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International Girls in ICT Day : 27 April 2017

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International Girls in ICT Day : 27 April 2017

Today marks the International Girls in ICT Day 2017, which is celebrated yearly on the 4th Thursday in April. The day is organised by ITU ; the UN Women has also issued a commemoration statement. 

What is Girls in ICT Day? This is an initiative that was backed by all International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Member States in 2014.

The the aim was to create a global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to consider car​eers in the growing field of ICTs, enabling both girls and technology companies to reap the benefits of greater female participation in the ICT sector.

To comemorate this day,individuals and organisations are asked to share their activities on the International Girls in ICT Day 2017 Events. The events page then collates these submissions and these are displayed on a map and further categorised by continents.

Enhancing the use of ICTs to empower women is an explicit target of Sustainable Development Goal 5.


The UN Women statement on International Girls in ICT Day 2017.

The UN women has also joined ITU in celebrating this year's celebration. The statement shed a gloom light to the status of ICTs and women, for example they noted:-

"Gender gaps are widening and existing data shows that women are 14 per cent less likely than men to own a mobile phone and that 25 per cent fewer women and girls are online compared to men and boys. Research also indicates that in Africa, over 40 per cent of women are not able to effectively engage with ICT tools for personal and professional activities" - UN Women, 24.04.2017

UN Women reported that they are launching a free virtual platform - We Learn - to build capacity amongst women or girls to be included in ICTs. Moreover, UNESCO, WIPO and UN Women have begun a series of expert discussions focusing on closing the gender gap throughout the science, technology and innovation (STI) cycle.


Gender, ICTs and Rural Livehoods

The e-Agriculture Community has covered a lot of news related to ICTs and Women in the past. In 2010, a forum discussion was held to discuss the role of Gender, information and communication technologies and rural livelohoods.

The participants called for government support, building capacity of women in the use and adoption of ICTs and leveraging equal access to these technologies. Read the full brief here.

Sources

  1. What is Girls in ICT Day, ITU Portal
  2. SDG 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
  3. UN Women statement on International Girls in ICT Day 2017

 

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