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ICANN is honoured to have the opportunity to take part in this important Open Consultation. It is also a timely consultation in the wake of an ever-increasing awareness of the economic and social costs of maintaining a gender divide. The approach taken in the consultation rightly moves on from just the participation of women and girls in the ICT labour market (though this of course is important) to explore their participation in decision-making processes, whether in the private or public sectors, that affect all of our lives. In terms of Internet governance, we hope this consultation, on bridging the gender divide, will enhance the role of women and girls in policy making processes at the UN, in IGOs, in governments, in the technical Community, in civil society and in businesses. There is a lot of work to be done.
ICANN, within the Internet Eco-system, has an important but limited role to play. We do though, in our policy decision making process with respect to Internet identifiers and the DNS, recognise the need to do more to encourage and foster the role of women and girls. The Survey (and Report) on Gender Diversity and Participation elaborated on below is a first, but significant, step in this process.
We look forward to discussion these important issues during the physical consultation in Geneva later in January.
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