitalization is the only means to do so.
Because of the current pandemic situation, all GWI members have realized the importance of ICT literacy and accessibility. Women and girls' education has been negatively affected in areas where there is no appropriate digital infrastructure. Girls' school drop-outs and child marriage have increased. Women's economic independence has suffered because of lockdown and downsizing. VAW has increased, unreported and unnoticed, because of social distancing. ICT tools have been the main source for pandemic-related information and health-related advice. Digital platforms were the only available educational resources. Online small businesses have been the main source of women's economic independence. This session, in turn, provides GWI members with information related to digital accessibility and affordability giving them a chance to study the causes delaying their 100% inclusion in the digital world of tomorrow.
CSW67 (2023) priority theme is “innovation and technological change and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”. This is a perfect opportunity for collaboration between GWI and ITU to ensure 100% inclusion of GWI members. NFAs could also participate by providing case studies of factors affecting this process of inclusion in the different fields of education, economic empowerment, decreasing GBV, aiding disabilities and empowering youth.
