Maureen Okpe
Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen has called for the development of digital tools that addresses the needs of women and girls by removing structural barriers that hinder them from achieving digital skills and literacy.
Tallen made the call in Abuja, at the event that marked the end of activities to this year’s International Women’s Day, with theme “Inclusive Technology and Digital Education for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment”
The Minister submitted that this theme was apt as it focuses on how innovation and technology contribute in shaping the digital space and gender inequality in our society.
She revealed that of the 3 billion people that were not connected to digital space, majority of them were women and girls from developing countries.
Tallen therefore called on Nigerian women and girls to exploit the benefits that abound in the ICT, stating innovation and technology has become the new norm.
She said,“It is redefining our social norms with the just concluded elections and present monetary policy in Nigeria; women and girls must be part of this phenomenon in order for them not be left behind in digital space where information and communication technology, ICT, sector has contributed 18.44% to Nigeria’s gross domestic product, GDP, in 2022 and it is projected to experience more leap in the future.
“less than one-third of the work force across science, technology, engineering and mathematics and in cutting edge fields like artificial intelligence were women.
“It is sad that ICT is still being dominated by men as only few women have the opportunity to participate in the ecosystem; as only about 30% of 93 surveyed technology companies in Nigeria are owned by women and more than third of them employed no woman at all.
“I therefore wish to emphasize and call on all stakeholders from the public and private sectors to focus on developing digital tools and services that address the needs of all women and girls, across sectors, especially for their education, health, economic empowerment and engagement in public life, and to ensure that women and girls have access to digital literacy and skills throughout their life course.
Tallen also called on the incoming political administration in Nigeria to redress women’s access to political decision table through appointments, given the disappointing election outings for women in the 2023 general elections.
On her part, the UN Women Country Representative in Nigeria and ECOWAS, Beatrice Eyong called on more investment in innovation and technology to bridge the digital divide.
Eyong said, “we must harness the potentials of digital technology to women’s empowerment in a way that is inclusive of women from all backgrounds as this has the capacity to transform lives.”
She added that UN Women has contributed in this regard through trainings, program to upskill ICT proficiency of women and girls, provide access to technology to support women and girls’ life experiences and digital inclusion, particularly in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, STEM, fields.