Digital gender inclusion refers to the promotion of equal access to and participation in digital technologies and services for all individuals, regardless of gender.
The fourth consultative workshop for the development of a digital gender inclusion strategy was hosted by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in collaboration with UNESCO Pakistan. The workshop took place in Karachi.
The workshop, held at PTA’s Karachi Zonal Office, is the final in a series of consultative workshops held to gather multi-stakeholder experts’ recommendations for a strategy to reduce Pakistan’s digital gender divide. Surveys and interviews will be used to continue the consultative process for another month.
The Director of Wireless PTA and the head of the PTA’s initiative for gender inclusion in ICTs informed the participants that these workshops were held to capture the insights of experts and local communities from Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Ms. Sadaf Khan, a UNESCO consultant, led the workshop. The workshop was attended by experts from a variety of stakeholder groups. Representatives from the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), the National Incubation Centre Karachi, Careem, telecom operators, academia, the banking sector, social enterprises, women entrepreneurs, and non-governmental organisations such as the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), the Aurat Foundation, and others also attended.
PTA’s gender inclusion strategy is being developed with the assistance of UNESCO Pakistan. It aims to recommend specific policy changes and additions that can help achieve gender parity in the use of the internet, mobile phones, and digital skills in line with the International Telecommunication Union‘s 2030 goals.
This strategy will assist PTA and other public and private sector stakeholders in addressing various barriers to women’s use of mobile and ICTs and bridging Pakistan’s digital gender divide.
Digital gender inclusion refers to the promotion of equal access to and participation in digital technologies and services for all individuals, regardless of gender.
This can include efforts to ensure that women and girls have access to and are able to use digital technologies and services, as well as efforts to address the specific needs and challenges that women and girls may face in relation to digital technologies and services.