GENDER MAINSTREAMING

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ITU to enhance gender role

Working Group on Gender Issues meets for first time

Promoting gender equality in, and through, telecommunications

From 12 to 14 June 2002, the new Working Group on Gender Issues (WGGI) met for the first time in Geneva. WGGI was formerly known as the Task Force on Gender Issues (TFGI). A decision was taken at the World Telecommunication Development Conference, held in Istanbul in March 2002, to convert the Task Force into a permanent working group of the ITU Telecommunication Development Sector (ITU-D). In his opening remarks to the meeting, Houlin Zhao, Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB), noted that the new group faced “the responsibility of building a more permanent relationship with its members, ITU staff, ITU membership, UN bodies and civil society”.

“The new Working Group on Gender Issues faces the responsibility of building a more permanent relationship with its members, ITU staff, ITU membership, UN bodies and civil society.” Houlin Zhao, Director,TSB

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WGGI’s aims are to:

• Increase awareness of the developmental impact of telecommunications on women.

• Promote mainstreaming of gender issues into telecommunication policy and programmes.

• Ensure that the benefits of telecommunications are equally available to women and men.

Mr Zhao revealed that a survey of women from all regions of the world showed striking solidarity in the belief that information and communication technologies (ICT) are critical to women for meeting their personal and professional goals, in overcoming the “digital divide”, and as entrepreneurs. This was backed up at the meeting by the fact that the attendance was greater than at any TFGI meeting.

“Ghoomar”, a colourful twirling folk dance from Rajasthan (India) performed during a reception hosted on the first day of the meeting

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Roberto Blois, ITU Deputy Secretary-General, put it succinctly to the meeting: “The digital revolution promises many opportunities, but they must be synergized to reach both women and men in the developing countries and make a difference to their individual rights.” Mr Blois will himself continue to oversee gender activities in the ITU on behalf of the Secretary-General, Yoshio Utsumi.

To meet the challenges of its new mandate, WGGI’s areas of activity, in parallel with ITU–D programmes, are:

• Regulatory reform.

• Technologies and telecommunications/ICT network development.

• E-Strategies and E-Services development.

• Economics and finance, including cost and tariffs.

• Human capacity building.

• Information dissemination and networking.

“I warmly thank the Norwegian Post and Telecommunication Authority for their generous contribution of gender expertise that will provide BDT with gender leadership and raise our expectations even higher.” Hamadoun I. Touré, BDT Director

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The new mandate is a challenge to work more closely with the entire ITU–D to implement gender initiatives in each Programme established under the Istanbul Action Plan adopted at the World Telecommunication Development Conference last March. This means that WGGI will encourage ITU–D to undertake activities that will create gender sensitive environments in regulatory bodies; take account of the gender perspective in tariff issues; develop the potential to embrace new technologies; meet human resource development needs; and concentrate on the rural areas that most need assistance.

Looking back, Hamadoun I. Touré, Director of the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), said that four years ago, “gender equality was not a password in ITU” — the Task Force on Gender Issues had only recently been established (March 1998). He added that “a gender perspective was unheard of” and that “gender awareness guidelines were unthinkable”. So TFGI has fulfilled its role of creating an environment of awareness both within ITU and throughout its membership. TFGI has, through its advocacy and activities, laid the foundations for gender issues in the telecommunication and ICT context.

“The digital revolution promises many opportunities, but they must be synergized to reach both women and men in the developing countries and make a difference to their individual rights.” Roberto Blois, ITU Deputy Secretary-General

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Mr Touré listed the former Task Force’s major accomplishments as including Gender Awareness Guidelines, an annual Gender Survey Questionnaire, the ITU-D Gender website, partnerships with other organizations and training of women operators to run a telecentre. The newly converted Working Group on Gender Issues has “the advantage of a new beginning and a new momentum not to be missed”.

Norway’s contribution of a gender expert to ITU-D for a two-year period has been hailed as a major step forward. “I warmly thank the Norwegian Post and Telecommunication Authority for their generous contribution of gender expertise that will provide BDT with gender leadership and raise our expectations even higher,” Mr Touré stated.

The meeting drafted a recommendation to the first Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), held in Geneva from 1 to 5 July 2002. In particular, the recommendation called for the inclusion of gender at all levels of the WSIS preparatory process and established a WGGI/WSIS Coordination Committee with the mandate to:

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• Encourage and promote the inclusion of gender specialists and women experts in delegations from government, non-governmental organizations and other civil society organizations to PrepCom meetings and WSIS 2003 and 2005.

• Promote the inclusion of the Millennium Declaration Goals as important aspects to be considered in the context of the information society, in particular as concerns poverty reduction goals, promotion of women’s human rights and the right to communicate, promotion of peace and security, as well as the elimination of violence against women.

• Actively highlight and promote the contribution of women in the social, economic and political life, particularly the contribution of women entrepreneurs to national economies.

Four years ago, “gender equality was not a password in ITU”...

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• Actively participate, with appropriate partners, in all activities to mainstream gender issues in the WSIS process at the global, regional and national levels, including representation at the regional preparatory conferences, sessions of PrepCom and thematic expert meetings.

• Integrate and work in partnership with the WSIS Gender Caucus.

This mandate reflects the key recommendations of the WSIS Gender Caucus at the African Preparatory Meeting for the World Summit on the Information Society, held in Bamako (Mali) in May 2002. The WSIS Gender Caucus is also working to ensure that gender dimensions are included in the process of defining and creating a Global Information Society that contributes to sustainable human development and security.

Closing the first meeting of the Working Group on Gender Issues, Mr Touré declared: “BDT is committed to developing new initiatives that take into account the needs of both women and men. We count on your guidance for innovative ideas and processes to ensure that activities undertaken for developing countries will have an impact on women as well as men to fulfil the sustainable development goals.”