Gender and ICT

This publication, jointly produced by UNDP Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) and the Association for Progressive Communications Women’s Networking Support Program (APC WNSP), looks at information and communication technology (ICT) for development through a gender lens and discusses ICT within a gender equality framework. Its premise is that getting access to ICT potentially offers a number of benefits for women, including access to information; however, women are mainly viewed as consumers of ICT in a male-dominated technology-generation culture. According to the document, it is necessary for women to be ICT producers, developers and decision makers, as well. This e-Primer provides a gender perspective on issues of ICT policies, access and control, education, training and skill development, and content development. It introduces a framework to integrate gender in ICT for development and to empower women.

In its "Issues and Potential Solutions" section, the document uses gender as the cross-cutting perspective for examining evidence garnered from existing projects on topics including, among others, industry and labour; content language; power and decision-making, freedom of expression, privacy and security; and trafficking, pornography and censorship.

This e-Primer also contains policy recommendations for creating gender-inclusive development strategies and integrating a gender perspective into national ICT policies. Authors provide a set of "key issues to consider" with the following inclusion strategies:

• "Gender representation at all levels of policy and
  decision-making; specific attention to
  rural areas; positive discrimination in
  training and capacity building for women;
  and gender disaggregated statistics.
• Distinct goals and strategies with regard to
  women and girls in each sector, involving
  them as key actors and not only as
  beneficiaries.
• Multi-service delivery models with an
  offline-online mix; telecentres as
  community access points; human interface,
  preferably with women managers at service
  delivery points; and piggybacking on
  existing facilities and institutions.
• Gender-specific content; participation of
  women in process and content design;
  content in local language specific to local
  culture; taking into account cultural factors
  impacting women’s access to community
  areas; and processes streamlined to
  account for women’s situation and needs.
• Technology mixes tailored to context for
  maximum value delivery at low costs.
• Where appropriate, strategic use of ICTs
  in social sector policies, e.g. health,
  education, and governance for wider,
  deeper and more locally-adapted reach
  of services."

The concluding analysis suggests the following policy-directed recommendations:
ensure that ICT governance and policy frameworks enable full and equal participation; ensure that all ICT initiatives incorporate a gender perspective; ensure that every woman has the right to affordable access; and ensure that all education and training programmes promote gender awareness.

The publication is part of the series of e-Primers for the Information Economy, Society and Polity. This series details the concepts, issues and trends surrounding the information economy, society and polity. It intends to raise awareness and help policy makers and planners understand the relevance of ICT for development, by explaining technical jargon in simple terms.