World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

Women have one chance in three less than men to benefit in the African Information Society. In the “Gender Digital Divide in Francophone Africa” research on six countries (Benin, Burkina FasoBurkina Faso, Cameroon, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal) conducted by the Gender and ICT Network, connections between gender and ICTs were found to be widely unrecognised. Looking at control, content, capacities…

The report from the workshop focused on gender in the information society in the context of the Asia Pacific. The participants also critically evaluated how global policy platforms such as the World Summit on the Information Society have framed issues related to gender and ICTs.

The declaration drafted by the participants in the European/North American Regional Conference on Gender and the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), assembled in Berlin on 11 September 2005.

An updated shortlist of online resources on gender and ICT in the UN System compiled by Women Watch to mark the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society.

The publication features a new measuring instrument which combines statistical indicators with analytical work on policies and their implementation. Beyond it is complemented with quantitative and qualitative research in a chapter on ‘women in the information society' .

The statement calls for the follow-up with the Iranian authorities to inquire about the reasons for the banning of the 2nd Civil Society Regional Forum on the Information Society for the West Asia and Middle East Region on August 23-25, 2005 in Kish Island.

The statement addressed to national governments calls for the adaptation of multi-stakeholder consultative approach, the funding provision to projects aimed at bridging the gender digital divide, the support of the use of appropriate ICT such as community radio, and the participation of women in the ICT decision-making structures.

The statement of Florence E. Etta-Akinaina, the ICT Policy Project Kenya co-ordinator, calls for the support to" better policies, more funding, appropriate and efficient organisational and implementation mechanisms which will help release the transformative power of telecentres".

This publication brings together assessments by women from around the world who have been involved in various civil society constituencies created during the WSIS process. The authors have been engaged in initiatives promoting public awareness and activities in fields such as human rights, women’s rights, and various development initiatives concerning media and ICTs. Among others the publication…

The WSIS photos collection in Flickr has more than 750 photographs from the Summit in Tunis, many of them published under CreativeCommons licence.