Call to Action: Why We Must Advocate for Women’s Digital Rights

A look into what we learned at the recent convening of the 67th UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York.

International Women’s Day 2023 Celebration at the United Nations General Assembly

A coalition of Vital Voices staff were in attendance at the 67th UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67) in New York City, which took place March 5-17.

As a result of this global gathering, the team at Vital Voices has an invigorated sense of urgency in closing the digital gender gap, as we will not achieve gender equality without addressing the digital gender gap.

Not only do we strive to work with amazing women technologists, but we see the need to include women leaders without technical skills to create holistic solutions for advocating for online regulation and policies, eliminating biases within artificial intelligence, reducing the digital gender gap, and much more.

As was said by Caitlin Kraft-Buchman, co-founder of A+ Alliance, “Technology is too important to leave to the technologists.”

Vital Voices Fortune Fellow, Evelyn Namarra, presents her research at CSW67 with Global Digital Inclusion Partnership discussing topics ranging from global connectivity to digital inclusivity.

Alarming Facts About the Gender Data Gap

• As the technology sector globally continues to grow at rapid rates, 2.7 billion of the world’s population will remain offline, primarily excluding women and children in Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The gap in access to digital tools and opportunity is widest where women and girls are often most vulnerable, as reported by International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
• Seventy-five percent of female journalists have been harassed online, according to UNESCO and International Centre for Journalists reports.
• Women only hold 28 percent of all jobs in computer and mathematical occupations, and 15.9 percent of jobs in engineering and architecture occupations, according to the World Bank.

It is no secret that technology has helped solve some of the world’s greatest challenges, but as tech, AI, and day-to-day online engagement, in particular, become more pervasive within the everyday lives of women around the world, it is essential to foster inclusive and non-biased best practices and regulations. As online gender-based violence increases for women globally, only when we have ensured that women are at the table and have their voices heard will we then truly create a safe and thriving space for women — online and offline.

“We will not achieve gender equality without closing the digital gap.” — Sima Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women

Written by Zaima Alam and Rachel Kupfer, Tech & Data staff at Vital Voices

Zaima Alam (Left) and Rachel Kupfer (Right) represent the newly founded Tech and Data team and Vital Voices at the UN General Assembly

Missed Vital Voices at CSW67? Here is a rundown of Vital Voices Engagements at CSW67:

March 10: The newly created Technology & Data team hosted a virtual NGO CSW event, The Importance of Women-Driven Digital Spaces in Crisis: Iran, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, led by Tara King-Hughes, VP of Tech and Data.

March 14: Eda Emil Sever, Senior Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, and Learning Specialist at Vital Voices, was a panelist at a virtual CSW Side Event hosted by UN Women, Achieving Sustainable Development Goals through a Gender Lens: Challenges and Opportunities.

March 14: The Issue Advocacy team hosted an in-person NGO CSW event, The Impact of Innovation and Technological Change on Women in Politics, led by Manira Alva, VP of Issue Advocacy.

Check out panel sessions here.

Vital Voices Crisis Response team members Giulianna Sutkiewicz (Left) and Allan Freedman (Right) meet with VV Engage Fellow and MP of Tanzania, Neema K. Lugangira.