17 March 2013: Commissioners at the Seventh Meeting of the UN Broadband Commission for Digital Development adopted a gender target on access to information and communication technologies (ICT) and endorsed a report on technology, broadband and education. The Commission also launched a new Task Group on the post-2015 agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which will be led by Ericsson.
During its meeting from 16-17 March, in Mexico City, Mexico, the Commission set a target of ensuring gender equality in broadband access by 2020, recognizing a global gender gap in access to technology of approximately 25%, although this percentage increases to 45% in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to International Telecommunication Union (ITU) data. The Commission’s Working Group on Gender, which was launched in 2012, is expected to implement a project dashboard to track gender and technology initiatives globally and to report on its progress at the Commission’s eighth meeting in September 2013.
Helen Clark, UN Development Programme (UNDP) Administrator, said a “lack of equal opportunity for women and girls to access [ICT] technologies risks thwarting development progress.” She emphasized closing the gender gap in ICT access to empower women and girls and to catalyze inclusive, sustainable development. Hamadoun Touré, ITU Secretary-General, said “women’s access to ICTs and particularly broadband must be made a key pillar of the post-2015 global development agenda.”
The “Technology, Broadband and Education: Advancing the Education for All Agenda” report, which was coordinated by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), highlights how broadband can accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on education and the Education For All goals. Presenting the report to the Commission, Irina Bokova, UNESCO Director-General, stressed the importance of accelerating progress on the MDGs and explained “we know broadband technology is one key accelerator, leading a revolution in how we communicate, live and learn.”
The Commission also discussed: the “m-Powering Development” initiative, which aims to catalyze sustainability and harness ICTs and smart solutions to meet the SDGs; strategies to help countries achieve broadband targets; and overcoming roadblocks to faster broadband deployment. Nearly 70 Commissioners and other experts attended the meeting. Clark chaired the Working Group on Gender, which met on 16 March. [ITU Story] [UNDP Story] [UNESCO Story][Broadband Commission Story] [Publication: Technology, Broadband and Education: Advancing the Education for All Agenda]