Meeting concludes with declaration on gender equality in the information society
By Mercy Wambui, Communication Officer, ECA
03 October 2005

Gender activists and public sector representatives known as “National machineries” adopted a draft declaration that seeks to advance gender equality in addressing the digital divide. The final declaration will be presented at the forthcoming World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to be held in Tunis, November 2005.

The meeting, “Strengthening the capacity of national machineries through the effective use of ICT, was hosted by the Economic Commission for Africa and the UN Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) from 28-30 September 2005 in Addis Ababa.

Speaking at the closing session, Ms. Roselyn Odera, Chief, Gender Analysis Section, DAW noted that many of the national machineries are at different stages of development, with varying use and experience in ICTs. “ICTs are not just about computers – there are other tools involved and we will try and use them more effectively from now on,” She said.

She hailed the intensity of the 3-day meeting and highlighted some key achievements. “We have proposed concrete actions, looked at various national ICT policies and how gender perspectives should be integrated into them”. She said, adding, “The draft declaration contains the main issues that the national machineries will bring to the attention of African Ministers attending the WSIS meeting in November.”

Participants agreed to engage in regular consultations among themselves through an electronic network whose coordination will be facilitated by volunteers from Djibouti, Ghana and Togo.

National machineries, are focal points in government units set up to support gender equality and gender mainstreaming in the development frameworks of member States as outlined in the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.

For information on the final copy of the Declaration, contact Atsuko Okuda (aokuda@uneca.org) for more information.