Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), in collaboration with UNESCO Pakistan, hosted a consultative workshop in Peshawar for the development of digital gender inclusion strategy.
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), in collaboration with UNESCO Pakistan, hosted a consultative workshop in Peshawar for the development of digital gender inclusion strategy.
The workshop, held at PTA’s Peshawar Zonal Office, was the first of a series of five consultative workshops being organized to collect multi-stakeholder experts’ input for a strategy to reduce digital gender divide in Pakistan. Experts from various stakeholder groups including Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa IT Board, Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), telecom operators, academia, and digital gender rights groups participated in the workshop.
Director Wireless PTA and the head of PTA’s initiative for gender inclusion in ICTs, informed the participants that workshops are being conducted to capture insights of experts and local communities. The objective is to ensure that the gender inclusion strategy is responsive to the needs of the people and can be effectively integrated into the systems that are already in place. She further added that the strategy will enable PTA to initiate a collaborative effort with stakeholders to bridge the digital gender divide in Pakistan.
The digital gender inclusion strategy is being developed with support from UNESCO Pakistan. It aims to recommend specific measures that can be initiated by PTA, with other core potential collaborators, to support women’s connectivity. The next workshops in this series are planned to be held in Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and Islamabad.
Gender equality is not only a fundamental human right. It is also a keystone of a prosperous, modern economy that provides sustainable inclusive growth. Recognising that gender equality is essential for ensuring that men and women can contribute fully for the betterment of societies and economies at large.
Today the digital transformation provides new avenues for the economic empowerment of women and can contribute to greater gender equality. The Internet, digital platforms, mobile phones and digital financial services offer “leapfrog” opportunities for all and can help bridge the divide by giving women the possibility to earn additional income, increase their employment opportunities, and access knowledge and general information. We need to seize this opportunity to foster greater gender equality in the labour market, boost economic growth and build a more inclusive, digital world.