Day 0 Event #105 Women In IGF

Summary

This discussion focused on the challenges and opportunities for women and girls in internet governance and digital technology, particularly in Africa. Participants highlighted the significant gender digital divide, with statistics showing lower internet connectivity rates for women compared to men in Africa. Key barriers identified included affordability, lack of digital skills, cultural obstacles, and issues with digital identity.

Several initiatives to address these challenges were discussed. The UN Economic Commission for Africa is running programs like the Africa Girl Recording Camp to provide digital skills training to young women. The Internet Society and its Foundation are working on improving access, digital literacy, and safety for women online. Organizations like GirlHype are focused on bridging the digital divide through coding classes and infrastructure improvements in underserved areas.

Participants emphasized the importance of including women in policymaking and internet governance processes to ensure their perspectives are represented. The need for gender-responsive policies and mentorship programs was highlighted. Speakers also noted the economic benefits of closing the gender digital divide, including potential GDP growth and job creation.

The discussion concluded with a call for collective action across sectors and borders to dismantle barriers holding women back in the digital space. Participants stressed the urgency of addressing these issues to ensure women are not left behind as digital transformation accelerates globally.

Keypoints

Major discussion points:

– The gender digital divide, particularly in Africa, with statistics showing lower internet access and connectivity for women compared to men

– Barriers facing women in accessing digital technologies, including affordability, digital skills gaps, cultural barriers, and lack of digital identity

– Initiatives and programs aimed at increasing women’s digital skills and participation, such as training programs and entrepreneurship support

– Policy recommendations to address the gender digital divide, including improving access, digital literacy, online safety, and representation in decision-making

– The importance of infrastructure development to enable women’s digital participation, especially in rural areas

Overall purpose:

The goal of this discussion was to examine the challenges facing women and girls in accessing and benefiting from digital technologies, particularly in Africa, and to explore solutions and initiatives to increase women’s participation in internet governance and the digital economy.

Tone:

The tone was primarily serious and focused, with speakers presenting statistics and discussing challenges. However, there were also notes of optimism and determination, particularly when discussing initiatives and potential solutions. The tone became more personal and emotional towards the end, with expressions of gratitude and commitment to the cause.

Speakers

– Anja Gengo: IGF Secretariat representative

– Sarah Armstrong: Speaking on behalf of the Internet Society and Internet Society Foundation

– Baratang Miya: Founder of GirlHype, organizer of Women Internet Governance Forum summit

– Mactar Seck: Senior Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)

Additional speakers:

– Toko Miya: CEO of GirlHype (speech read by Baratang Miya)

The discussion focused on the challenges and opportunities for women and girls in internet governance and digital technology, with a particular emphasis on Africa. Participants from various organisations, including the IGF Secretariat, Internet Society, GirlHype, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), contributed their insights and experiences.

Gender Digital Divide in Africa

A significant gender digital divide was highlighted as a primary concern, particularly in Africa. Mactar Seck from UNECA provided striking statistics, noting that while women constitute 50.5% of Africa’s population, only 30% of women are connected to the internet compared to 44% of men. This disparity underscores the urgent need to address barriers to women’s digital inclusion.

The speakers identified several key obstacles:

1. Affordability: The cost of mobile phones and internet access remains prohibitively high for many women in Africa.

2. Digital Skills Gap: There is a significant lack of digital literacy and skills among women, hindering their ability to fully participate in the digital economy.

3. Infrastructure: Inadequate digital infrastructure, especially in rural areas, limits women’s access to the internet and digital technologies.

4. Cultural Barriers: Societal norms and expectations can impact women’s confidence and approach to technology from an early age.

5. Digital Identity: Mactar Seck highlighted that out of 400 million people in Africa without any legal form of identity, 60% are women, further limiting their access to various services.

Baratang Miya, founder of GirlHype, introduced Toko Miya, the current CEO of GirlHype, who provided more specific insights into the challenges faced by women in Africa. These included limited access to devices, high data costs, and inadequate infrastructure, particularly in rural areas. Baratang also shared a personal observation about the difference in approach between boys and girls when faced with technical challenges, noting that girls often hesitate due to societal expectations.

Economic Impact of Women’s Digital Inclusion

The speakers unanimously agreed on the substantial economic benefits of closing the gender digital divide. Mactar Seck emphasised that excluding women from digital access results in significant GDP losses. Sarah Armstrong, speaking on behalf of Sally Wentworth, the CEO of the Internet Society who was unable to attend, reinforced this point, stating that women’s digital participation can boost economies and drive innovation.

Baratang Miya stressed the need to empower women entrepreneurs in digital markets. Sarah Armstrong further highlighted social enterprises as a promising opportunity for women’s economic participation, citing a recent report that social enterprises created 200 million jobs in the current year.

Initiatives to Promote Women’s Digital Inclusion

The discussion showcased various initiatives aimed at increasing women’s digital skills and participation:

1. UNECA’s Africa Girl Recording Camp: This programme targets women and girls aged 12 to 25, providing digital skills training in robotics, AI, 3D printing, and coding. UNECA has also established a center for AI research in Brazzaville, Congo, and a STEAM center in Rwanda.

2. Internet Society and Foundation: They offer grants and training programmes focused on improving access, digital literacy, and online safety for women.

