UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

05/03/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 05/03/2021 08:31

Building the Bandwidth-Accelerating Girls’ Digital Access, Skills and Online Learning

I have always believed that education is key to fixing so many of the world's greatest problems: violence, poverty and health. It all starts with education

Sunny Varkey, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador

Our UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Sunny Varkey's Foundation,UNESCO, and CJ Cultural Foundation are jointly convening a high-level virtual roundtable. This event is to be held online on 22 July 2021 and will bring together a group of around 30 senior representatives of government, business, and civil society to discuss the significant gender gap in digital access, skills, and online learning and how to best leverage technologies for girls' education.

This event is consistent with UNESCO Global Priority on Gender Equality and Education Programmes along with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, specifically, Goal 5, Empowering Women and Girls, Goal 4, Quality Education for all and Goal 3, Good Health and Well Being.

It will be uploaded onto Youtube following the event and will address three key themes:

Equality: Closing the gender gaps in girls' access to online education and in digital skills

Over the last year, there has been a sudden and profound shift in the role of digital technology in education systems around the world. Many countries have turned to online learning platforms after temporarily closing their schools and other learning spaces to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there are growing concerns that the global move toward online learning and other forms of educational technology could be leaving girls and young women behind. There are significant gender inequalities in access to digital resources which are likely to have curtailed the education of girls and young women during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Empowerment: Leveraging the potential of technology to advance education and gender equality, with a focus on the most marginalised.

The gap between boys and girls and men and women is apparent at every level, from simpler tasks such as using apps on a mobile phone, to advanced skills like coding. Women and girls are 4 times less likely to know how to programme computers, and 13 times less likely to file for technology patents. These gaps appear to be growing, despite at least two decades of interventions to move closer to gender equality.

Safety: Ensuring safe, inclusive and gender-responsive online learning spaces

Girls and women around the world routinely face gender-based harassment online and it is more difficult for them to navigate digital spaces safely than it is for boys and men. Today, the international community is thinking about the future of digital technology in education systems in the aftermath of COVID-19. However, many of these discussions are inadequately considering the impact of digital technology on education and, in particular, on the education of girls and young women.

15%

of women use the internet compared 28% of men in the least developed countries

8%

women are 8% less likely than men to have a mobile phone and 20% less likely to use the internet on it

Find out more

Varkey Fondation
Gender equality UNESCO's Global Priority
CJ Cultural Foundation
UNESCO's Education Programmes