BDT Director Doreen Bogdan-Martin delivered the keynote address to ITU's event on ''Promoting Gender Equality for the use of ICTs in Disaster Management.'' Aligned with this year's International Women's day theme, Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world, ITU organized this online event to highlight the importance of advancing gender equality for the use of ICT in disaster risk management, present real experiences on how women have been using technologies to fight COVID-19 and on how they have been able to contribute to disaster resilience in their communities.
Ms Bogdan-Martin recognized that women have been at the centre of COVID-19 care and response efforts. Women make up the majority of frontline caregivers, are leading nations in formulating public health policy, and are mobilizing their local communities to develop and implement strategies that keep people safe.
She emphasized that yet once again, women are also bearing the brunt of the social and economic impact – ''Women make up an estimated 70% of front-line responders and the vast majority of health workers. As such, women are at increased risk for contracting COVID-19 while triaging healthcare facilities that are often filled to capacity. Their significant risk of infection is compounded by the fact that nearly 60% of women work in the informal economy, and are more likely to fall into poverty as new waves of job losses sweep through the world's economies. Without access to ICTs, many women are unable to transition to sources of online income, which leaves them even farther behind.''
Women, girls and marginalized groups are least likely to have digital technologies that are essential in disaster preparedness, response and recovery. Furthermore, with so many functions of daily life having shifted online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ms Bogdan-Martin stressed that the digital exclusion of women and girls has reached an alarming level. She drew attention to the fact that lockdown restrictions have left millions of girls and women exposed to a growing number of vulnerabilities, including cyberviolence and physical abuse.
Digital technologies can be a lifesaving tool; for example, through instant messaging services with a geolocation function, free calls to domestic abuse hotlines, or early warning alerts for impending hazards that can cause severe devastation.
Urging for greater efforts to increase access to digital technologies for the world's most vulnerable populations, Ms Bogdan-Martin stated, ''The incredible growth in ICT networks and services, including radio, satellite, and mobile, shows us that the opportunity is there.''
She encouraged the international community to make use of the worldwide focus on finding solutions to expand and improve the quality of ICTs in response to the pandemic, and connect the unconnected. She noted, ''Effective, cross-sectoral collaboration is absolutely essential to fully leverage the power of these technologies, accelerate change, bring more women and girls online, and combat the digital gender divide.''
