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International Women’s Day 2023 | DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality
Statement by Rebeca Grynspan, Secretary-General of UNCTAD
Today, on International Women’s Day, we want to send an important message.
Too many women are being excluded from the digital world. And this digital gender gap is widening economic and social inequalities across the world.
We must have more women in technology.
We need more women at the digital economy policymaking table to design effective policies to address this gap and these obstacles. And to include women’s perspectives in the design and development of the technologies we use daily.
Today, globally 57% of women use the internet compared with 62% of men.
We must ensure we provide women the skills to use digital technologies and close this gap.
Today, only around one third of world STEM students in higher education globally are women.
We must support girls to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics – and highlight successful role models to encourage and motivate girls and women.
In UNCTAD, through our eTrade for Women initiative, we bring women’s voices and experiences to help other women digital entrepreneurs and to build more inclusive ecosystems.
And through our programme we bring young female scientists to build the capacity of women science researchers in developing countries.
As technology continues to improve our lives, we cannot afford to exclude the unique contributions women can bring.
We must close the digital gender gap and give every woman and every girl equal access to the opportunities these transformative technologies and digital education can provide.
- -ACSIS
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