3. GirlHype: The organisation works on digital literacy and infrastructure improvements in schools, particularly targeting underserved areas. Baratang Miya shared an example of implementing a coding program in a rural school in Limpopo, South Africa, highlighting the infrastructure challenges they faced.

4. IGF Women’s Summit: Anja Gengo from the IGF Secretariat mentioned this initiative to increase women’s engagement in internet governance discussions.

5. Zatna: Baratang Miya mentioned Zatna’s contribution to cybersecurity skills training for girls.

Policy and Representation

The speakers agreed on the critical importance of including women’s perspectives in internet governance and policymaking. They noted that women are currently underrepresented in these roles, which perpetuates structural barriers to women’s digital participation. Baratang Miya emphasised the need for gender-responsive policies in digital transformation.

Mactar Seck highlighted the Global Digital Compact objectives, which focus on inclusion and closing the digital divide. The speakers concurred that implementing these objectives could significantly contribute to addressing the gender digital divide.

Challenges and Future Directions

Several unresolved issues were identified, including:

1. Addressing cultural barriers limiting women’s digital participation in some regions

2. Developing specific strategies to make digital devices and internet access more affordable for women

3. Increasing funding and support for women entrepreneurs in digital markets

4. Improving online safety and reducing cyberbullying/harassment of women

The discussion concluded with a call for collective action across sectors and borders to dismantle barriers holding women back in the digital space. Participants stressed the urgency of addressing these issues to ensure women are not left behind as digital transformation accelerates globally.

Anja Gengo closed the session by mentioning an upcoming discussion on women and girls in Afghanistan who lack basic rights to education, highlighting the broader context of gender inequality issues. Baratang Miya expressed gratitude to Anja Gengo for her commitment to the Women in IGF Summit.

In summary, the discussion provided a comprehensive overview of the challenges facing women in the digital space, particularly in Africa, from basic access and identity issues to skills development and representation in governance. It highlighted the economic imperative of closing the gender digital divide and showcased various initiatives aimed at empowering women in the digital economy. The strong consensus among speakers on key issues suggests a clear recognition of the challenges and potential solutions, which could facilitate coordinated efforts and policy development in this critical area.

Anja Gengo: Baratang for years on better engagement and inclusion of girls and women in in the IGF and addressing of those topics and I’m glad that as a result of that collaboration is the Women’s Summit. So very shortly I hope we will hear from of course Baratang Mia as well as from Elisabeth Kalitsirom-Walle as our co- moderators and then I hope that with Toko the audio issues will be resolved. Toko is the CEO of Girl Hype Women Who Code. We’re very lucky here to have a person that has been a great I think focal point for global engagement in internet governance given that the ECA was the secretariat for a very successful African IGF just several weeks ago. So we’re here from Makhtar Sekh, Senior Economic Affairs Officer at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. After that we’ll hear from Horace Chimpere, founder Herford Tech. Sarah Armstrong is with us from the Internet Society. Zanive Asare will be also joining us, Vice President and Head of Public Policy Africa Yangon. And then most of this session will be reserved for an open dialogue and discussion focusing on how to better engage women and girls in internet governance. What would be very important for this forum to hear is especially from the backgrounds and the communities you are coming from to tell us what are the good practices but also not so good practices with respect to gender equality, overall equity and position generally speaking of women and girls in the digital environment. So without further ado I would like to ask our technicians can we try again to see if we can hear Toco speaking. I’ll just give a minute. Toko, maybe you can try to unmute yourself. I think we’re still experiencing technical issues, so if we don’t mind, perhaps we can start from what we have here in the room. So Maktar, I won’t put you on the spot at the beginning, but I know you’re also a great advocate for gender equality, women inclusion, and speaking always a lot about the importance of having women and girls with active role and equal role in these processes on Internet governance, which is not our reality. So from your perspective and from the perspective of the ECA, can you share maybe about what are your observations, what is your work about, what do you see now, what do you think the global community should focus on to ensure that gender digital divide is finally closed?

