The report provides recommendations for addressing the barriers to gender digital equality across six broad domains: 1) infrastructure; 2) financial constraints; 3) ICT ability and aptitude; 4) interest and perceived relevance of ICTs; 5) safety and security; and 6) socio-cultural and institutional contexts.
Overall, there is a great need to support original research to conceptualise gender digital equality, identify specific gender gaps, understand socio-cultural contexts, and find solutions. Efforts should also be made to develop better measurement tools that can facilitate the collection, tracking, analysis and sharing of sex-disaggregated data – especially in developing countries. Importantly, improvements should be made to collect and utilise intersectional gender data to shed light on other intersecting and interacting identities.
Additionally, multi-sectoral collaboration between academia, government, the private sector, and non-government organisations, as well as meaningful consultation with beneficiaries, is needed to facilitate action and share best practices and lessons.
Expand digital infrastructure to underserved communities and explore models of service provision that are more attuned to the lifestyles and concerns of women.
Overcome financial constraints by improving the affordability of ICT services and removing gender-based barriers to acquiring business capital.
Improve the ability and aptitude of women and girls by investing in digital literacy capacity-building; addressing gender stereotyping of STEM; and investing in entrepreneurship capacity-building.
Raise interest and perceived relevance among women and girls by providing relevant content and services; increase awareness and demonstrate potential and relevance of ICTs and ICT careers; and address gender stereotyping of STEM.
Improve online and offline safety and security by developing social, technical, legal, and regulatory measures that shift restrictive gender norms and prevent violence; promote monitoring and duty-to-report systems; facilitate multi-sectoral consultations on the cyber civil rights agenda; and enforce compliance through effective punitive consequences for perpetrators.
Address context-specific socio-cultural gender stereotypes, biases, and discriminatory norms at individual, institutional, and societal levels by, for example, increasing media awareness and sensitisation; establishing and enforcing legislation and diversity policies and programs; promoting gender-sensitive learning approaches and environments; spotlighting role models; fostering work/life balance; and creating an enabling environment for gender lens investing.
