Dynamic Coalition on Measuring Digital Inclusion (DC-Digital Inclusion)

Introduction

Established by UNESCO Member States in 2001, the Information for All Programme (IFAP) serves as a platform for fostering international collaboration and partnerships aimed at cultivating inclusive and sustainable Knowledge Societies. IFAP recognizes six priority areas: Information for Development, Information Literacy, Information Preservation, Information Ethics, Information Accessibility, and Multilingualism in cyberspace.

Emphasized within its newly crafted IFAP Strategic Plan for the period 2023-2029 and at the heart of IFAP's mission lie its endeavours to mainstream principles and policies for inclusive, equitable, and sustainable knowledge societies into national development plans and digital transformation processes, including employing measurement frameworks to address digital inequalities between and within countries and communities.

As a key component of inclusive digital governance and transformation, gender equality stands as a foundational principle within the proposed Dynamic Coalition's objectives. Recognizing the pervasive gender disparities that persist in digital access, literacy, and participation, the Coalition commits to integrating gender perspectives into all facets of its initiatives.

Various barriers, including unaffordable devices and data tariffs, inequalities in education and digital skills, social norms that discourage women and girls from being online, and concerns about privacy, safety, and security, prevent women and girls from accessing the internet and participating online.

Jointly with its key partners Global Digital Inclusion Partnership (GDIP) and others, we propose the establishment of a new Dynamic Coalition on applying good evidence-based approaches and digital measurement frameworks for advancing inclusive digital governance and transformation towards gender-inclusive digital ecosystems. The Coalition aims to achieve the below objectives:

1. Raise awareness of and advocating for monitoring mechanisms and frameworks that facilitate evidence-based policymaking of digital inclusion for closing digital gender inequalities.
2. Exchange on methodologies, results and good practice on the implement of evidence-based approaches and measuring digital inclusion and the digital participation of women and girls at all stages, from STEM education, to technology development and usage.
3. Share and promote accurate data collection and analysis at global, regional and national levels for advancing digital inclusion and gender equality.
4. Understand frontier technologies, particularly AI, and update measurement tools to foster inclusiveness and empowerment of women and girls in digital age. 
5. Foster opportunities for women's participation, entrepreneurship and leadership in digital transformation and shape gender-inclusive policies and capacity-building initiatives targeted at women and girls. 

The Coalition will catalyse dialogue on the UN Secretary-General’s Roadmap for Digital Cooperation and contribute to the development and implementation of the Global Digital Compact (GDC). 

This Dynamic Coalition will also be used to strengthen UNESCO’s synergies and partnerships with GDIP and all stakeholders, National and Regional IGFs, Best Practice Forums (BPFs) and other DCs to jointly advance evidence-based Internet policies and metrics at national, regional and global levels.