Pre 7: Advancing Digital Inclusivity: UNESCO’s Measurement Approaches

Over the past five years, the digital landscape has undergone profound transformations, impacting policy frameworks, governance structures, and global digital inclusion efforts. As countries adapt their national strategies to this evolving environment, UNESCO continues to provide robust measurement tools to assess and guide policy development on critical digital issues. The recent revision of UNESCO’s Internet Universality Indicators (IUI) has strengthened its ability to assess national Internet development through a human rights-based, open, accessible, and multi-stakeholder approach, addressing equally cross-cutting issues such as gender equality, emerging technologies and the environmental impact of the internet.

UNESCO’s engagement in the Beijing +30 process builds on the organization’s longstanding commitment to gender equality in and through the media. UNESCO convened experts to assess progress on the commitments outlined in Strategic Objective J – Women in the Media – of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, with a focus on exploring new challenges as the rise of artificial intelligence and technology-facilitated gender-based violence. By integrating both the IUI and Beijing reviews, UNESCO is driving evidence-based policies that address the evolving intersection between gender equality and the digital sphere, ensuring more inclusive digital and media landscapes.