Mactar Seck: Thank you, Tanja, for this opening session. I think it’s very important when you want to take the opportunity of the digital economy to take into consideration the role of women and girls in this digital space. Why? You know in Africa we have 50.5% of the population are women, and when you look at this access to Internet, we have 30% of women connected to Internet, 31% connected compared to 44% men. The gap is high. And we have seen also since the… From 2023 up to 2024, we have a decrease of the women connected to the internet. When you look at the global connectivity in Africa, in 2023 we were at 37%. And October 2014-2024, we are at 38%. We have an increase of 1% of the connectivity from 2023-2024. And in the meantime, we have the gap between men and women increase, because the gap now is at 30%, 1.3%, compared to 10% before. Why? We have several reasons for that. First, there is an issue of affordability for women in Africa to own their mobile phone. We have also the digital skills barrier, language barrier for several women in the continent. We have also cultural barrier in the continent. And also the issue of digital identity. In Africa, we have almost 400 million, more than 400 million without any legal form of identity. And among the 400 million, 60% are women. And this 60% doesn’t have any access to any service. Land service, social service, administration service, higher education service, because they don’t have a legal identity. It is a problem. Why we at the UNECA, we try to find a solution by several initiatives. It is one. IGF, it is a good… forum to discuss on this idea and I think since we have IGF we have seen a lot of progress in the connectivity among the women because we start very low when we have an IGF of 2.6 percent and now we have a 30 something percent. This is something big progress on access to women and also what we need also to provide access to women because it is an issue of development. In developing countries excluding women on access of digital will provide a loss of 1.5 trillion dollars on the GDP. It’s a lot and the government should understand they need to provide access to the women and girls in this digital era. At ICA we have several programs. We have one program called Africa Girl Recording Camp. What is this program? This program targets women and girls aged from 12 to 25 years to give them digital skills on the robotic, on AI, on what call it on 3D printing, on coding. How can they use a technology to resolve their problem and this program was launched in 2022 and around 40,000 girls participate in this program, get this training. 308 projects have been developed by young girls and these projects are very innovative because you know technology is not something you need. You have to learn at the beginning. Some girl doesn’t have any knowledge skills in technology when they join the program and after two weeks they come up with a key project initiative. They know how to code, how to use a 3D printing. how to develop application on AI. And this is something showing Africa can play, women in Africa can play a key role in this for industrial revolution. Also, another program, it is to build the skill of the women entrepreneurship. We have one program with Alibaba on FinTech. We call this program Africa Women Tech. How to build the capacity of women in the technology side, the entrepreneur women in the technology side. And this program now is issued to five country. And the objective is by 2026 to reach all African country. I think there are a lot of things. Also, on the financial inclusion, we have seen a lot of progress on women to access to the bank account. But there is still some gap where we have to sort it out quickly. If you want to reach the sustainable development goal. When we talk about sustainable development goal, we already adopted, I think, two months ago in September, this Global Digital Compact. And the Global Digital Compact has five objective. And two objective, all objective are focused on women. Because when we talk about connectivity, objective one, it is to close this digital divide. Digital divide means gender digital divide also. When we talk about objective two on inclusion and the benefits of digital technology for all, women are an important role to play. Because we need to increase everybody in this digital information society. And as you know, Africa has to create around 625 million job by 2030. And all this job need a technology component. And women have a lot of opportunity to be part on this job create. When we talk about security. on objective 3. Security is important because you know we have a some issue in Africa we have a lot of lady now on the digital space and they are victim from this cyber crime and they don’t want to say it yeah it is a problem a lot of people a lot of lady woman get attack on internet but they don’t talk about this for cultural barrier and we need also to do to bridges is a cultural barrier for people to protect them on this internet on the internet on this information society also to give them more confidence to talk about their problem facing in this digital technology when you talk about this data sharing also a very important objective for of the global digital compact data sharing woman also as our big role there because you know almost to we have a 30% connected man woman 43 men but the issue is when we go to social media in Facebook it is a 50-50 a 50% of the woman connected to be in social media and they share a lot of information we need to educate them what kind of information you have to share in Facebook hmm what kind of information you have to get in in Facebook in the social media for Twitter they are not very active because they are only 3% now but we need also to educated our woman how and they have to share govern their data it’s a very important and the last one it is when we talk about this governance of the artificial intelligence yeah it is very important where we can develop the skill of this woman and we to be key actor we need to create a lot of job for woman and there is a possibility now with this AI technology to create this job in the continent While we have several activities also at the UNECA, one is we already established a center of research of artificial intelligence in Brazzaville, Congo, and this also will help to build the skill, develop the research for women in the continent. And we are establishing now a STEAM center in Rwanda for the women also in the early stage now can start developing their skills on digital. To protect them, we are also working with the government of Congo to build this African center of cyber security to protect all the African citizens in this digital era. It is some key element I would like to highlight today, and we have as an initiative, and thank you very much for inviting UNECA here, and we also commend the work you have done at the IGF Secretariat because since 2005, a lot has been done, and we have seen your motivation, your dynamism in the continent, and we organized a successful IGF in Ethiopia two years ago, and I think it is a testimony that the IGF Secretariat is doing very well, and congratulations for all the work done. Thank you very much.

Anja Gengo: Well, thank you very much, Makhtar. First of all, I want to thank you for setting the framework for this discussion. You’ve shared some very important numbers and statistics, some alarming numbers, but also some on a more positive note that we are making a change, especially in the past 20 years. I’m also happy to hear that you’re putting us in a framework of what could be the next advancement for all of us, which is the implementation of the recently agreed Global Digital Compact at the level… of the member states. I hope that we can expand that into a very important momentum we are now, which are the preparations for the 20 years review of the World Summit on the Information Society, where the concept of gender equality online and closing gender-based digital divide is also central and really cross-cuts the action lines. So I hope we will hear also about that part and I’m very, very happy that the person who gathered us all here finally made it. So welcome Baratang. I’m sure we are, you see, we are meeting one challenge at a time. We have Baratang now here. I’m sure soon we will have colleagues online joining us by audio here in this room because unfortunately still we cannot hear them. Baratang, I will now give the floor back to you As our moderator and the chair, we’ve heard some very important statements from Maktar, something that you know by heart because you are living this topic, first of all, through your work, but also through just your work with the community and continuous engagement. And I want to congratulate you on organizing traditionally this session. This is what I said at the beginning, where we all come, as I said, really with great honor, but also with great responsibility given the topic and the fact that we are still leaving behind many women and girls while the technology is rapidly going forward. So we’ve heard from Maktar. I spoke quite a lot, but we also have Sarah here, so I will give back the floor to you. Okay.

