47th Session of the United Nation's Commission on the Status of Women, March
2003

Statement from the African Women's Caucus on African Women and Information and
Communication Techonologies (ICTs)

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson. My name is Nish-Muthoni Matenjwa. I work for ABANTU
for Development, an African NGO with an international presence and also
represent the African Women's Caucus for the CSW.

Despite efforts to review ICT international regulations, African women's
perspectives have not always been taken into consideration. The potential for
ICTs to contribute to human development in Africa is negatively impacted by the
uneven spread of ICTs and the differential effects that their diffusion
produces in economic and social structures. In addition, African women face
cultural, economic and social challenges tht limit their access to, use of and
benefits from ICTs.

During the African Regional Preparatory Meeting for the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) held in Bamako, Mali in July 2002, the following
concerns about African women and ICTs were identified.

The marginalisation of Africa is characterised by increased poverty, lack of
infrastructure, deepening rural/urban disparaties and high illiteracy. African
women represent the majority of the poor and illiterate.

The few complete ICT and telecommunications policies in Africa are not
gender-responsive. African women continue to be seen as passive receivers of
information rather than actors able to contribute to decision and
policy-making.

The use of the Internet to perpetuate violence against women and as a platform
for hate speech is of concern. The impact of the Internet on the proliferation
of pornography must be addressed. There is also an awareness of the dillema of
calling for government action against this. Proposing control on these areas
could enable censorship to be extended to limit freedom of expression in other
areas.

Privacy, security and Internet rights are also issues of concern for African
women. Having secure on-line spaces where women, free from harassment can enjoy
freedom of expression have also recently been threatened by the events of
9/11/2001.

Engagement on the regulation of ICTs is thus critical for African women. But the
level of awareness about ICTs is still low. Most African countries lack the
infrastructure to engage in the Information Society. The high cost of ICT
training further aggravates the problem as few African women can afford
training in the new technologies.

The weakness in representation of African concerns in interational regulatory
processess is also very low. The number of African women's organisations
involved is even lower.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The Bamako meeting for the WSIS urged African states "to ensure better gender
balance in ICT use while instituting specific programmes that address the
needs of women, particularly those aimed at rural and disenfrenchised areas.

Considering the critical role that women play in society and their potential
contribution to developing the Information Society, the Gender Caucus, during
the Bamako meeting, urged the UN system and agencies including the ITU, UNDP,
UNECA, UNESCO and UNIFEM to ensure the following:

1. Continue working towards ratifying treaties and protocols that recognise
women's human rights, including the right to communication and include
provisions for supporting implementation of these in all action plans including
those arising from the WSIS process.

2. Develop gender-dissagregated data on women' participation in the Information
Society and to caryy out research to identify impacts of exclusion and
opportunties for increased participation.

3. Apply gender analysis frameworks in the development of national, regional and
international policies and strategies.

4. Ensure that there is gender equality in education, specifically by providing
opporunties for women and girls to access fair and equitable participation in
science and technology education at all levels.

5. Support capacity-building and training to raise awareness of the gendered
nature of the Information Society.

6. Strengthen co-operation among UN agencies working on gender and ICTs
including support for the working relationship established between the ITU,
UNDP and UNIFEM.

7. Reform decision-making processes to ensure good governance and greater
accountablity to all stakeholders.

8. Ensure licensing for women's intellectual property rights.

9. Apply gender-analysis frameworks in the development of national, regional and
international policies and strategies.

We urge that these recommednations are taken into account during this meeting as
they are key and integral to African women's advancement.

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson.

...........ENDS.......

Please note that we only had 5 mintues to make the presentation. While working
and editing the statement , we concentrated on what we saw as key issues for
the CSW. There are, of couse, many other issues we could have focussed on.

Regards.

Nish-Muthoni

_______________________________________

wsis-gc is a listserve set up by the WSIS Gender Caucus, a global group of
women and men working on gender equality and Information Society issues. It
has been established to circulate information in preparation for the World
Summit on the Information Society, which takes place in two phases -- WSIS
2003, December 2003 in Geneva and WSIS 2005 in Tunis.
To learn more about the WSIS Gender Caucus check out the web-site at:
http://www.wougnet.org/WSIS/wsisgc.html
For the WSIS Gender Caucus archives, go to:
http://www.lists.kabissa.org/mailman/listinfo/wsis-gendercaucus