Empowering Women through ICT in Western Asia

1. Regional Symposium on Women and Information and Communication TechnologyCairo, 17-19 December 2003 ICT and WomenA perspective for Western Asia المنتدى الإقليمي عن المرأة و تكنولوجيا الاتصالات والمعلومات ESCWA Abduliah Dewachi Regional Advisor – UN ESCWA dewachi@un.org Mohamad Mrayati Regional Advisor – UN ESCWA mrayati@un.org

2. Content • Characteristics • Present situation • Women and ICT • Women in the region • ICT in the region • ICT directions • Engendering ICT policies • Recommendations

3. ICT characteristics • ICT role in accelerating growth • Empowerment through the diversity of ICT • Expanding access to markets, education and training and services • ICT is an instrument for participation and enhancement of women’s capabilities

4. Present situation of ICT • Widening disparities between and within developing countries • The majority of world’s population lives in poverty and remains untouched by the ICT revolution

5. Activity • e-gov • e-learning • e-healthcare • e-culture • e-com • e-production • e-management • Industries: • Hardware • Telecom • Software • Content • Services Sector Applications • Creation • Coding • Acquisition • Processing • Dissemination • Management • Security Information ( Content ) Infrastructural Managerial Institutional Organizational Legislative Financial Enabling Environment Awareness R&D Education & Training Technology Transfer Diffusion Capacity Building A conceptual 3-dimensional model for building the IS M. Mrayati

6. The Digital Divide • Enabling environment: tools & mechanisms • Capacity building: Knowledge development • Activities: information activities and technologies Divide on the three axis:

7. Women and ICT • Women and men should have equal opportunities to shape, access, use and master ICT • Men still hold most of the management and control positions in ICT • Substantial differences between men and women in access and impact of ICT

8. Women and ICT cont. • Applying gender perspective to policies, programmes and projects • ICT as a central tool for women’s empowerment and gender equality • Reduction of the “gender divide” within the digital divide

9. Female Internet users as % of total Internet users, 2002

10. Women in the region • Constrained by social and cultural rules • Misinterpretation of religious teaching about women • Deprived of educational and job opportunities • High percentage of them only speak Arabic • “Enjoy” higher rate of illiteracy • Mobilizing technologies to maintain segregation • Constitutes the larger percentage of the unemployed • Initiatives for women inclusion are predominately superficial • Lowest share in Internet access compared to other regions of the world (4% only according to the SG report in the High Segment of the Economic and Social Council 2001)

11. المصدر: تقرير التنمية الإنسانية 2003 Global Values Survey: 9 cultural regions (الأردن الجزائر المغرب مصر)

12. المصدر: تقرير التنمية الإنسانية 2003 Global Values Survey: 9 cultural regions (الأردن الجزائر المغرب مصر)

13. ICT in the region • The second lowest penetrations of telecom and IT indicators compared to other regions of the world • Content, particularly in the region’s language • Digital divides within the region and within each country • ICT manufacturing is almost nonexistent • The heavy handedness of governments • Outdated legislations and supportive laws for encouraging innovations and entrepreneurship

14. E-quality Project in Jordan • Presently in Jordanian Universities: • Women represent only 29.6% of students enrolled in computer science and 13.8% in computer engineering • The number of women in ICT education decreases substantially from the undergraduate level to doctoral education • Women’s enrollment in community college computer programs is increasing even as total enrollment is decreasing. This indicates strong demand for IT training.

15. ICT directions for the region • Bridging the digital divide between: • The rich and the poor • Rich countries and poor countries • Men and women • Urban and rural • Literates and illiterates • Opportunities for women to do small businesses in ICT • E-business • Distance learning from the home(e-learning)

16. Engendering ICT policies • Most national ICT policies are generally silent on gender issues and do not address gender equality goals. It is therefore vital to convince policy makers in the ICT area on the benefits of integrating gender equality in ICT policies.

17. Stakeholders participation • There is a need to be inclusive and allow participation of all stakeholders, including gender advocates, in all levels of decision-making in ICT policy. Gender advocates need to undertake self-education in gender analysis of ICT and become actively involved in national ICT policy making.

18. Building constituency • There is a need to build constituencies for gender equality in ICT development within civil society and government, especially within national machineries for the advancement of women and government bodies involved in all aspects of ICT.

19. Mobilizing resources • Policy development to integrate gender equality in ICT policies needs to be supported by adequate resources, such as the ability to conduct research and analysis that demonstrates the impact of ICT policies on gender equality as well as the human resource capacity to ensure that gender analysis is fully integrated in the ICT policy process. This requires investment in capacity–building efforts, including training and increased education opportunities for women to obtain ICT skills.

20. Holistic approach to the role of women in building the IS and reducing the DD

21. تكنولوجيا المعلومات والاتصالات بيئة جديدة للعمل • المواقع النسائية (المحتوى) • التشبيك (وطنياً، عربياً، عالمياً) • التعليم عن بعد • الحصول على المعلومات • أتمتة إدارة المؤسسة • التجارة الإلكترونية (العمل من النزل) • فرص عمل جديدة

22. Points for action • Integrate gender perspectives in the development and implementation of national ICT policies and strategies • Creating an enabling environment • Empowering women through the use of ICT • Promoting women’s economic participation in the information society

23. Points for action • Promoting partnerships among all stakeholders in ICT, including development partners and investors • Mobilizing resources to promote gender equality in ICT • Ensuring inclusiveness and participation in promoting gender equality in the information society (access) • Monitoring indicators on women and ICT • Special education and training programs • Content for women • Women sat-TV ,: Channels and programs

24. THANK YOU