Baratang Miya: Thank you, Anja. I have to say I can always count on Maktar and Anja. I’m very sorry for being late and last night I had a call with Maktar about the session and he said to me, Baratang, don’t be late. And as the universe heard it, I was late. I’m so sorry. Your excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor again to welcome you to the Women Internet Governance Forum. summit here in Riyadah. This is our third session. I think Magda spoke about it. And this session is only successful because UNECA and UN Secretariat is really committed to it. When I say commitment, I mean they make sure that they fund the women to come to the session. They make sure that I get all the support I need to get speakers, to get people to sit on board. And the youth, some of the women that were youth, have now moved up and are now speakers on our panel, which is very good. So I must say your support is a testament to your commitment, Anya. I remember when I discussed the session with you earlier on that you said, I’m committed to helping you. And it’s really been three years of doing that. And it’s something that I’m really proud of. And Magda, your commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion of women in this space is something I value. And it goes further than this, because I work with you in Africa, and I see what you are doing for digital public infrastructure and for everything. And Sarah, I know we contacted you last minute, and you made sure you sit here. And that shows a commitment to the ecosystem that people want to change, and women can be on the leadership. I’m not going to take long, because I want more speaking. But for me, it’s your kindness and generosity is always appreciated as people who are here. But I always think of what Malala Yousaf once said. He said, one child, one teacher, one book, one plan can change the world. It is a very simple statement. But if you think about it, for us as women, that’s what we live with daily. It might be a seat on the table on the Internet Governance Forum, but we need more women. And the other thing that I take with is what the Secretary General said at the GDC summit, he said no one should be left behind. Now we are going to leave lots of people behind unless we have women on a seat, unless we have women contributing on policy writing. So putting together a panel was meant to make sure that today, as we are sitting here, we have those connections of one woman, one connection, one idea that can change the internet governance landscape and make sure that we are creating a brighter future and that’s inclusive for women. Thank you. I don’t know where to take because you spoke a lot. Okay, and I’ll give back, hand over to Sarah.

Sarah Armstrong: Hello, now? Okay, good. Good morning and good afternoon or good evening to anyone joining us online. My name is Sarah Armstrong and I’m speaking on behalf of the Internet Society as well as the Internet Society Foundation. We are two different organizations. The Internet Society Foundation is a supporting organization of the Internet Society. Many people may know us already as ISOC or the ISOC Foundation. So I’m here actually for our CEO, Sally Wentworth. She got delayed, as happens. There are just times where your planes decide they’re not gonna get you where you wanna go when you wanna go there. So under those circumstances, she asked me if I would please join the panel and I am very happy to do so, but she does send her regards. So I’d like to speak a little bit also on more statistics to build on my colleague here and talk about the problem, but also, obviously, talk about some of the solutions. And I’d like to speak specifically in addition. to the solutions of the Internet Society and the Internet Society Foundation have to addressing this issue, to speak about a direction forward. So, I want to start by sharing our vision statement. The vision statement for the Internet Society and the Internet Society Foundation is, the Internet is for everyone. Well, yes, for everyone, but we have a long way to go. It’s especially an issue with women, as we know, and we’ve heard already. I don’t have to tell you that there are so many more men right now than women who are involved in the Internet in all kinds of ways, and we’re really trying to change that. It’s really holding back society to not have the women as involved as they could or should be. So, as we’ve heard, there are more men than women on the Internet, and this is particularly prominent in low-income countries. So, that’s a target for a lot of the work that we do. According to the Women in the Digital Economy, which some people may know as YDEF, ensuring women can fully participate in the global digital economy, entire economies will benefit in terms of a higher GDP, stronger workforce, and higher levels of innovation. So, there’s a real reason why this is about not just empowering the women, but helping to really add to the value of the community and the things that they all can contribute together. So, we also have a report that says the gender digital divide has a direct and negative effect on global development and inhibits global goals for creating inclusive societies and economies. So, we need to make changes and close this gender digital divide. It’s important. So, as I said, ISOC and the Foundation are both working to do that. In many cases, the work that we’re doing is focusing on training, because that’s so important, is to get women into environments where they can learn skills. We have an example where the Internet Society did a training for women in Mali, and in that case they discovered that these women had never had opportunities to learn to do any sort of work, the real hard skills work of how you create Internets, splice cables, configure a network, all that type of thing. And so we are addressing that through training. And we also have a lot of other programs that do that, and we’re making a real effort to make these programs more inclusive of women and more targeting of women because of what we’re talking about here and the impact that they can make on overall communities, overall economies. In addition, the Foundation, which is an organization that funds other organizations to do this type of work, we have many grants in many countries where our organizations, our partner organizations are really out there doing a lot of training and encouraging women to be involved in providing opportunities otherwise not be available. So I encourage you to look at both the Internet Society and the Internet Society Foundation websites to see all the different programs we have. And what’s interesting with the Foundation, the applications that we’re getting, we’re starting to see more people who want to use their program funding to target women. So this is all really encouraging to see in light of the environment that we’re working in and the environment that I’ve described with some of these statistics. And we also at ISOC and the Foundation are making one of our 2030 goals to bring in an affordable and affordable, resilient, reliable internet, and we want to make sure that we do this with women in mind because we know that women are important for the reasons that I’ve stated to be involved in helping to really augment countries in the digital age. And so we’re really focusing on women for the next five-year strategy that we’ve developed, and this is a strategy that’s both for the Internet Society and the Internet Society Foundation. We are looking specifically at connecting women and focusing on social enterprises. That is an area that we feel is important. It’s a real sustainable effort, or excuse me, anchor for the community, and according to the 2024 Global Social Enterprises Report, social enterprises created in 2024 200 million jobs. So this is important. It’s a good, important place for us to focus. So those are some of the areas that the Internet Society and the Internet Society Foundation are focused, and those are the statistics and the issues that we are addressing with our focus. And then I’d like to just turn quickly to looking at policy, since when we’re here, we talk a lot about policy recommendations. So again, quoting YDEF, their report, they are recommending to close the gender digital divide that they focus, or we focus, on five different areas. First, improved access to affordable devices and online experiences. Second, increased availability of relevant products and tools. So this goes to all the things that we’ve just heard about. Elevating digital literacy and skills, an area I’ve just spoken more about. enhancing safety and security, and the fifth is generating data and insights. And I think we can all agree that these are important places for us to focus, so not just that women have more opportunities, but that the communities can benefit from the women in their communities and all that they have to offer. So in closing, thank you for your attention. I want to say that still over one-third of the world’s population is not connected, which translates to about 2.6 billion people, and women and girls are the most affected by this situation. So we need to acknowledge this, work together, and meaningfully empower women in the internet governance spaces to bring their perspective to internet governance and to push for change and make this change happen. So there’s a lot of work to do. We’ve started. We’re working very hard and diligently to continue to do this. The organizations to which we provide funds are also doing this. We know that many of you out there are doing this, and we know that we can work together and make a difference. So again, on behalf of Sally Wentworth and myself, Sarah Armstrong, thank you so much for your attention. I look forward to a discussion.

