UNICEF report says 90% adolescent girls in low-income economies are offline

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Anjali Sharma         

GG News Bureau

UNITED NATIONS, 27th April. According to a new UNICEF analysis issued on Wednesday which coincided with the International Girls in ICT Day stated that 90 per cent of adolescent girls and young women do not use the internet in low-income countries, while their male peers are twice as likely to be online..

UNICEF Director of Education Robert Jenkins said “Closing the digital divide between girls and boys is about more than just having access to the internet and technology. It’s about empowering girls to become innovators, creators, and leaders.”

“If we want to tackle gender gaps in the labour market, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math fields we must start now by helping young people, especially girls, gain digital skills.”

The report, Bridging the Digital Divide: Challenges and an Urgent Call for Action for Equitable Digital Skills Development  takes a close look at the gender digital divide among young people aged 15-24.

It crunches the data on internet use, mobile phone ownership, and digital skills in mostly low, lower-middle, and some middle-income economies.

More data is needed to better monitor, understand, and work toward digital inclusion, the report finds that girls are being left behind in an increasingly digital and connected world.

The number of young people with access to the internet at home is much higher than the number of youths who have obtained digital skills while advancing access to the internet is important, it isn’t enough to boost digital skills training. For example, in most countries analyzed.

The report said that girls are the least likely to have the opportunities to develop the skills needed for 21st century learning and employment.

On average across 32 countries and territories, girls are 35 per cent less likely than their male peers to have digital skills, including simple activities like copying or pasting files or folders, sending emails, or transferring files, it stated.

The report suggested that educational and family environments play a critical role in the gender digital divide.

The girls are far less likely than boys to access, or be able to make full use of the internet and digital technologies.

The report stressed that across 41 countries and territories included in the analysishouseholds are much more likely to provide mobile phones for boys than girls.

UNICEF said barriers to accessing opportunities to higher learning and the labor market, pervasive discriminatory gender norms and stereotypes, and concerns over online safety, may further restrict girls’ digital access and skills development.

The report acknowledged that to break through the barriers, girls need early exposure and access to technology, digital and life skills training, that also helps neutralize the impact of harmful gender stereotypes, especially within families, and online violence.

UNICEF has called on governments and partners to close the gender divide and ensure that girls can succeed in a digital world.

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