Agenda

The round table “Enhancing CEDAW Accountability through AI Governance and Tech Value Chains,” convened at the 2026 WSIS Forum, addresses the urgent need to embed women’s human rights into the rapidly expanding digital economy. As artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies reshape societies and markets, they also risk deepening existing gender inequalities. Women remain significantly underrepresented across technology value chains - from design and development to governance - while facing disproportionate exposure to job displacement, digital exclusion, and technology-facilitated harms. 

Against this backdrop, the event brings together key stakeholders from the CEDAW Committee, WGDAWG, UN entities, governments, and industry to explore how accountability frameworks can ensure that innovation advances gender equality rather than undermines it. Central to the discussion is the need for CEDAW-compliant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as a practical tool to measure and enforce gender equality across AI systems and global tech value chains. Such KPIs are needed to translate international women's rights obligations into concrete benchmarks for States and corporations, addressing a critical gap in current governance approaches. 

The session will examine four interlinked pillars: workforce and leadership parity, algorithmic equality and data protection, supply chain due diligence, and digital access and economic inclusion. Together, these pillars provide a comprehensive framework to tackle systemic discrimination, promote women’s equal and inclusive participation and leadership, and ensure equal access to digital opportunities. 

By leveraging the unique convergence of global AI governance dialogues at WSIS, the event aims to catalyse partnerships, contribute to shaping emerging regulatory frameworks, and position CEDAW as a cornerstone of rights-based AI governance.  Ultimately, it seeks to advance understanding of practical pathways toward gender-responsive digital transformation, while underscoring the need to safeguard the rights of women and girls in evolving technological landscapes.