Bridging the gender digital gap: UN Women’s call for inclusive digital governance in 2024

As we celebrate Women’s Day, it’s crucial to acknowledge a pressing global challenge: bridging the gender digital gap, a stark emblem of gender inequality that remains unaddressed. This gap restricts women and girls from fully using, leading, and shaping technology. As pointed out by the UN Women, the 2024 negotiation of the Global Digital Compact (GDC) presents a chance to prioritise gender perspectives in digital technology within a new digital governance framework.

UN Women, in partnership with the Action Coalition on Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality, prepared a paper aiming to unify governments, policymakers, multilateral organisations, the private sector, and civil society. The objective is to create a gender-transformative framework supporting women’s and girls’ rights and empowerment in the digital era. Gender equality is essential across all policies, including digital cooperation, requiring efforts to dismantle systemic barriers. Thus, any new digital cooperation framework should prioritise breaking down obstacles to achieve gender equality.

The paper proposes, among other things, a dual-track strategy for the GDC. Firstly, it advocates for a standalone goal on gender equality, emphasising three key areas: Technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), education and economic opportunities, and leadership—in every aspect of the GDC. Secondly, it underscores the importance of integrating gender considerations comprehensively across the entire framework. While these recommendations are not novel, they represent a notable digital policy and practice shift. The aim is to prevent digital technologies from fostering new types of inequality, indicating a commitment to creating a more equitable and inclusive digital landscape.