Baratang Miya: Thank you very much for a great speech. I’m used to hearing the mic speaking back, so my brain is looking for that. So I should take this off. I am going to read Togo’s speech. Apparently the people online cannot hear clearly and she can’t get through, so… I’m going to read Toko’s speech. Toko Mia is the CEO of GirlHype, which I founded 23 years ago to close the digital gap for women and girls. When I founded GirlHype, Toko was 11, and she’s been with the organization since then, and now she’s a big woman and running it as the CEO. I’m busy living life. So I’ll read her speech. On behalf of Toko, this is how she wrote it. As we gather in this room, we recognize the vast potential of digital technologies to transform lives, elevate economies, and bridge digital divides. But we also acknowledge the disparities that remains, particularly for women in Africa and access, and across the global South. Sector problems related to women in digital markets and transformation. Number one, limited access to digital infrastructure. And this is a big one for women in Africa, who apparently the people online can hear now. I’m not sure if she can talk. Toko, can you talk? Respond so that I should be able to hand you over. I’m sorry, the people online can hear now. She’s not responding. So number one, limited access to digital infrastructure. I think this is the bigger thing. Once you solve infrastructure, you would have sorted women’s problems. That’s my belief. You sort out one issue, which is digital infrastructure, women will move mountains. Let’s just say that. Women have access to resources. They will make the best of it. They will move table mountain and combine it with signal mountain and make one big thing. That’s why in Africa, there’s a saying that you empower a woman, you’re empowering a village. It doesn’t say you empower a man. It was very specific, written generations ago, that empower one woman, it’s generations. So I truly believe in this. Sorry, now I’m. elaborating on someone else’s speech. I’m going to read it as she wrote it. In many parts of Africa, women face significant barriers to access the internet and digital tools. Rural areas. Can she hear? Can she talk? She’s online. Oh, she can talk. Okay. In many parts of Africa, women face significant barriers to accessing the internet and digital tools. Rural areas in particular are plagued by poor connectivity, high cost, and lack of infrastructure, leaving women disconnected and unable to leverage digital opportunities for education or entrepreneurship. Digital literacy and skills gap. The digital divide is not merely about access, but it’s also about skills needed to use technology effectively. Women often lack the training and confidence to navigate digital platforms, which stem as their participation in e-commerce, remote work, and other digitally driven economic activities. This is where we really need to hone on. And as Gail Hype, I must say, I’m proud to say, ISOC has been supporting us. We have been getting small grants to run programs for digital literacies for women. That’s something that really now we should be focusing on. Skills for women is a big thing, or else we’re leaving them behind. Number three is gender bias in digital markets. Women entrepreneurs in digital markets face systemic challenges, including limited access to funding, discriminatory practices, and lack of gender responsive policies. This prevents women-owned businesses from scaling and thriving in the digital economy. The fourth one is safety and security online. Cyberbullying, harassment, and gender-based violence in online spaces deter women from fully participating in digital markets and governance. robust protections and support exacerbates these challenges. Number five is policy and representation gaps. Women remain underrepresented in policy making spaces where digital transformation strategies are shaped. This leads to perpetuation of structural barriers that disproportionately affects women’s ability to benefit from digital opportunities. And the key barriers of access in Africa for women’s economic participations is that the integration of these challenges mentioned above form significant barriers to women’s economic participation. So if women have no access to the internet, which we now know that the internet is not just the internet, it’s information, data, access, change of life. If women do not have access to those things we’re talking about, they lack affordability. The cost of, it’s cost also by affordability, which is the cost of devices and data remains prohibitive for many women. It causes constraints for them to participate and it discourage the outright participation. Now, as she wrote this, but I understand what she means. The outright participation is very easy. We work with boys and girls. If you put a laptop in front of a boy, there’s nothing wrong with that. 90% of the boys, if it breaks, they call other boys and say, it broke down. We put it in front of girls. If it breaks, they are afraid of coming to me and say, I broke the laptop. They come to me and say, I broke it. And this is a simple thing, that girls want perfection. And it’s the societal norms. Whilst boys are not afraid of breaking it and saying, it’s broken, fix it. And those are little minor things. because as Girl Hype, we do teach boys. Those boys will excel super fast because they are used to playing games. They are, the association from childhood to put them in a tech space is so strong. Girls have that, but not African girls. We shouldn’t just look at girls from first world countries and assume that we are seeing on the internet. That’s the reality of Africa. The reality of Africa is if a house has a computer, what an achievement in the house. The whole thing last year, my whole mission was to get parents to buy one computer for the home. Just encouraging them, please just buy one computer because there’s a difference between working on this and working on a computer. And I think that’s one of the things I really need us to hone on when you open discussion because I see her story is very long. So I’m skipping some of the things and I’ll go to what we are doing at Girl Hype. We are not just challenging these norms and societal challenges that women are facing. We’re really bridging the digital divide and we elevating women to come into the tech space and making sure we support them as they grow along. So we have a project in Kamuloi. Kamuloi in Limpopo, when we entered the space, we implemented a coding class in a school. This is 2023. In 2023, South Africa is one of the elite countries that I know of. But in 2023, a school had an internet port going straight to the school principal’s office and he was the one with internet access. And then there was another port going straight to the computer lab, which was giving 30 students access to your computer lab. Now, those students could only access the internet for one hour. And when you upload a PDF, it doesn’t upload because the data was running at 2.7 megabytes per. It was just horrible because I’m not used to that. So I walked in and I said, I can’t work like this. So I went to the sponsors and I said, we need to change this. And thanks to the company that was sponsoring us, they came, we had to rebuild a new computer lab. We had to call the internet service provider, leave what the government had put there because it doesn’t work. Build a new computer lab in the school, get the new internet service provider to come. Fortunately, they agreed to sponsor us for three years, put in the line. When they came, they discovered the whole community has no access to proper internet. In fact, they have access to something. It’s not internet. So they can’t put what is needed to put the broadband. So they had to put new layering. It was such a, like it took us six months to implement a program of two weeks, just building the infrastructure. And that for me was an eye opener to say, we also underestimate how dispersed rural areas and urban areas are because we work in Cape Town. And it’s one of the, all schools have proper internet. All teachers have access to everything. And we couldn’t implement a two week program. It took us six months to lay the proper infrastructure. Those are the realities. We work with Zatna and thanks to them, they’ve really built on cyber security skills and they’re helping us to make sure that girls understand the cyber security online and they understand what are the challenges and how to prepare themselves for future. They were to apply for jobs. What does it mean to post today? Girl High participate on UNIGF WSIS. We advocate for gender responsive policies and making sure that we create mentorship as we enter spaces. And she’s got a call to action to say, ladies and gentlemen, as we deliberate today, let us remember that addressing these challenges requires collective action. It demands that we work together across sectors, borders and disciplines to dismantle the barriers that holds women. Back, I invite you to join hands with organizations like Girl Help to create a future with no women left, no women is left behind in a digital transformation. Together we can build a world where women’s potential is fully realized and their contribution drive innovation, inclusion, and progress for all. Thank you and I look forward to engaging in this inspiring summit ahead. On behalf of TOKO, thank you. We have three minutes for comments. Anyone with a burning comment towards the speakers or questions? The floor is open. Any comments from online? I know you guys can’t hear. I’ll close the session and say thank you very much, Magda. I think at this point you’ve passed the phase of being the secretariat of the Internet Governance Forum to being the champion of the Women in IGF Summit. I really appreciate that. You accepted this program wholeheartedly. And I think it’s beyond what IGF and the secretariat is saying. It’s from you as a person in believing that this platform will change for women participation. And you can see with your commitment and making sure that funding and the speaking and everything. Even you sitting here, I know you have other sessions to be at. You were supposed to be here for 15 minutes. minutes, and you made sure that this session is successful, that doesn’t go noticed. And I’m even getting emotional. Thank you.

