Creating an outer circle in the digital world: participation of women in the e-government system

This paper argues for the incorporation of gender equity and women’s agenda in ICT policies to combat the exclusion-inclusion syndrome of digital power relations. It focuses on the situation in the Gambia.

The current digital era has opened up a space for participation in governance through alternate means. The author argues that concerns of gender equity must be built into current ICT policy to ensure that this technology does not lead to greater inequalities between men and women. The author cites the development of national ICT policy (NICI policy) for the Gambia as a case where gender equity and poverty alleviation where built in objectives of the policy.

Looking at the Gambian situation, the report finds that:

the Gambia aims to set up Internet Cafés throughout the country to ensure dissemination of National Women’s Policy on the Advancement of Gambian Women to the public through a website that will enhance access to information on Gender Issues
policy ensures that all media programmes related to gender be frequently reviewed and updated
the Internet Cafés make ICTs more accessible and affordable to Gambian women and are user friendly to accommodate the low literacy rate
cafés also serve as centres to train grassroots women to operate ICT equipment
rural centres will be extended as ICT training centres to train women entrepreneurs.
Challenges include:

availability of resources
low level of literacy among women, requiring literacy and numeric skills development prior to ICT training
high cost of infrastructure
shortage of electricity.
The author concludes by arguing for an emphasis on gender and rural development in ICT policy to foster inclusion in e-governance.

Publisher: United Nations [UN] Division for the Advancement of Women
Year of Publication: 2006