This report was published by UNESCO’s broadband comission for digital development, and its working group on broadband and gender chaired by Helen Clark and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka in 2013. You can dowload the report here.
This Report studies the role that ICTs and the Internet can play in advancing gender equality agendas, including equal access to new technologies by women and girls. It examines the central question of how access to the Internet and ICTs can help redress some of the inequalities women and girls face in their everyday lives, and whether inequalities in access to the Internet, and the types of content available online, are in fact reinforcing social attitudes towards women. It explores measures of inequality in access to ICTs, the importance of ICTs in educating and shaping the aspirations and hopes of the next generation of women and girls, and the implications of lack of access to ICTs by girls and women. By summarizing the current situation with regards to differential access to the Internet this report sketches some of the potential implications of gender gaps in access to the Internet, based on the inputs and viewpoints of the Working Group on Broadband and Gender.
Expanding access to, and proper use of, ICTs will solve this challenge, while at the same time increasing the efficiency of school systems, improving teacher training and resources, and extending learning opportunities beyond the classroom and to disadvantaged groups. Governments – in developing countries in particular – need to explore ways to bridge the digital divide and implement policies that encourage increased investment in ICT in education.
Conclusions and policy recommendations from the Report
- Integrate Gender and National ICT and Broadband Policies.
- Improve Sex-Disaggregated ICT Statistics and Measurement.
- Take Steps to Boost the Affordability and Usability of ICT Products and Services.
- Improve