Anja Gengo: Can I also thank you, Baratang, sincerely? I think this whole work started really because of you championing women and girls, raising a wonderful girl, if I may also add. You know, yes, I am supposed to go to another session, and it’s very challenging for the Secretariat to be in any of the sessions because of the logistics. But as I said, these sessions are very important to us. They’re close to our heart, and we believe that if we have these types of dialogues, which always give birth to good partnerships and cooperation, then we can make a change. It’s really coincidental that I’m going, and I want to invite you to that session after this one, to a session which will be focused on women and girls that don’t have basic human rights to go to school. There is a session at Workshop Room 4, starting just now, where we will be hearing from colleagues speaking about the situation in Afghanistan, closing of the schools where digital is the only window to those girls and women to continue with their education and with, to an extent, I wouldn’t even call it a normal life according to our standards, but at least a way to communicate with others and to continue learning. And perhaps we will not close this session. We can maybe move to Workshop Room 4 and continue discussing, I think, our global voices really needed for women and girls in that country. I had a great pleasure to work with them a couple of years back. It’s been really a wonderful experience that will always stay with me. And I think now is the time that we respond to them with what we can do within our capacity, the way they were responding to us within their capacity, building, helping us to build this really strong… ecosystem. So thank you so much once again. Thank you very much Baratang. I know it’s been challenging always to be first, but I think you broke the ice and it’s been a wonderful dialogue. Thank you. you … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

