Description:

The session proposal is hinged on the general postulate that access to information and communications technologies (ICTs) has become central to social, political, economic, and cultural life including the country’s development. But, more than twenty years after the birth of the Internet, two-thirds of the planet’s population still do not have regular access to the Internet, and a greater proportion of these unconnected global citizens are women. The internet remains a fundamental catalyst and pre-condition for growth and development in sub-Saharan Africa with large-scale potential benefits to the women as it provides life-changing opportunities such as access to health, financial services, employment opportunities and meaningfully participates and influences the governance and decision-making processes of their country. Digital inequality continues to deepen for most women and girls (GSMA, 2018). Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on women and technology provide a historic opportunity for Africa to close the digital gender divide and ensure meaningful access, use, and participation of women in the digital governance, including shaping policy and decision-making processes in the online sphere. The SDGs commit UN member states to achieve universal internet access by 2020 (Goal 9c) and to implement policies to empower women through technology (Goal 5b). This session will advance the transformational potential and outcomes of digital empowerment for women and girls, the policy constraints, and actions that must be undertaken to close the gender digital divide using case studies in Uganda, Tanzania, and Ghana.