UN Commission on the Status of Ladies reaffirms the part of technologies and innovation, and education in the digital age in accelerating gender equality – Globe

New York City — The 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Ladies (CSW67)— the UN’s biggest annual gathering on gender equality, the empowerment of all females and girls and their human rights—effectively closed its two-week lengthy session now (six to 17 March) with the acknowledgment of the essential part of technologies and innovation in attaining gender equality. The agreed conclusions adopted by Member States offer a blueprint for all stakeholders, like governments, the private sector, civil society and youth to market the complete and equal participation and leadership of females and girls in the design and style, transformation and integration of digital technologies and innovation processes that fulfill the human rights and demands of females and girls.

At the conclusion of the negotiations, UN Ladies Executive Director, Sima Bahous, stated: “This year’s Agreed Conclusions are game-altering and bring forward our vision of a far more equal and connected globe for females and girls in all their diversity. It is our job, as we leave right here now, to translate them into reality. The ultimate achievement of these Agreed Conclusions lies beyond their finalization now, in how we will collectively take them forward. They bring us a vision of a far more equal globe. Let us translate them into reality for all females and girls.”

CSW67 reaffirmed the value of females and girls’ complete, equal and meaningful participation and leadership in science, technologies and innovation, and expressed concern on the restricted progress in closing the gender gap in access to and use of technologies, connectivity, digital literacy and education. It also expressed grave concern about the continuity and interrelation in between offline and on the web violence, harassment and discrimination against females and girls and condemned the boost of such acts.

The Commission named for substantially improved public and private sector investments to bridge the gender digital divide, far more inclusive innovation eco-systems, and the promotion of protected and gender-responsive technologies and innovation. It also named for inclusive and equitable good quality education in science, technologies, engineering, and mathematics, data and communications technologies and digital literacy to guarantee that all females and girls can thrive in a swiftly altering globe.

Initiatives to market innovation and technological modify, and education in the digital age for attaining gender equality need to contemplate the following:

• Create digital tools and solutions to address the demands of all females and girls, across sectors and geographies, specially for their education, overall health, financial empowerment and engagement in public life, and guarantee females and girls have access to digital literacy and capabilities all through their life course.

• Mainstream gender in digital policies to get rid of barriers to equal access for all females and girls, like these living in poverty, in rural, maritime or remote places, with disabilities, Indigenous females and girls, migrant females and girls, and older females.

• Foster a policy of zero tolerance for gender-primarily based violence that happens by way of or is amplified by the use of technologies and guarantee that public and private sector entities prioritize its prevention and elimination.

• Mainstream a gender point of view in the design and style of emerging technologies and adopt regulations to guarantee they are topic to sufficient safeguards to combat new dangers, gender stereotypes and damaging social norms, information privacy breaches and increase transparency and accountability.

• Market policies and programmes to accomplish gender parity in emerging scientific and technological fields and produce supportive workplaces and education settings, like by way of gender-responsive education, distance finding out options and interdisciplinary approaches combining the teaching of social sciences and scientific fields.

• Create gender-responsive innovation that challenges gender stereotypes and damaging social norms, like by way of the improvement of digital content material, awareness campaigns and teaching competencies for constructive engagement on digital technologies that engage, educate, encourage and empowers youth, like young males and boys, to develop into agents of modify for gender equality.

The 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Ladies took location against the backdrop of continued backlash against women’s rights globally, from improved violence against females in the public space, to the gender impacts of the earthquakes in Syria and Turkiye, to the everyday horror that females and girls face in emergency and crisis settings like in Afghanistan, Ukraine and Iran.

In the very first completely in-particular person session following 3 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, CSW67 registered really higher numbers with far more than 7,000 participants, like four heads of state and government and 116 ministers, 205 side events on UN premises, and about 700 NGO parallel events.

For the very first time, the session incorporated an interactive youth session with young persons, youth representatives of delegations, civil society and United Nations organizations , engaging in dialogue and offering suggestions on how to guarantee young females and girls are aspect of the digital transformation. The Commission also benefited from crucial contributions from a wide variety of civil society organizations like the leaders and commitment makers of the Action Coalition on Technologies and Innovation for Gender Equality, launched as aspect of the Generation Equality Forum. The Action Coalition on Technologies and Innovation for Gender Equality has created a substantial contribution in cementing alliances in between Governments, private sector, civil society and the UN technique and in driving momentum and commitments to advance gender equality by way of technologies and innovation.