Gender equality is considered a critical element in achieving Decent Work for All Women and Men, in order to effect social and institutional change that leads to sustainable development with equity and growth. Gender equality refers to equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities that all persons should enjoy, regardless of whether one is born male or female.
For women the world over, information and communication technologies (ICT) can be leveraged for personal security, better access to education and jobs, financial inclusion or to access basic healthcare information. But benefits such as these rely on women having meaningful access to ICT which can be facilitated or prevented by several factors, including affordability, relevant content, skills and security.
In the context of the world of work, equality between women and men includes the following elements:
Equality of opportunity and treatment in employment
Equal remuneration for work of equal value
Equal access to safe and healthy working environments and to social security
Equality in association and collective bargaining
Equality in obtaining meaningful career development
A balance between work and home life that is fair to both women and men
Equal participation in decision-making at all levels
Three reasons why GAD matters in ICT
1. Opportunity
The Internet is a great enabler, creating unprecedented opportunities for female entrepreneurs to enter global markets for the first time. ICT provides opportunities to boost small business growth by establishing an international, level-playing field that enables all businesses, regardless of size, location or sector, to compete on an equal footing in global markets. Programmes through partnerships can help realise the opportunities ICT can offer, by boosting skilling,equipping women with digital devices and providing training that helps women teach their respective communities how to make the most of these tools. Today’s side event will highlight the importance of multistakeholder collaboration in these efforts and showcase business initiatives that are using ICT to support women’s participation in the workforce and aid financial inclusion.
2. Capacity
ICT can give women access to basic needs such as healthcare and education. The private sector plays a pivotal role in investing in community-oriented training, deploying infrastructure and delivering a wide range of ICT services to meet these needs. A recently published ICC policy paper on ICT, Policy and Sustainable Economic Development, to be shared at the event, underscores that for countries to enhance the use of enabling technology for the goal goals they must create an enabling environment for sustainable investment.
3. Understanding
Women are currently less likely than men to use or own digital technologies, with gaps larger among youth and those over 45 years old. ICT improves efficiency, enhances coordination and improves the quality of information gathered and shared for development planning. For countries to leverage ICT to promote the empowerment of women, governments need to be well-informed about how the ICT ecosystem works in practice, the barriers to access and how challenges can be overcome. ICC aims to raise awareness of the impact that policies on infrastructure, applications, services and user-engagement have on the ICT ecosystem and believes greater understanding of these issues can equip policymakers with a framework to identify appropriate policy approaches.
Given that women are usually in a disadvantaged position in the workplace compared to men, promotion of gender equality implies explicit attention to women’s needs and perspectives. At the same time, there are also significant negative effects of unequal power relations and expectations on men and boys due to stereotyping about what it means to be a male. Instead, both women and men, and boys and girls, should be free to develop their abilities and make choices – without limitations set by rigid gender roles and prejudices – based on personal interests and capacities.
The ILO has adopted an integrated approach to gender equality and decent work. This means working to enhance equal employment opportunities through measures that also aim to improve women’s access to education, skills training and healthcare – while taking women’s role in the care economy adequately into account. Examples of these include implementing measures to help workers balance work and family responsibilities, and providing workplace incentives for the provision of childcare and parental leave.
https://iccwbo.org/media-wall/news-speeches/3-reasons-ict-matters-gender-equality/?fbclid=IwAR2kN98akA1iF2fmV9VqDiyIoedvrcW86DiGhK19iZLPtwnEQVJDSJNn22I
IT Advocators 