Some 375 participants representing non-governmental organisations, government agencies, intergovernmental bodies including the United Nations, international donor institutions, and private sector came together for the 2003 Forum on ICTs and Gender held from 20-23 August 2003 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Working on four tracks that included Confidence and Security Issues in the Use of ICTs; Education; Small and Medium Enterprises and Entrepreneurship; and Rural and Disadvantaged Groups, the participants examined issues surrounding gender and information and communication technologies.

At the end of the Forum, a declaration and a set of recommendations were drafted based on the inputs from the four tracks. The declaration and the recommendations drew mixed reactions from some of the participants. Some expressed dissatisfaction over what they referred to as a more watered-down version of the World Summit on the Information Society draft declaration and plan of action. On the other hand, others were satisfied with the outcomes of the Forum and committed to take up the recommendations with their respective governments.

Below is a copy of the declaration and the recommendations, which will feed into the ongoing processes around the World Summit on the Information Society.

Declaration and Recommendations
Forum on ICT and Gender: Optimizing Opportunities
23 August 2003
Malaysia

The Forum on ICT and Gender: Optimizing Opportunities held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 20-23, 2003, hosted by the Government of Malaysia and with various partners including the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT), Asian Pacific Women's Information Network Center (APWINC), Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), International Development Research Centre (IDRC), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO);

Reflecting on global consensus and reaffirming commitments made at previous international conferences and summits, in particular, the UN World Conferences on Women, Beijing and Beijing +5 and the agreed conclusions on ICT and Women at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, New York, March 2003;

Noting that the objectives of the conference are to increase awareness on the gender dimension of information and communication technology to provide input to the WSIS process on important aspects of ICT with implications for women, in the areas of confidence and security, education, entrepreneurship for small and medium enterprises and, rural and disadvantaged groups;

The participants of this Forum call upon all stakeholders, including governments, organisations and specialized agencies of the United Nations system, international organisations, civil society organisations, private sector entities, research and educational institutions, academia, media and other stakeholders to recognise:

• the importance of ICT as a tool to promote women's empowerment, rights and dignity and full participation in the information society
• that ICT offers immense possibilities for enhancing women's participation in socio-economic and political development that will reduce poverty and improve quality of life
• the potential of ICT to overcome women's isolation gives all women a voice and improve governance with a view to achieving gender equality

The Forum reiterates that gender research and analysis on the impact of information and communication technology is essential for addressing the consequences of the digital revolution on gender equality.

Participants urge WSIS delegates to make commitments to increase women's access to and participation at all levels of the information society, especially in decision-making processes and to address the needs of women and girls including the indigenous, persons with disabilities as well as those in least developed countries, small island and land-locked countries and economies in transition.

The Forum adopts a project on ICT job opportunities for young men and young women to be implemented between the two Summits.

Therefore, the Forum especially calls upon government representatives to WSIS to take into consideration the following recommendations from this conference in the Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action for the WSIS in December 2003 and beyond.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Confidence and Security in the Use of ICT

1. Raise awareness of women on security issues, growing cyber crimes and misuse of ICT using traditional and new media.
2. Develop gender sensitive guidelines for ISPs at national, regional and international levels.
3. Promote women's involvement in all aspects of security issues especially at policy-making levels.
4. Provide cost-effective and appropriate security systems for vulnerable groups especially in rural areas, least developed countries, small island and land-locked countries and economies in transition.
5. Promote positive use of the Internet through capacity building workshops based on local values within a self-regulatory framework.
6. Promote close cooperation between ISPs & consumers to incorporate a gender perspective in codes of conduct and guidelines on Internet content.
7. Encourage ICT industry to develop applications for young girls that will promote positive self-development and computer skills.
8. Promote dissemination of information to women in rural areas through alternative means other than Internet such as CD ROMs and SMS.
9. Encourage development of local contents in local languages by and for women.
10. Enforce existing legal provisions at national and international level to safeguard citizens, women inter alia, from transnational cyber crimes.

