Broadband Commission Sets New Gender Target

BOSTON, March 21, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Broadband Commission agreed on a new target designed to spur female access to the power of information and communication technologies (ICTs).  Pyramid Research's Research and Consulting Director Sonia Jorge was pleased to participate in the Broadband Commission's Working Group on Gender meeting and work sessions that lead to this positive development. Held alongside the Broadband Commission for Digital Development meetings in Mexico City on March 16-17, 2013, the Working Group on Gender met for its first face-to-face meeting and agreed to deliver its first set of outcomes to the next meeting of the Commission in September.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130321/SF81339)

The new target mandates "gender equality in broadband access by the year 2020," according to the ITU's recent press release. At present, ITU figures confirm that in the developing world, women are much less likely to have access to technology than their male counterparts. While that disparity is lower in developed countries, a measureable gap still exists.

Chaired by Helen Clark, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Working Group on Gender featured presentations and reflections by a number of organizations and participating experts, including Changecorp, GSMA, Intel, Telecentre.org, ITU, WISAT and Pyramid Research. The Commission meeting also launched a new Task Group on the post-2015 development agenda and the future Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Along with Commissioners, special representatives and expert members of the Working Group on Gender, Pyramid Research's Sonia Jorge will continue to contribute to the Working Group's efforts and activities toward the development of the proposed outcomes. 

As an international consultant in communications policy and regulation and an expert on gender and ICT for close to 20 years, Ms. Jorge is delighted to work alongside the high-level body of Commissioners and experts to develop the Working Group's work plan for 2013.

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