CSW70 WSIS Side Event: Empowering Women and Girls in the Digital Age – Action Toward WSIS 2035
ITU, UNDP, UN Women, WSIS Action Line Facilitators, Albania, Switzerland, South Africa, Women at the Table, APC
Session 108
Wednesday, 11 March 2026 ∼ in 2 days15:00–16:15 (UTC+01:00)Eastern Daylight Time10:00–11:15 (UTC-04:00)Virtual (remote) participation onlyWSIS&SDG TalkX1 Image
Zoom Webinar | Virtual Session
The WSIS+20 UNGA Resolution highlights urgent gender gaps in digital access, skills, leadership, and online safety, and calls for accelerated, multistakeholder action to ensure women and girls can participate fully and safely in the digital age. It mandates that gender equality be mainstreamed across all WSIS Action Lines.
To explore how WSIS partners can translate WSIS+20 gender commitments into concrete action by 2035 through:
- Closing gender digital divides
- Strengthening digital skills & leadership
- Ensuring safety and rights online
- Expanding participation of women in digital economies and governance
- Aligning WSIS Action Lines with gender mandates for implementation to 2035
H.E. Ms. Suela Janina
Ambassador & Permanent RepresentativePermanent Mission of the Republic of Albania to the United Nations
Ms. Janina serves as the Co-Facilitator of the WSIS+20 Review and Permanent Representative of Albania to the United Nations. She brings extensive experience in multilateral diplomacy to this role, having served as Ambassador to the European Union (2014–2024) and General Director for Multilateral Relations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2012–2014). She holds a doctorate in international law from the University of Tirana.
Ms. Stéphanie LachatCo-Director of the Federal Office for Gender EqualitySwitzerland
Stéphanie Lachat has been co-director of the Federal Office for Gender Equality since September 2024. Her office is particularly involved in promoting equality in working life and combating pay inequalities between women and men, as well as violence against women and domestic violence.
Stéphanie Lachat has a wealth of experience in public administration and the private sector. Since 2021, she has worked as a strategic advisor to the cantonal government of Neuchâtel/Switzerland. Prior to that, she spent eight years as head of communications, public relations and digital channels at a major watch brand. She also has a solid academic background in gender studies and history.
Ms. Cynthia LesufiChair of the ITU Council Working Group on WSIS&SDGSouth Africa
Cynthia is a seasoned Policy and Regulatory Development Manager with over 15 years of experience in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector. In her current role in the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) she is responsible for key areas such as developing and implementing ICTs communications strategies and policies and stakeholder relations engagements. She is the current ITU Minister Council and African Coordinator for ITU Activities in Geneva.
Ms. Yuping ChanHead, Digital Partnerships and EngagementUNDP
Yu Ping Chan heads Digital Partnerships and Engagement at UNDP, the United Nations’ development agency. As part of the leadership of UNDP’s Digital, AI and Innovation Hub, Yu Ping helps drive global thought leadership and builds partnerships to support the agency’s digital development work.
Yu Ping previously headed the Rising Nations Initiative Secretariat at the Global Center for Climate Mobility. She has extensive experience with multilateral diplomacy and the United Nations system, having also previously led the Office of the UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, as well as the Policy and Regional Support teams in the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism. Prior to this, she worked in the UN’s Department of Political Affairs, and in the New York Office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Before joining the UN Secretariat, Yu Ping was a diplomat in the Singaporean Foreign Service. She served at the Singapore Mission to the United Nations in New York as well as at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, overseeing the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Yu Ping has a Bachelor of Arts (magna cum laude) from Harvard University, and a Masters of Public Administration from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.
Mr. Papa SeckChief of Research and Data SectionUN Women
Papa Seck is the Chief of UN Women's Research and Data section, where he has been leading statistics since 2009. He spearheaded the development of Women Count, UN Women's global gender data programme in 2016, to improve the production and use of gender data and to help countries monitor the Sustainable Development Goals from a gender perspective.
Ms. Caitlin Kraft-BuchmanCEO and FounderWomen at the Table
Ms. Kraft-Buchman is the CEO and Founder of Women at the Table and Co-Founder of the A+ Alliance for Inclusive Algorithms, a leader of the UN’s Generation Equality Action Coalition for Technology & Innovation. She leads the AI & Equality: Human Rights Toolbox initiative, which works for a human rights-based approach to AI development. Additionally, she serves as the Civil Society lead for the World Benchmarking Alliance's Collective Impact Coalition for Digital Inclusion and on the Strategic Board of the Laboratory for Women's Rights Online.
Ms. Tatyana KanzaveliCEO and FounderOpen Health Network and WomenInGenAIWSIS Gender Trendsetter
Tatyana Kanzaveli is the founder and CEO of Open Health Network and the founder of WomenInGenAI, a global movement accelerating women’s leadership in generative AI. She works at the intersection of emerging tech, policy, and human outcomes—turning AI from hype into practical infrastructure that expands access, trust, and opportunity. A builder and convener, she brings a systems lens to digital inclusion: what must change in data, governance, design, and incentives so women and girls don’t just “use” technology—but shape it. Her work spans healthcare innovation, cross-sector partnerships, and global forums advancing responsible, inclusive digital transformation.
Ms. Hija KamranGenderIT editor and WRP content coordinatorAPC, Pakistan
Hija Kamran is a digital rights advocate from Pakistan who has been working to defend citizens' rights on the internet for almost 10 years. She has been involved in some of the key policy advocacy initiatives and has led various research studies and campaigns in the area. Hija has worked with some of the most proactive digital rights organisations, and has informed the policy and campaigning landscape in the country as it stands today. Her areas of focus include privacy, data protection, freedom of expression, meaningful access to technology, human rights and ICTs, gender and technology, access to information, and internet governance. She combines her formal training in marketing with understanding of rights-based advocacy to support her work. At APC, Hija coordinates Women's Rights Programme (WRP) content and is the editor of GenderIT.org.
Ms. Gitanjali SahStrategy and Policy CoordinatorInternational Telecommunication UnionModerator
Gitanjali Sah is Strategy and Policy Coordinator at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and is responsible for the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process. She has more than 15 years of work experience in ICT policy issues at the national, regional and international level. She is an experienced International Civil Servant having worked at several UN Agencies. She holds M.Phil. Development Studies, University of Cambridge, UK and a Masters in Political Science, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India.