Education

1. Ensure the inclusion of a gender perspective and coordination of the gender activities in all domains of national ICT policies and legislation including education and that all stakeholders including women's organisations participate in the drafting and monitoring of such policies and legislation.
2. Support the creation of locally relevant and gender-sensitive educational materials that uses local languages for use on the Internet and in other media.
3. Build ICT capacity of marginalized groups and provide ICT skills to young people.
4. Support programs that give instructors especially females the skills and use ICT and Open/Distance Leaning (ODL) in education delivery.
5. Support ICT capacity building in women's organisations to enhance their capability to transfer knowledge to their target groups.
6. Introduce ICT into the school curriculum at the earliest possible opportunity, ensuring equal access to all.
7. Conduct participatory research on ICT and ODL that informs policy input into education policy formulation, program evaluation and database creation and ensure that research results are accessible.
8. Compile best practices of women in ICT and education, and promote their dissemination including through libraries, databases, fora and websites.
9. Raise awareness of legislators and policy-makers of the benefits/opportunities of ICT for educational use.
10. Use the media to raise awareness and knowledge about how ICT can empower women and provide training for media journalists in reporting on women and ICT.
11. Formulate a set of global standards or guidelines for mainstreaming gender issues into educational policies and program on ICT.
12. Mobilize and allocate funds to ensure gender sensitive ICT policies and strategies in education and to strengthen infrastructure to support women's use of ICT and ODL for educational use.

SME Entrepreneurship

1. Encourage national telecommunication reforms and ICT policies to develop affordable and innovative means of communication for SMEs such as VSAT technology in remote areas, unbundled local loop or last mile access, the use of WiFi as well as the resale of telecommunication services; the adoption of open source software, shareware and open standards; and the use of alternative infrastructure such as community radios, packet radios, television, mobile; and the access of non-PC based communication devices such as radio, mobile, TV, telephony and fax.
2. Give priority to SME that employ ICT, especially those that are headed by and/ or employ women, for procurement of goods and services, to ensure national and global and growth of SMEs.
3. Encourage Governments to put in place favorable and enabling financial and procurement policies to assist women to establish and sustain SMEs, for poverty reduction.
4. Develop and integrate subsidized training programmes that facilitate the creation and sustainability of women's entrepreneurship opportunities.
5. Support the development of IT interface language and local content related to SME activities such as crafts, handicraft, agriculture, fisheries, livestock, savings and loans for women.
6. Develop an enabling ICT policy framework for SMEs targeting women and vulnerable populations.
7. Encourage Governments and multi-lateral agencies to recognise the role and importance of grassroots SMEs in using ICT to alleviate poverty in rural and urban poor areas and include them in national planning and funding provisions.
8. Encourage the development of partnerships between and among governments, NGOs, private sector, corporations, community, academic institutions, and different stakeholders to promote ICT in SME and entrepreneurship development.
9. Build a wider network between rural and urban areas in ICT and entrepreneurship with special attention to South-South co-operation.

Rural and Disadvantaged Groups

1. Give particular attention and tailor solutions in ICT to meet the needs of low income rural and urban poor women, young women and women with disabilities and indigenous people
2. Promote awareness of ICT to rural women through broadcasting media and demonstrate the benefits of ICT in exhibitions and other for a.
3. Provide affordable ICT assets, resources, and bandwidth to rural areas through community access points such as telecenters and others.
4. Promote multi-sectoral approach to ensure public community access points at minimum cost, such as post offices, libraries, and schools for disadvantaged groups, including migrants and refugees, as well as other communities, unemployed and underprivileged people, children, the elderly, the disabled, indigenous peoples, minorities, and those living in rural and remote areas.
5. Promote enabling environments in all ICT sectors to strengthen the use of low-cost and open source technologies to facilitate access to information for disadvantaged groups.
6. Design content to overcome barriers of literacy, particularly in sexual and reproductive health, to ensure confidentiality to disadvantaged women and girls.
7. Encourage the use of ICT to ensure the right of expression of disadvantaged women, including training of trainers to teach women with disabilities.
8. Encourage the development of web content that is relevant and useful for women with disability and parents that have children with disability and promote the application of Web-accessibility principles in Web design to have equal access to information.
9. Strengthen ICT based network opportunities by building on existing women's community network.
10. Mobilize resources to invest in ICT for development with specific reference to the advancement of rural women.
11. Provide training on how to incorporate gender perspectives in planning processes for public and private partnerships and investment in ICT infrastructure, long-term programmes and projects for rural and disadvantaged communities.
12. Identify measurable indicators to monitor and assess the progress and impact, including social aspects, of ICT policies and programmes in improving the quality of life of the disadvantaged group.

The declaration and other details of the Forum may be accessed online at: http://www.globalknowledge.org/gender2003/index.cfm?menuid=27

Report by Mavic Cabrera-Balleza