Women2000 and Beyond: Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women through ICT

“The so-called digital divide is actually several gaps in one. There is a technological divide—great gaps in infrastructure. There is a content divide. A lot of web-based information is simply not relevant to the real needs of people. And nearly 70 per cent of the world's websites are in English, at times crowding out local voices and views. There is a gender divide, with women and girls enjoying less access to information technology than men and boys. This can be true of rich and poor countries alike."- United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan's statement to the World Summit on the Information Society, Geneva, 10 December 2003

This issue of Women2000 and Beyond focuses on the gender digital divide. It reviews the gender dimensions of ICT and how the United Nations has addressed the issues of gender equality and ICT. It explores potentials for empowering women through ICT and strategies to address the gender digital divide including at the national level.

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