28 March 2023
“惭any of us thought that lack of standards for human rights the world over was one of the greatest causes of friction among the nations, and that recognition of human rights might become one of the cornerstones on which peace could eventually be based.”1
Eleanor Roosevelt penned these words in magazine in April 1948, and in December of that year, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. As with the Charter of the United Nations, the UDHR was intended to provide a global standard for human rights and equality that would not only set a baseline for individuals but would become an organizing principle that countries could align upon.
As we acknowledge the seventy-fifth anniversary of the UDHR this year—and as we consider both the advances made in the expansion of rights and the terrain of freedom that remains to be cultivated—one question emerges: when it comes to the foundation of freedom, justice and peace, what does the digital future hold for those who are still left behind?
This question arises as three key milestones intersect in 2023. First, the fifth Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)—the once-every-decade conference dedicated to the world’s 46 LDCs, convened in Doha, Qatar in early March 2023—was intended to galvanize commitments and partnerships to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the least developed countries. Second, the —with its theme, “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”—has just been completed. And finally, the seventy-fifth anniversary of the UDHR will officially be commemorated in December 2023.
The convergence of these three significant milestones carries powerful symbolism—that the achievement of human rights is intrinsically linked to the economic empowerment of women in the world’s least developed countries. More specifically, the “digital last mile”, in terms of women’s economic empowerment, remains: bridging the gender digital divide to ensure that no one is left behind in economies that are increasingly digital.
To truly appreciate the significance of the digital last mile when it comes to women’s economic empowerment, one must understand the barriers specific to the LDCs, which go beyond those experienced by women in more developed economies.
At the global level, the gender gap for internet usage stands at 6 points, according to , with female internet usage at 63 per cent compared to 69 per cent of men. Additionally, when it comes to high-income nations, women have almost achieved both gender parity and scale as it relates to internet usage: 88 per cent female users versus 89 per cent male users.
Key barriers to mobile ownership and use among women remain, including limited livelihood opportunities, lower capacity to read and write, lack of confidence with technology and restrictive social norms.
Nevertheless, the divide remains wide in the LDCs, where only 30 per cent of women are using the Internet—a full 13 percentage points lower than men. The critical nature of this challenge, in terms of both the gender gap and the extent of digital uptake among women, becomes clearer when comparing the landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) (33 per cent of women versus 40 per cent of men), Africa (34 per cent versus 45 per cent) and the Arab States (65 per cent versus 75 per cent). Stated more simply, of all the geographical regions assessed by ITU in terms of internet usage, the lowest percentage of women users occurred in the LDCs.
Take women refugees as a specific example of the digital last mile. According to the report of GSMA—an association representing the interests of mobile operators worldwide—titled, “,” women refugees have a hard time accessing mobile phones and the Internet. In Bidi Bidi, Uganda, one of the largest refugee camps in the world, women are 47 per cent less likely than men to own a phone and 89 per cent less likely to use mobile internet. Digital tools can give women in refugee settlements an increased sense of safety, better access to important information and an ability to connect with diasporic loved ones. These tools can also support entrepreneurial women in building businesses and becoming financially included through mobile money. Yet, key barriers to mobile ownership and use among women remain, including limited livelihood opportunities, lower capacity to read and write, lack of confidence with technology, restrictive social norms and many other factors.
Bridging the gap requires a multistakeholder approach that combines skills, affordable handsets and services tailored to women’s needs. As the United Nations catalytic finance entity for the world’s 46 least developed countries, one of the critical tasks of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) is supporting the creation of gender-inclusive digital economies. But achieving this objective calls for more than innovative tools and digital infrastructure. It requires a committed civil society, inclusive policymaking, and platforms that incentivize service providers as well as end users.
Promoting diverse participation
Inclusive policymaking requires people directly impacted by policy change to participate in its design and implementation, yet governments and the private sector are often not deliberate about hearing from female consumers or female representatives of industry and civil society.
The is the new flagship UNCDF gender initiative to promote participation in WDFI policy change and support the creation of gender-inclusive digital economies. The Advocacy Hub emerged as a mechanism to build on the global momentum around gender equality and to accelerate the pace of change by bridging global commitments and local results.
There are two interconnected components to the Advocacy Hub: Local Coalitions in Indonesia and Ethiopia, made up of civil society, and public and private sector organizations; and the Global Advocacy Hub. The Coalitions serve as platforms for local stakeholders to discuss, strategize and collaborate for greater impact. UNCDF supports the members of the Coalitions by facilitating access to training and insights, and by channelling financial resources to support the implementation of innovative practical solutions. At the global level, the Hub will create unified messages on the priority issues identified by the Coalitions in partnership with global organizations, as well as open opportunities for country stakeholders to gain visibility at global platforms.
Unlike other global platforms, the WDFI Advocacy Hub is centred on elevating and amplifying local voices, shifting resources to local partners and spurring a constructive dialogue with decision makers. With a unified focus on advocacy, the objective is to drive collective action to create an environment in which women can make informed choices about their financial future and lift up their communities and national economies.
Inclusive policymaking at work in Africa
Since 2014, the gender gap in access to formal bank accounts has increased in all countries in the . In 2021, UNCDF convened an Advisory Panel on Women and Digital Financial Services to facilitate regular dialogue between civil society representatives from each of the six CEMAC countries—Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of Congo—and regulators and policymakers in the region. The group brought together nearly 40 women and men, representing consumer rights groups, female entrepreneur associations, financial organizations and other entities working on women’s economic participation.
The power of digital technology to support the promise of human rights lies in the potential to finally reach those who have been, and remain, underserved throughout much of history.
As a result of the collaboration, participants developed and presented 23 recommendations to regional and national regulators, and several participants have been invited to contribute to the regional financial inclusion strategy. The Advisory Panel amplified women’s voices, demonstrating how the UNCDF participatory approach can increase transparency and representation in policymaking.
Platforms as bridges
Beyond policymaking and multistakeholder engagement, creating gender-inclusive digital economies to reach this digital last mile requires inclusive tools, services and technical assistance. UNCDF displayed such an approach in 2022.
COVID-19 was a blow to women’s economic empowerment, as it was to other aspects of daily civil life. To support sustainable recovery from COVID-19 for small businesses in Nepal, UNCDF facilitated the onboarding of more than 4000 micro- small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) (65 per cent women-led) to e-commerce platforms, and trained more than 2,600 MSMEs (77 per cent women-led) on digital and financial skills. In partnership with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNCDF in Myanmar is developing an industry-governed, open-source payment platform, WynePay. The system was designed to expand financial inclusion by providing incentives for financial service providers, individuals and small businesses to use electronic payments. More than 30 financial service providers have joined, and when the platform goes live in 2023, more than 2 million people will be able to make and receive digital payments that are faster, cheaper and safer—and 80 per cent of those transactions are expected to be made by women.
Dignity is digital
There is a word that figuratively and literally resonates through the UDHR, the Doha Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries 2022–2031, which was the centerpiece of LDC5, and the opening statement of the CSW67: dignity. The power of digital technology to support the promise of human rights lies in the potential to finally reach those who have been, and remain, underserved throughout much of history—a promise that goes back to the Charter of the United Nations. UNCDF is committed to harnessing the power of digital to reach the world’s last mile in the pursuit of human rights, while setting in place gender-intentional policies as an irreplaceable cornerstone for future peace.
Notes
1Eleanor Roosevelt, “The Promise of Human Rights”, Foreign Affairs, April 1948, in Allida Black, Courage in a Dangerous World: The Political Writings of Eleanor Roosevelt (New York: Columbia University Press, 1999), pp. 156-168.
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