Communication and Information Sector's In Focus service
ICT has great potential for gender equity, but carries also risks of new forms of exclusion in access to, and participation in the information society. UNESCO promotes women’s and men’s equal access to information and knowledge, and their participation in the media.
Information and communication technologies (ICT) is transforming the global economy and creating new networks that stretch over continents and cultures. Therefore, there remain noticeable disparities as to the extend in which access and skills are available.
Women find themselves in most cases, not only excluded from equal social and economic opportunities in general, but also in terms of the benefits offered by ICT. There are unequal power relations in our societies that contribute to differential access, participation and treatment for men and women vis-à-vis access to, and control of ICT. Limited access to ICT for women has the effect of reducing countries’ competitiveness in the global market.
Women's ability to take advantage of ICT is dependent on conductive policies, an enabling environment in their countries to extend communications infrastructure to where women live, and increased educational levels. >> More on Gender and ICT
Supporting Women Journalists
Women Make the News 2005
Gender Equality Beyond 2005: Building a more secure future for women reporters
To mark International Women’s Day on 8 March 2005, UNESCO’s Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura, is launching for the fourth time the global initiative “Women Make the News”. UNESCO appeals to all media producing daily news to hand over editorial responsibility to women to cast the news on that day.
UNESCO Supports Gender in Journalism Awards in Pakistan
The Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) organizes the "Gender in Journalism Awards" to honour excellence in gender sensitive reporting in the country. UNESCO supports the two awards, each carrying a cash prize of Rs 25,000 (US$ 400), that will be given to Pakistani journalists.
One award recognizes models for excellence and best practices in coverage of gender related issues. It is open to both male and female journalists. The second award honours outstanding coverage of any issue by a female journalist. Its aim is to promote role models for women entering or planning to enter the journalism field. Journalists working in print media may nominate their own work, or editors and others may nominate articles that promote the objectives of the awards.
Winners of the 2004 award will be announced on 3 May 2005.
Participants in a regional workshop on "The use of ICT to improve reporting on HIV/AIDS" say it sharpened their research and Internet browsing skills and also built their personal confidence in setting up electronic networks and discussion forums about HIV/AIDS.
UNESCO evaluated the impact of the training five months after the workshop in Chennai, India. The 18 women communication professionals brought together from Bangladesh, India, Mongolia, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Sri Lanka consider that they benefited greatly in building their capacity to report, lobby, network and discuss the science of HIV/AIDS.
The workshop participants say they still stay in touch and contact each other for information on HIV/AIDS beyond their own borders. An open access training module was developed from this and a prior workshop for African women journalists and communicators.
Supporting Women's Communities
Fiji Women Community Radio Initiative
femLINKpacific (Media Initiatives for Women), a women's media NGO, launched in 2004 femTALK 89.2FM, a mobile women's community radio project. In January 2005, as a result of the grant of UNESCO's Intergovernmental Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC), the femLINKpacific is taking the suitcase radio to women in their communities.
The aim of the femTALK 89,2FM project is to not only create a new space on the radio waves for community based discussion, but also to provide practical opportunities for women within their own communities to highlight and address issues relevant to them.
The main focus of femLINKpacific's range of community media initiatives is "women speaking to women for peace". The decision making structures still lack equal representation by women and the capacity of women, especially from the rural population and the poor, to communicate openly on common matters should be increased.
Predominant among those currently excluded from the IT revolution are women. This makes gender mainstreaming an essential component of every multimedia project.
Community radio in particular can be a remarkably effective gateway for women in disadvantaged communities to approach the new information technologies. The self-confidence and skills gained with low-technology radio offer a bridge for these women to the high-tech of ICT. It is often the women who express the greatest communication deficit when feasibility and baseline studies are conducted prior to the introduction of community radio. Their motivation and sense of empowerment are, consequently, particularly high when they learn to use local broadcasting.
The participatory approach of community radio provides a supportive framework for women as they go on to tackle the challenges posed by effective use of ICT. Radio-browsing programmes, where the presenter surfs the web to find information requested by listeners, can introduce audiences to cyberspace and the information highways.
In this project local communities in Mozambique and South Africa address issues of malaria, youth unemployment and HIV/SIDA. They (re-)discover local and global knowledge, experiences and wisdom in these areas. They use information and communication technology to develop their own contents and learning tools, which support their individual and collective learning processes.
They use local (tele-)centers and transform them into places of meaningful learning and community-building. At all stages they take into account the relations, needs and perspectives of both men and women, girls and boys in an effort to promote equity between them.
