PESHAWAR: Speakers at an event have said that persistent gender gap is still the biggest challenge to access of women to digital world.

The event was organised by the UN Women, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of women at workplace and Elimination of Violence against Women (EVAW) to promote digital gender equality in the province and mark International Women’s Day.

Provincial Law Minister retired Justice Irshad Qaiser was chief guest on the occasion. The function was held under EU-funded project Rule of Law at Nishtar Hall here on Wednesday.

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality Programme”. The theme is aligned with the priority theme for the upcoming 67th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW-67) “Innovation and technological change and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”.

Event held in Nishtar Hall to mark International Women’s Day

“This year we celebrate and recognise the contributions of the women and girls committed to building gender-responsive innovations, advancing innovations and digital technology. Bridging the digital gap is need of hour. It means overcoming factors like accessibility, online protection and digital skills, which are important for women meaningful participation in technology,” the head of UN Women in KP, Zainab Qaisar Khan, told the function.

The event brought together women leaders, government officials, civil society organisations and other stakeholders to discuss the challenges faced by women in the region and to share ideas and best practices for advancing digital gender equality.

“We are proud to join forces with UN Women and EVAW Alliance to celebrate International Women’s Day and to promote digital gender equality and women’s empowerment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” said Rukhshanda Naz, KP Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace.”

She said that Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of participation of women and girls in technology.

“I am delighted to be part of this event organised by UN Women, KP Ombudsperson and EVAW Alliance to celebrate International Women’s Day and to amplify the voices of women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” said Justice Irshad Qaisar.

“By working together and choosing to challenge gender inequality in the digital world, we can build a more just and equitable society for all,” she said.

She said that a persistent gender gap was still the biggest challenge to access of women to the digital world and technology that was a click away. “Women are still underrepresented even in the digital world. Equal and consistent opportunities in the technological arena will enable the women to contribute to political and economic domains that will add value to governance and rule of law,” she added.

The event featured panel discussions, speeches and presentations on existing digital models.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2023