|
BPFA STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES:
1 Promote women's economic rights and independence.
2 Give women equal access to resources, employment,
markets and trade.
3 Provide business services, training, and access
to markets, information and technology, particularly to low-income
women.
4 Strengthen women's economic capacity and commercial
networks.
5 Stop all forms of discrimination in employment
and occupation segregation.
6 Encourage harmony between work and family
responsibilities for women and men.
ICT POTENTIAL:
Online resources on small business initiatives,
how to get credit to start a business, and ideas for small and
micro-enterprise activities are giving women a new support system
to improve their economic well-being.
Cell phones with internet access are allowing
rural producers to get information about daily market prices of
their crops online. After they choose where to sell their products,
they call their sales persons and direct them to the best market
to go to.
Women are being trained to use the internet
to promote local products and services (medicinal plants, music,
artistic items) by putting them on a website.
Producers are using websites to compare their
products' prices with other producers. They can learn about new
techniques related to their activities and share their knowledge
as well.
WHAT GENDER ADVOCATES ARE FIGHTING FOR IN THE
WSIS POLICY DOCUMENTS
Allocate in the national budget resources to
support strategies to increase women's participation in the information
economy, including funding for NGOs to strengthen opportunities
for women's empowerment throught ICT.
Take action to redress the concentration of
women in lower-skilled ICT jobs.
Encourage more participation of women in the
ICT industry by addressing gender-based inequalities and instituting
gender-sensitive employment policies.
Increase funding mechanisms to support women's
initiatives in ICT-based entrepreneurship and other economic activities.
|
NGO
GSWG