NOTING that digital technology is becoming part of the fabric of our everyday lives, the Women and Gender Equality Commission (WGEC) has underscored how critical it is for women and girls to be part of shaping technology.

“Bringing women and other marginalised groups into technology spaces will result in more creative solutions. It will have greater potential for the creation of innovations women and girls need and want to use in their lives,” the commission said in a statement to mark today’s observance of International Women’s Day.

The day is used annually to increase awareness and celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political accomplishments of women.

This year it will be observed under the theme, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality,” which serves to honour and celebrate the women and girls who are leading the charge for development of transformative technology and digital education.

The WGEC pointed out that we live in a world where increasingly, transactions of our lives are informed by technology, more so by digital technology.

It was explained that in urban spaces, life without electricity is almost unthinkable and that for our youth, life without internet connectivity would be torturous.

The organisation pointed out how the COVID-19 pandemic has widened the digital gap.

“The COVID-19 pandemic whilst wreaking havoc on lives around the globe, highlighted how great the disparities are, particularly between urban and rural populations. Rural women and girls have less access to the digital world and benefit less from the solutions it provides than comparative to that of urban women and girls. The pandemic also brought about innovation. We all learnt how to do work, learn and entertain ourselves in new ways,” the statement said.

It pointed out that this year’s IWD theme also forces us to examine the impact of the digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities, as well as the importance of protecting the rights of women and girls in digital spaces while addressing online and ICT-facilitated forms of gender-based violence.

It was pointed out that technology-assisted forms of gender-based violence need to be adequately addressed.

The statement said that in addition to the full participation of women and girls, efforts need to reduce the disparities that exist.

“To truly extract the benefits new technology promises, the full participation of women and girls in STEM and technology spaces must be supported. We need to foster the environment where technology is created that meets the needs of women and girls. We need to examine ways to reduce the growing disparities between men and women in terms of access to and proficiency with digital technologies,” the statement said.

It added that the digital space has generated unprecedented opportunities for the empowerment of women and girls through opportunities for online learning, digital activism and networking with virtual communities of practice to the rapid expansion of lucrative technology jobs and careers.

“Women and girls remain under-represented across the creation, use and regulation of technology. They are less likely to use digital services or enter tech-related careers, and significantly more likely to face online harassment and violence. This limits not only their own digital empowerment, but also the transformative potential of technology as a whole,” the statement added.

Further, it stated that this year, the commission is continuing its sponsorship of three women who are pursuing studies in STEM-related areas at the University of Guyana through its annual Magda Pollard Women in STEM Scholarship Programme.

“We celebrate the strides made by organisations like [sic] STEM Guyana, and ICT for Girls and the CARICOM Girls in ICT Initiative, but the advancing technology has also introduced new forms of inequality and threats to the well-being of women and girls. The commission is acutely aware the increasing incidents of cyber-bullying, cyber-stalking and grooming as evidenced by the number of reports engaging the office of the Director of Public Prosecution. Whilst Guyana has new cybercrime legislation, the commission feels more needs to be done to curb new and emerging forms of violence.

The statement said that women and girls need to have the assurance that they too are entitled to have safe lives and strong futures.

“We cannot allow technology to widen existing disparities, but rather we must put it to work on behalf of a safer, more sustainable, more equitable future for all,” it added.