NAN-F-43
Women
Isaac Aregbesola
Kigali, May 12, 2017 (NAN) The UN, African leaders and ICT stakeholders on Friday in Kigali, the Rwandan capital, called for the inclusion of women in digital integration.
The leaders made the call at the Transform Africa Summit, an ICT conference to focus on smart cities to drive the development of cities through advancement of technology
They said the transformation of Africa through ICT ought to be inclusive and should reduce divisions rather than widen them.
The President of Rwanda, Dr Paul Kagame, said the rollout and adoption of digital technologies and ICT in general across the continent should not distinguish or discriminate against any section of the population.
Kagame, who said that the prosperity of the continent was hinged on the growth of information technology, stressed that women should be in the centre of technology development.
He added that “as long as women and girls are lagging behind, Africa is not on the right track of advancing technology.
“Africa is not as prosperous as it should be because our cities are too small and disconnected.
“Access to technology and information must also not distinguish between rich and poor or between urban and rural people.
“If technology is entrenching divides rather than equalising opportunity, then we are not harnessing it well and there will be negative consequences.”
Kagame said countries and private sector players ought to be key tools in fulfilling the promise to bridge the divide rather than deepen them.
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, the UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women, said that empowerment of girls and women in ICT was critical to the development of the continent.
She expressed concern that women and girls were always at the bottom of the pyramid in education and other development cadres.
She, therefore, urged leaders of the continent to ensure that girls and boys got equal right to education with ICT.
The Vice President of Zambia, Mrs Nnonge Wina, advocated political will and sense of urgency in investing in ICT capacity building for women and girls in Africa.
Wina said women needed to be encouraged to develop interest in science and technology so as to have their rightful place in the ICT labour market.
She added that the issue of cultural impediment such as early girl marriage should be addressed, noting that men also needed to rise to the challenges of women to ensure that they were not relegated to the background.
Rwanda’s First Lady, Mrs Jeanette Kagame, said that the way forward for Africa was to narrow the female digital divide and push for girls inclusion in ICT.
She said that women and girls should be empowered in ICT to give them a sense of belonging and be made to realise that they could also contribute to the development of their societies.
The President’s wife advocated that ICT should be used as tools to advance the course of gender equality in Africa.
The Secretary-General of International Telecommunications Union (ITU), Houlin Zhao, said development of sustainable cities through ICT ought to be a priority, considering the urbanisation rates.
He said it was achievable, given the continent’s performance and achievements in other aspects such as the one area network, the scholarship fund, among others. (NAN)
IAA/HA
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Edited by Hadiza Mohammed-Aliyu