Women’s Empowerment, SDGs, and ICT – Core Module 1

Overview

The module has three main sections, where key concepts are explained with the support of numerous real-world examples and case studies. Each section ends with a set of interactive exercises.

Notes for trainers are available at the end of this module to provide suggestions in the delivery of the training to the target audience and the enrichment of this material in their local setting.

Learning Objectives

The primary objective of this module is to introduce the key concepts of:

1. Empowerment
2. Women’s empowerment, and its barriers and enablers in present times
3. Information and communication technology (ICT), and its challenges and opportunities in promoting women’s empowerment
4. The Sustainable Development Goals related to achieving women’s empowerment

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the module, a learner will be able to:

1. Describe the concept of women’s empowerment in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals
2. List the barriers and enablers of women’s empowerment
3. Give specific examples of how ICT can support women’s empowerment

About the Author

Dr. Faheem Hussain has over 10 years of work and research experience in Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, and Sub-Saharan Africa. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, USA and his research interests encompass ICT for Development, Women’s Empowerment, Digital Rights, and Displaced Population. Dr. Hussain has contributed to ICT and Social Media policy formulation, human resource development, and socio-technical impact analyses for several governments and non-governmental organizations in South, South-East, and Central Asia. He also led several regional and international development research projects funded by Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, IDRC, and Rockefeller Foundation. At present, Dr. Hussain is working as a teaching faculty member of the M.S. in Global Technology & Development program in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University, USA.