UNITED NATIONS, Mar 07 (APP):Closing the major gender gap in innovation and technology is the focus of the 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), which opened in New York Monday, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres saying that progress on women’s rights is “vanishing,” citing Afghanistan among other countries.
Over the next two weeks, participants from across the world – including representatives from governments, the UN, civil society and youth groups, as well as activists – will examine how gender equality, empowerment and sustainable development can be achieved in the digital era.
The meeting, known as CSW67, will also highlight online violence and other dangers women and girls face, as well as the need for quality education in the information age.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is due to arrive in New York on Tuesday, will address the commission on March 9.
In her opening remarks, CSW67 Chairperson Mathu Joyini of South Africa, said although digital technologies were rapidly transforming societies, they were also giving rise to profound new challenges that might perpetuate and deepen existing gender inequalities.
“Gender-based discrimination is a systemic problem that has been interwoven into the fabric of our political, social and economic lives, and the technology sector is no different,” she said.
“However, this is compounded when you consider the multiple factors that impact and exacerbate this inherent discrimination.”
The UN chief noted that the CSW was meeting as progress on women’s rights was vanishing – including in countries such as Afghanistan, where women and girls had been, in effect, erased from public life – and as gender equality was growing ever more distant.
“Your focus this year on closing gender gaps in technology and innovation could not be more timely. Because as technology races ahead, women and girls are being left behind,” he said.
“The math is simple: without the insights and creativity of half the world, science and technology will fulfill just half their potential,” he added.
As gender inequality was ultimately a question of power, the Secretary-General called for urgent action in three areas, starting with increasing education, income and employment for women and girls, particularly in the Global South.
Furthermore, women’s and girls’ full participation and leadership in science and technology must also be promoted.
Guterres said the international community must also create a safe digital environment for women and girls, outlining his third point. In that regard, the UN was working to advance a code of conduct for information integrity on digital platforms, aimed at reducing harm and increasing accountability.
The Secretary-General stressed that promoting women’s full contributions to science, technology and innovation was not an act of charity or a favour to women, but a “must” that benefits everyone.
“The Commission on the Status of Women is a dynamo and catalyst for the transformation we need. Together, let’s push back against misogyny, and come forward for women, girls, and our world,” he said.
The world needed women’s expertise to address complex and interlocking crises, such as climate change, conflict, poverty, hunger and water scarcity, said the President of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Korosi.
However, he noted that women were still a minority in digital information technology, computing, physics, mathematics and engineering, and accounted for less than 35 percent of the global information and communications technology workforce.
“They are 20 percent less likely than men to use the internet – but 27 times more likely to face online harassment or hate speech, when they do. New technologies, if used well, offer a strong and equalizing force to rapidly change this state of affairs,” he said in a video message.
Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, was among other senior officials who addressed the CSW opening ceremony.
She said the digital revolution offered the potential for unprecedented improvement in the lives of women and girls, and at a time when progress towards sustainable development was at risk.
“Harnessed effectively, technology and innovation, can be game-changers to catalyse poverty reduction, decrease hunger, boost health, create new jobs, mitigate climate change, address humanitarian crises, improve energy access and make entire cities and communities safer and more sustainable – benefitting women and girls,” she said.
Given the pace of change, Bahous underlined the need for “a global normative framework” to mobilize technology towards achieving gender equality. She expressed confidence that the meeting would underscore that “digital rights are women’s rights”.
The CSW has met annually since 1946, but this is the first in-person gathering since 2019, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
A special segment will be held where young people will discuss the priority themes, marking another first in the Commission’s history.
Joyini, the CSW Chairperson, also outlined some of the objectives of this latest session in her opening remarks.
“We will consider the responsibilities of governments and private sector in ensuring that adequate safeguards, norms and standards exist, and women and girls’ fundamental rights are not violated while using digital technologies,” she said.
There will be calls also to provide more opportunities for women in innovation, as well as funding and investment, and to eliminate algorithms that perpetuate and deepen existing discrimination and biases.
CSW67 will conclude on Friday, March 17, and dozens of side events are also scheduled in the interim.
They include the UN Secretary-General’s annual dialogue with women’s and feminist civil society groups, a youth forum where particular focus will be given to grassroots and community voices, and a discussion on promoting women’s and girls’ equal social, economic and political rights in Afghanistan.
Follow the PNI Facebook page for the latest news and updates.
