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Gender, information technology and rural development: an overview

Gender, information technology and rural development: an overview. Nancy J. Hafkin Presentation to World Bank GENRD Brown Bag 12 November 2003. Starting assumption. ICTs can and do make an important contribution to agricultural and rural development. The challenge . . .

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Gender, information technology and rural development: an overview

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  1. Gender, information technology and rural development: an overview Nancy J. Hafkin Presentation to World Bank GENRD Brown Bag 12 November 2003

  2. Starting assumption • ICTs can and do make an important contribution to agricultural and rural development GENRD-World Bank

  3. The challenge . . . • To make it possible for poor rural women to use ICTs in ways that improve food security, provide sustainable livelihoods and improve the quality of life in rural areas. GENRD-World Bank

  4. Information and rural women • Information can empower rural women to participate in decision making, exchange ideas with others in developed and developing countries and improve the quality of life of the people of Africa • Hilda Munyua GENRD-World Bank

  5. Why consider gender? • The “greatest good” • Women are the majority of the population in rural areas of most developing countries • They are highly significant in food production- “without women we all go hungry-” Kenya proverb. • Consideration of their involvement is a quantitative imperative GENRD-World Bank

  6. The business case • Development projects that take gender into account are more likely to achieve their objectives than those that do not (World Bank) GENRD-World Bank

  7. Elimination of poverty • Women’s empowerment is a central precondition for the elimination of poverty • Addressing gender issues addresses poverty • ICTs address the concomitants of poverty: • lack of access to education and health services • Lack of productive opportunities • Lack of information and isolation GENRD-World Bank

  8. The equity argument • Gender equality is integral to a human-rights based approach to development • Third Goal of United Nations Millennium Development: promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women GENRD-World Bank

  9. ICTs are not gender neutral • Substantial gender differences in access to, impact of ICTs • Few women users in developing countries • Most women users in developing countries part of small, educated urban elite GENRD-World Bank

  10. Gender issues in ICT and rural development • Lack of infrastructure is a gender issue • Poorer infrastructure in rural and outlying areas • More women live in rural areas than men • Urban bias in connectivity deprives more women than men of the universal right to communicate GENRD-World Bank

  11. Social and cultural issues • Women have lesser access than men to those facilities that do exist • Women have less time to visit public access facilities • Facilities may not be located where women are comfortable frequenting • Hours may not be conducive to women’s use GENRD-World Bank

  12. Gender bias towards women and ICTs • Fewer women in science and technology • Attitudes that information technology is not for women • Other cultural aspects limit women’s access GENRD-World Bank

  13. Education and skills • Women less likely than men to have the requisite education and knowledge • Literacy • Language • Computer skills • Information literacy GENRD-World Bank

  14. Other gender issues • Financial resources • Content • Statistics and indicators GENRD-World Bank

  15. Some possible applications • Improved communications • Improved access to information • Economic, social and political applications GENRD-World Bank

  16. ICTs might fill agricultural extension gender gap • Most agricultural technology transfer agents male • Only 5% of extension services go to women • Only 15% of extension agents are women • ICTs can focus on content related to subsistence crops, food security GENRD-World Bank

  17. Some Gender, ICT initiatives • Benin Microfinance • Bankilare Niger • DTR-Federation African Media Women-Radio Listening Clubs- • Nakaseke Telecentre CD-ROM-Rural Women in Africa Ideas for Earning Money • Dimitra-www.fao.org/sd/dimitra GENRD-World Bank

  18. More initiatives . . . • Honeybee Network-India • Self-Employed Women’s Association-India • Gyandoot/Daar-India • Fantsuam-northern Nigeria • Moutse Community Radio Station-South Africa GENRD-World Bank

  19. Gender lessons from ICT projects • Technology empowers, but also affects and alters gender relations • Gender is everywhere: no project without gender issues • Women emerge from project participation with greater knowledge, self esteem • If you don’t ask for gender, you don’t get gender • Need for pro-activity to ensure participation of both men and women GENRD-World Bank

  20. How to get women into projects: • There have to be guidelines and procedures • Gender-goals have to appear in objectives • Competent gender analysis needs to enter from beginning of project design • Monitoring and evaluation statistics must be disaggregated by sex • All projects need to be reviewed for gender issues GENRD-World Bank

  21. Engendering policy • Insufficient to stop at engendering projects • Neither gender, nor ICT are in rural development plans and strategies! • Must be done at policy level to ensure women included • Needs to be considered in ICT policy, agricultural development policy, technology policy and gender policy GENRD-World Bank

  22. Ensuring women’s inclusion- how to do it? • Work in the policy arena • Technology will take care of some access problems (wireless access) • Inclusion of ICT training in training and education projects for girls and women • Train young women from communities at community centers • Develop role models • Improve girl’s and women’s education in Africa GENRD-World Bank

  23. Gender, RD, ICT resources • ICT for Rural Women: • information list of resources, events and organizations on how women can use ICTs to support grassroots productive enterprises. • information on productive technologies, prices, markets and small enterprise support. • appropriate technologies; GENRD-World Bank

  24. ICT for Rural Women (cont’d) • appropriate software packages and training women how to use them. • extension services; • linking new ICTs with other communications media; • strategies for scaling up and replicating pilot projects; • documenting best practices Subscribe: www.wigsat.org GENRD-World Bank

  25. More resources . . . • ISNAR Briefing Paper 55, Gender and agriculture in the information society • www.isnar.cgiar.org/publications/briefing/bp55.htm • 2002 GENRD-World Bank

  26. CTA Observatory on gender and ICTs for agricultural and rural development • Impact of ICTs from a gender perspective • Tried to identify ways in which ICTs can help to empower rural women in ACP countries. • http://www.cta.int/observatory2002/ • Wageningen, The Netherlands 11 - 13 September 2002  GENRD-World Bank

  27. Priority areas for gender, ICTs and agriculture (CTA) • Mainstreaming gender. Ensuring participation of poor rural women. • Policy. Gender equity in national policy on rural issues and ICTs. • Access for rural areas. • Content. • Capacity building. GENRD-World Bank

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