Agreement Points

Gender digital divide in Africa

speakers

Mactar Seck

Sarah Armstrong

Baratang Miya

arguments

Limited internet access for women, especially in rural areas

Lack of digital skills and literacy among women

Need for improved digital infrastructure and affordability

summary

All speakers agreed that there is a significant gender digital divide in Africa, characterized by limited internet access, lack of digital skills, and inadequate infrastructure, particularly affecting women in rural areas.

Economic impact of women’s digital inclusion

speakers

Mactar Seck

Sarah Armstrong

Baratang Miya

arguments

Excluding women from digital access results in GDP losses

Women’s digital participation can boost economies and innovation

Need to empower women entrepreneurs in digital markets

summary

The speakers concurred that including women in the digital economy would lead to significant economic benefits, including increased GDP, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

Initiatives to promote women’s digital inclusion

speakers

Mactar Seck

Sarah Armstrong

Baratang Miya

arguments

UN ECA programs like Africa Girl Recording Camp

Internet Society and Foundation grants and training programs

GirlHype’s work on digital literacy and infrastructure in schools

summary

All speakers highlighted various initiatives and programs aimed at promoting women’s digital inclusion through training, grants, and infrastructure development.

Policy and representation in internet governance

speakers

Sarah Armstrong

Baratang Miya

Anja Gengo

arguments

Importance of women’s perspectives in internet governance

Need for gender-responsive policies in digital transformation

Women underrepresented in internet governance and policymaking

summary

The speakers agreed on the importance of including women’s perspectives in internet governance and policymaking, emphasizing the need for gender-responsive policies.

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the significant economic benefits of including women in the digital economy, highlighting the potential for increased GDP and innovation.

speakers

Mactar Seck

Sarah Armstrong

arguments

Excluding women from digital access results in GDP losses

Women’s digital participation can boost economies and innovation

Both speakers highlighted the interconnected issues of digital skills gaps and infrastructure challenges as key barriers to women’s digital inclusion.

speakers

Sarah Armstrong

Baratang Miya

arguments

Lack of digital skills and literacy among women

Need for improved digital infrastructure and affordability

Unexpected Consensus

Social enterprises as an opportunity for women’s economic participation

speakers

Sarah Armstrong

arguments

Social enterprises as an opportunity for women’s economic participation

explanation

While other speakers focused on broader economic impacts, Armstrong uniquely highlighted social enterprises as a specific opportunity for women’s economic participation in the digital space. This perspective was unexpected but aligns with the overall theme of economic empowerment.

Overall Assessment

Summary

The speakers demonstrated strong agreement on the existence of a gender digital divide, the economic benefits of women’s digital inclusion, the need for initiatives to promote women’s participation, and the importance of women’s representation in internet governance.

Consensus level

High level of consensus among speakers, with shared perspectives on key issues. This strong agreement implies a clear recognition of the challenges and potential solutions for promoting women’s digital inclusion, which could facilitate coordinated efforts and policy development in this area.

Different Viewpoints

Unexpected Differences

Overall Assessment

summary

There were no significant disagreements among the speakers

difference_level

Low level of disagreement. The speakers generally agreed on the main issues and approaches to addressing the gender digital divide. This consensus suggests a unified understanding of the challenges and potential solutions, which could facilitate more effective action in promoting women’s digital inclusion.

Partial Agreements

Similar Viewpoints

Both speakers emphasized the significant economic benefits of including women in the digital economy, highlighting the potential for increased GDP and innovation.

speakers

Mactar Seck

Sarah Armstrong

arguments

Excluding women from digital access results in GDP losses

Women’s digital participation can boost economies and innovation

Both speakers highlighted the interconnected issues of digital skills gaps and infrastructure challenges as key barriers to women’s digital inclusion.

speakers

Sarah Armstrong

Baratang Miya

arguments

Lack of digital skills and literacy among women

Need for improved digital infrastructure and affordability

Key Takeaways

There is a significant gender digital divide in Africa, with women having limited access to internet and digital technologies, especially in rural areas

Closing the gender digital divide has major economic benefits, including boosting GDP and innovation

Women are underrepresented in internet governance and policymaking roles related to digital transformation

Initiatives focused on digital skills training, infrastructure improvement, and policy changes are needed to increase women’s digital inclusion

Organizations like UN ECA, Internet Society, and GirlHype are implementing programs to promote women’s digital participation

