By Cecilia Ologunagba
New York, March 7, 2023
Nigeria’s Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs. Pauline Tallen, has called for support to tackle the challenges limiting gender empowerment in Nigeria.
Tallen made the call at a gala night after the opening of the 67th edition of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) in New York.
The UN Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the CSW, which opened on Monday, is expected to end on March 17.
The theme is “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.”
The conference is expected to discuss challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls.
Tallen, who led Nigeria’s delegation to the event, urged successful and well-meaning individuals to contribute to women’s development in the country.
Earlier in her opening remarks, CSW67 Chair Mathu Joyini said although digital technology is rapidly transforming societies, it is also giving rise to profound new challenges that may perpetuate and deepen existing gender inequalities.
“Gender-based discrimination is a systemic problem that has been interwoven into the fabric of our political, social and economic lives, and the technology sector is no different,” she said.
“However, this is compounded when you consider the multiple factors that impact and exacerbate this inherent discrimination,” she added.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted that the CSW is meeting as progress on women’s rights is vanishing – including in countries such as Afghanistan, where women and girls have been, in effect, erased from public life – and as gender equality is growing ever more distant.
“Your focus this year on closing gender gaps in technology and innovation could not be more timely.
“Because as technology races ahead, women and girls are being left behind.
“The math is simple: without the insights and creativity of half the world, science and technology will fulfil just half their potential,” he said.
As gender inequality is ultimately a question of power, the secretary-general called for urgent action in three areas, starting with increasing education, income and employment for women and girls, particularly in the Global South.
Also speaking in a video message, the President of the UN General Assembly, Csaba Kőrösi said the world needed women’s expertise to address complex and interlocking crises, such as climate change, conflict, poverty, hunger and water scarcity.
He, however, noted that women are still a minority in digital information technology, computing, physics, mathematics and engineering, and account for less than 35 per cent of the global information and communications technology workforce.
“They are 20 per cent less likely than men to use the internet – but 27 times more likely to face online harassment or hate speech, when they do.
“New technologies, if used well, offer a strong and equalizing force to rapidly change this state of affairs.
Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women said the digital revolution offered the potential for unprecedented improvement in the lives of women and girls, and at a time when progress towards sustainable development is at risk.
She observed that if harnessed effectively, technology and innovation, could serve as catalysts for poverty reduction, tackling hunger, boosting health, and creating new jobs.
She maintained that technology and innovation “can mitigate climate change, address humanitarian crises, improve energy access and make entire cities and communities safer and more sustainable – benefitting women and girls.”
Given the pace of change, Bahous underlined the need for “a global normative framework” to mobilise technology towards achieving gender equality.
She expressed confidence that the meeting will make it known that “digital rights are women’s rights”.
Over the next two weeks, participants from across the world – including representatives from governments, the UN, civil society and youth groups, as well as activists – will examine how gender equality, empowerment and sustainable development can be achieved in the digital era.
The meeting, known as CSW67, will also highlight online violence and other dangers women and girls face, as well as the need for quality education in the information age.
