BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin participated in a panel discussion held by the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) Empower Women, Power Trade Initiative on ''Creating Space for Women In Trade During Covid-19.''
Distinguished participants included H.E. Mrs Khemmani Pholsena, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Lao PDR; Ms Dorothy Tembo, Deputy Executive Director, International Trade Centre (ITC); Ms Dorothy Tuma, Chair Emeritus, East African Women in Business Platform (EAWBIP); Mr Nitin Madan, Technical Advisor, Women's World Banking; Ms Simonetta Zarrilli, Chief of Trade, Gender and Development Programme, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD); and Ms Annette Ssemuwemba, Deputy Executive Director, Executive Secretariat for the EIF at the WTO.
Ms Bogdan-Martin described that digital gender gap is particularly wide in LDCs, where only around 1 in 7 women is using the Internet, compared with more than 1 in 4 men. While discussing ITU's support for women entrepreneurs in LDCs, she shed light on ITU's work that seeks to bridge the digital divide while simultaneously addressing the gendered aspects of the divide.
ITU prioritizes work to develop tools for effective policy, legal and regulatory and market environments for the telecommunication/ICT sector, in a way that incorporates gender perspectives. ''The gender-friendly digital policies we create today, can increase women's engagement and participation in the digital economy in the future,'' said Ms Bogdan-Martin.
She noted that policies that are linked to digital access and the skills, such as those that develop digital literacy, facilitate web-based female entrepreneurship, and empower women financially through innovative digital finance tools and e-governance, can open a wide range of opportunities for women.
Highlighting ITU's recent collaboration with EIF, Ms Bogdan-Martin mentioned that through this initiative, hundreds of government officials in partner countries will gain tools to develop and implement more gender-responsive ICT policies and thereby mainstream gender perspectives in their administrations.
She emphasized the importance of a multi-stakeholder approach for creating shared ownership of national policies. ITU and EIF's project also aims to implement a consultation mechanism that will bring stakeholders together to support gender-responsive ICT policies, including with the participation of women involved in decision-making.
Ms Bogdan-Martin elaborated that ITU and EIF's collaborative work is currently reaching at least 800 women across partner countries (Ethiopia, Burundi and Haiti) and spanning a range of important business sectors and value chains. In Ethiopia, this work centers on textiles and apparel; in Burundi, agriculture; and in Haiti, the project assists women-owned businesses and women workers to pivot to digital.
Reflecting on her own career as a woman in the technology sector, Ms Bogdan-Martin said “for me, there's simply no field with more potential for social impact.'' She urged the international community to ''pull out all stops to ensure women are inspired and empowered to take their place as equal leaders in the global digital transformation.''