Resolutions and Action Items

Continue and expand programs providing digital skills training to women and girls

Work to improve digital infrastructure and internet access in rural areas

Increase representation of women in internet governance forums and policymaking

Implement the objectives of the Global Digital Compact related to inclusion and closing the digital divide

Support social enterprises as a way to increase women’s economic participation in the digital economy

Unresolved Issues

How to effectively address cultural barriers limiting women’s digital participation in some regions

Specific strategies to make digital devices and internet access more affordable for women

Ways to increase funding and support for women entrepreneurs in digital markets

How to improve online safety and reduce cyberbullying/harassment of women

Suggested Compromises

None identified

In Africa we have 50.5% of the population are women, and when you look at this access to Internet, we have 30% of women connected to Internet, 31% connected compared to 44% men. The gap is high.

speaker

Mactar Seck

reason

This comment provides concrete statistics highlighting the significant gender gap in internet access in Africa, setting the stage for discussing the challenges and importance of addressing this disparity.

impact

It framed the discussion around the urgency of addressing the gender digital divide and led to further exploration of the reasons behind this gap and potential solutions.

In Africa, we have almost 400 million, more than 400 million without any legal form of identity. And among the 400 million, 60% are women. And this 60% doesn’t have any access to any service.

speaker

Mactar Seck

reason

This insight connects the lack of digital access to broader issues of legal identity and access to services, highlighting the compounded challenges faced by women.

impact

It broadened the conversation beyond just internet access to encompass wider societal and structural issues affecting women’s participation in the digital economy.

We have several programs. We have one program called Africa Girl Recording Camp. What is this program? This program targets women and girls aged from 12 to 25 years to give them digital skills on the robotic, on AI, on what call it on 3D printing, on coding.

speaker

Mactar Seck

reason

This comment introduces a concrete initiative aimed at addressing the skills gap for young women and girls in technology fields.

impact

It shifted the discussion from identifying problems to exploring solutions, providing a tangible example of efforts to empower women in the digital space.

According to the 2024 Global Social Enterprises Report, social enterprises created in 2024 200 million jobs. So this is important. It’s a good, important place for us to focus.

speaker

Sarah Armstrong

reason

This insight introduces the potential of social enterprises as a significant area for job creation and economic empowerment for women.

impact

It added a new dimension to the discussion by highlighting a specific sector (social enterprises) as a potential focus area for addressing gender disparities in the digital economy.

We work with boys and girls. If you put a laptop in front of a boy, there’s nothing wrong with that. 90% of the boys, if it breaks, they call other boys and say, it broke down. We put it in front of girls. If it breaks, they are afraid of coming to me and say, I broke the laptop.

speaker

Baratang Miya

reason

This anecdote provides a vivid illustration of how societal norms and expectations can impact girls’ confidence and approach to technology from an early age.

impact

It brought attention to the subtle psychological barriers that can affect women’s participation in technology, beyond just issues of access and skills.

Overall Assessment

These key comments shaped the discussion by providing a comprehensive view of the challenges facing women in the digital space, from basic access and identity issues to skills development and psychological barriers. They moved the conversation from identifying problems to exploring solutions, highlighting both large-scale initiatives and subtle societal factors that need to be addressed. The discussion evolved from statistical analysis to concrete programs and personal anecdotes, providing a multi-faceted understanding of the issue and potential paths forward.

How can we address the affordability issue for women in Africa to own mobile phones?

speaker

Mactar Seck

explanation

Affordability was identified as a key barrier to women’s access to digital technology in Africa.

What strategies can be implemented to overcome digital skills and language barriers for women in Africa?

speaker

Mactar Seck

explanation

These were highlighted as significant obstacles to women’s participation in the digital economy.

How can we address the issue of digital identity for women in Africa, given that 60% of those without legal identity are women?

speaker

Mactar Seck

explanation

Lack of digital identity prevents women from accessing various services and opportunities.

What measures can be taken to protect women from cybercrime and encourage them to report such incidents?

speaker

Mactar Seck

explanation

Cybercrime against women was identified as a significant issue, with many victims reluctant to report due to cultural barriers.

How can we educate women on responsible data sharing on social media platforms?

speaker

Mactar Seck

explanation

This was identified as an important area for education and awareness, given women’s high participation rates on social media.

What strategies can be employed to increase women’s involvement in artificial intelligence governance and job creation?

speaker

Mactar Seck

explanation

This was highlighted as an important area for creating opportunities for women in the evolving digital landscape.

How can we improve access to affordable devices and online experiences for women?

speaker

Sarah Armstrong

explanation

This was identified as one of the key areas to focus on to close the gender digital divide.

What steps can be taken to increase the availability of relevant products and tools for women in the digital space?

speaker

Sarah Armstrong

explanation

This was highlighted as another crucial area for addressing the gender digital divide.

How can we enhance safety and security for women in online spaces?

speaker

Sarah Armstrong

explanation

This was identified as a critical factor in encouraging women’s participation in digital markets and governance.

What strategies can be employed to increase women’s representation in policy-making spaces for digital transformation?

speaker

Baratang Miya (reading Toko’s speech)

explanation

The underrepresentation of women in these spaces was identified as perpetuating structural barriers to women’s digital participation.