The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) have launched a cooperative project to enhance the digital ecosystem and build digital skills for women in Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The project will address the ongoing gender digital divide which, while narrowing in developed regions, has widened in developing nations and the LDCs since 2013. Across Africa, the proportion of women using the Internet is 12% lower than the proportion of men; in African LDCs, the disparity broadens to a 31% gap.
Combining their resources, ITU and EIF will enhance efforts to benefit women in Burundi, Ethiopia and Haiti. This will be achieved by building capacity at the policy level, increasing governments’ ability to mainstream gender and information and communication technologies (ICTs), and by expanding the horizons of thousands of women entrepreneurs in sectors such as textiles and apparel, and the coffee and cocoa value chains.
“More than ever before, digital technology is a key driver of women’s economic opportunities,” said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. “This partnership between ITU and EIF will result in vital policy support to ensure sustainable expansion of ICTs where it is most needed and will benefit women as they access and use ICTs to participate fully in their economies.”
The project will focus on nationwide fieldwork, specifically: Working with governments and other decision-makers to ensure that digital economy policies are gender-responsive; Working with organizational partners and other members of the local ecosystem to prepare working-age women to navigate in the digital world; and Working with the private sector to create economic opportunities for working-age women in the digital world.
For example, the project will develop national curricula for train-the-trainers programmes, creating a system for distributed education ranging from the most basic use of major information/knowledge platforms to digital solutions for clothing and garment design, smart tailoring, production line, e-commerce solutions for small- and medium-sized enterprises, mobile banking, design thinking and technology innovation, and the Internet of Things for entrepreneurship.
“Building digital skills for women in Least Developed Countries can help women take advantage of growing opportunities – for business expansion, increased market connectedness and enhanced employability. This is why I am so pleased that EIF is embarking on this effort together with ITU and the governments in Burundi, Ethiopia and Haiti as a part of its Empower Women, Power Trade initiative, which supports innovative work with women across the LDCs,” remarked EIF Executive Director Ratnakar Adhikari.
“Finding innovative ways to close the gender digital divide is critical. We need to empower women in local communities to properly use ICTs and to maximize impact at the economic and social level. This project focuses on the right sectors, the right communities, and the right entrepreneurs to do just that,” said Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau. “By joining with EIF to increase women’s access, capacity and use of ICTs, we hope to support many working-age women to be change-makers in their communities.”
Improving the policy and regulatory environment that affects the selected countries’ digital society will be key to the project’s success. To start the conversation on what actions are needed to achieve this improvement, an open discussion is planned among key stakeholders, including women entrepreneurs and women employed in the relevant sectors, officials of ICT ministries, trade sector representatives, sector associations in textiles and apparel, cooperatives in the agriculture sector, and private sector companies.
This joint project, a contribution to the EQUALS Global Partnership and part of EIF’s Empower Women, Power Trade initiative, will help to match job market supply and demand, and facilitate the entrepreneurial activities of women through the use of ICTs. It will be conducted in close collaboration with local partners such as cooperatives and business associations to ensure that support for women continues and strengthens after the project is complete. EQUALS partners will be included in the work at the national level, bringing additional expertise to the project planning and execution.
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About the International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is the specialized United Nations agency for information and communication technologies (ICTs), driving innovation in ICTs together with 193 Member States and a membership of over 900 companies, universities, and international and regional organizations. Established over 150 years ago in 1865, ITU is the intergovernmental body responsible for coordinating the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promoting international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, improving communication infrastructure in the developing world, and establishing the worldwide standards that foster seamless interconnection of a vast range of communications systems. From broadband networks to cutting-edge wireless technologies, aeronautical and maritime navigation, radio astronomy, oceanographic and satellite-based earth monitoring as well as converging fixed-mobile phone, Internet and broadcasting technologies, ITU is committed to connecting the world. For more information, visit www.itu.int.
About Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF)
The Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) partnership of 51 countries, 24 donors and eight partner agencies works closely with governments, development organizations and civil society to assist LDCs use trade as an engine for growth, sustainable development and poverty reduction. For more information, visit www.enhancedif.org
About Empower Women, Power Trade
EIF’s initiative aims at transforming the economic lives of women in least developed countries (LDCs). It focuses on female entrepreneurs and producers, cross-border traders and women-owned micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). At the foundation of this effort is the building of the evidence base to support gender-sensitive policies through EIF’s country-specific trade studies. Strategic support is directed at sectors in which women are predominantly engaged, so female-owned businesses can expand and access new regional and global markets. For more information, visit www.enhancedif.org/en/empower-women-power-trade
About EQUALS
The EQUALS Global Partnership is made up of more than 100 members from international organizations, governments, the private sector, civil society and academia, all committed to working together to achieve gender equality in digital access, digital skills and leadership opportunities in the tech sector. For more information, visit www.equals.org
