One step for ICTs, One giant leap towards Knowledge Societies

"A holistic strategy for mainstreaming gender in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) is needed - UNESCO lit the path for the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to work with all national stakeholders to embrace digital inclusion by supporting and designing a framework to effectively address this issue." - Ms. Malahat Obaid (Director, Public Relations, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority)

Digital technologies including ICTs, internet and now Artificial Intelligence (AI) have become extremely relevant in ensuring information exchange, fundamental rights, and bridging socio-economic inequalities across countries. In many parts of the world, use of digital technologies especially ICTs has emerged as a game changer by igniting innovation for sustainable development. Recognizing its importance to act as a catalyzing agent in promoting gender equality, UNESCO is supporting member states in advancing and strengthening the use of ICTs.

In her message on the International Day for Digital Learning on 19 March 2024, Director-General of UNESCO, Ms. Audrey Azoulay, reiterated that "[h]umanity has entered the digital age." Furthermore, "advances in connectivity, portability, open educational resources and artificial intelligence are creating more possibilities to reach marginalized learners, whether they are living in remote or crisis-affected areas, living with disabilities, or not receiving education in their mother tongue." Therefore, it is of utmost importance that marginalized groups especially women and girls are made part of the transformation so that no one is left behind in years to come. International Telecommunication Union(ITU), the United Nations specialized agency for ICTs, records that 2.9 billion people around the world are still offline, and an estimated 96 percent of them live in developing countries.

UNESCO Islamabad Office, since 2020, has scaled up its efforts to strengthen the use of ICTs and internet for sustainable development in Pakistan. To kick off, UNESCO commissioned a report based on an assessment tool globally known as "Internet Universality Indicators" with the aim to analyze the internet landscape in the country from a human rights-based approach. One of the key findings of the study was to address the digital gender divide in the country. GSMAreports, "only 23 percent of the population currently subscribe to mobile internet services in Pakistan. This indicates a gap in actual usage versus availability and underlines the scale of the challenge to bring the unconnected people online."

As a follow up, in 2022, UNESCO Islamabad Office initiated a collaboration at the technical level with Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to strengthen ICTs among women and girls in the country. UNESCO and PTA worked together and developed the "Digital Gender Inclusion Strategy". The strategy sets the tone to provide a road map for relevant stakeholders through inputs and recommendations to improve institutional frameworks for promoting access to information online and gender inclusion in ICTs. A multi-pronged methodology including surveys and country wide consultations was adopted to map strategic approach towards enabling digital inclusion.

The strategy has emerged as a guiding document to lead towards achieving "Digital Pakistan vision" of the government. In most recent efforts, the strategy was launched by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication during the "Digital Nation Summit 2024" held in Islamabad in August 2024.

At the implementation side, the strategy aims to support institutions and stakeholders in creating a robust digital economy, society, and empowered digital citizens. By mapping and analyzing key trends in digital transformation, the strategy has identified six technical priority areas emphasizing on research and data collection, affordability, access, safety and security, women's digital literacy, and inclusion.

As part of the technical advisory group, Officer-in-Charge of UNESCO Islamabad Office, Mr Kar Hung Antony Tam, reiterated agency's commitment towards digital transformation in Pakistan and stated, "UNESCO globally is advocating and working towards integrating a right-based approach for internet and technology. To this end, we are supporting member states towards achieving more digital inclusive policies."

As a way forward, UNESCO Islamabad Office has initiated consultations to develop the country's first Media and Information Literacy (MIL) Strategy. UNESCO Media and Information LiteracyFramework defines MIL as "a set of competencies that empowers citizens to access, retrieve, understand, evaluate and use, create, as well as share information and media content in all formats, using various tools, in a critical, ethical and effective way, in order to participate and engage in personal, professional and societal activities." With a specific focus on gender equality, it will also contribute towards strengthening women's digital literacy in the country.

Moreover, as a specialized agency to promote freedom of expression and access to information, UNESCO will be engaging key stakeholders to draft country specific recommendations on UNESCO's recently published guidelines for governance of digital platforms. Through this, UNESCO aims to ensure that everyone's freedom of expression, access to information and diverse cultural content are fully guaranteed, while member states deal with the problems of dis- and misinformation and hate speech online.