Archived Newsroom • Press Release |
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ITU, UN Women announce new global awards for outstanding
work in technology for gender equality
GEM-TECH awards recognize leaders, organizations using the power of
technology to drive change
Geneva, 14 July 2014 – ITU and UN Women are partnering
to launch a new global technology award that recognizes outstanding
contributions from women and men in leveraging the potential of information
and communication technologies (ICTs) to promote gender equality.
The annual GEM-TECH Awards will be conferred on seven winners from
government, the private sector, academia and civil society at ITU’s
Plenipotentiary Conference, which will be held in Busan,
Korea from 20 October - 7 November. Winners will travel to Busan to accept
their award and join a global celebration on October 21 promoting the power
of ICTs to transform lives.
Online nominations are open until 11:59 CET on 5 September, 2014 at
www.itu.int/gem-tech-awards, with winners to be notified by 5
October. ITU encourages men and women working in the ICT sector to nominate
their colleagues – or themselves – with the final seven winners to be
selected by a committee of experts from ITU and UN Women.
The awards will be presented by ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun I.
Touré and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka as part of a
day-long programme of activities around gender issues.
The initiative comes in the wake of the disclosure of ‘diversity’ figures
by major tech companies, including Google, Facebook, Yahoo and Linked In,
which reveal that, across the board, the number of women in tech jobs is
well under 20%, with the percentage of women in leadership roles not much
better – reflecting a global lack of women coming into the ICT field.
“ICTs are the most powerful tool we have ever had to make a difference
to the lives of today’s and tomorrow’s women, and to build a more equitable
world for all,” said ITU Secretary-General Dr Hamadoun I. Touré. “This new
award will provide much deserved global recognition for some of the many
outstanding gender champions – both female and male – who are driving
exciting, innovative and effective ICT and gender initiatives.”
The 2015 GEM-TECH awards have been launched in the context of
commemorations for the 20-year anniversary of the UN Beijing Platform for
Action, which emphasized the importance of ICTs for women's empowerment and
the achievement of gender equality.
The awards are one of the first results of a new Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) between ITU and UN Women that provides for increased
cooperation between the two UN agencies in areas including improving women’s
access to, and engagement with, ICTs; enhancing women’s involvement in ICT
policy-making; and promoting the power of ICTs in future UN priority action
areas, including the post-2015 framework for sustainable development.
“ICTs can and should be a game-changer for girls and women around the
world, providing them with avenues for empowerment and for exercising their
rights,” said UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. “We must
be deliberate in making this happen and these awards celebrate those that
are leading this charge.”
ITU is already active in the field of gender and technology, particularly
through its global
‘Girls in ICT Day’ event, which takes place annually on
the fourth Thursday in April, raising awareness of the advantages and
opportunities offered by tech careers to a new generation of girls and young
women. Prominent actor and advocate Geena Davis serves as ITU Special Envoy
on Women and Girls in ICT.
ITU estimates a global skills shortfall of over two million ICT jobs in
the coming ten years. With digital technologies now pervading every
business sector, girls and young women who learn coding, apps development
and computer science will have a significant advantage over their
non-tech-trained peers, regardless of the field they eventually choose to
work in. “Empowering girls and young women to fulfil their potential
through ICTs will benefit not only young women and girls themselves, but
entire societies and their economies,” said ITU’s Dr Touré.
UN Women, the lead UN agency on gender equality and women’s empowerment
is pursuing ICTs as a critical cross-cutting issue across all areas of its
work. In the tech field, results can already be seen in combatting violence
against women through mobile apps that map unsafe spaces; providing improved
access to employment, markets and financing through digital literacy and ICT
skills development, information systems and online banking; promoting
knowledge and training opportunities through the
Knowledge Gateway on Women’s
Economic Empowerment; and increasing women’s political
participation and advocacy for through social media mobilization.
Find out more about ITU’s Girls in ICT Day through stories, pictures and
videos on the ITU Girls in ICT
Portal.
Follow the discussion over Twitter: #GEMTechAwards
For more information, please contact:
Sarah Parkes
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information, ITU
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Oisika Chakrabarti
Senior Communication and Media Specialist, UN Women
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About ITU
ITU is the leading United Nations agency for information and
communication technology. For nearly 150 years, ITU has coordinated the
shared global use of the radio spectrum, promoted international cooperation
in assigning satellite orbits, worked to improve communication
infrastructure in the developing world, and established the worldwide
standards that foster seamless interconnection of a vast range of
communications systems. From broadband networks to new-generation wireless
technologies, aeronautical and maritime navigation, radio astronomy,
satellite-based meteorology and converging fixed-mobile phone, Internet and
broadcasting technologies, ITU is committed to connecting the world.
www.itu.int
About UN Women
UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the
empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was
established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. UN
Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving
gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design
laws, policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards.
It stands behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life,
focusing on five priority areas: increasing women’s leadership and
participation; ending violence against women; engaging women in all aspects
of peace and security processes; enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and
making gender equality central to national development planning and
budgeting. UN Women also coordinates and promotes the UN system’s work in
advancing gender equality. www.unwomen.org