Women make up half of the world’s population but find to hard to enter and thrive equally in the job market. Even today, women face numerous societal barriers, cultural restrictions and a lack of opportunities in many parts of the world.
Information and communication technologies (ICT) can be used to improve personal security, access to education and jobs, financial inclusion, and access to basic healthcare information for women all over the world. However, these advantages are contingent on women having meaningful access to ICT, which can be facilitated or hampered by a variety of factors such as affordability, relevant content, skills, and security.
Technology, in all its forms, including Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), continues to redefine and revolutionise how we all live and work. Using technology to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment is not only important for women and girls, but it will also benefit the country’s economy. An article stated that gender gaps in the labour market have persisted as evidenced by the low labour force participation of women.
This was mentioned by the executive director of the Department of Labour and Employment’s Institute for Labour Studies during a recent webinar hosted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
According to the executive director, who participated in the discussion, the Philippines was one of the first Asian countries to ratify several international conventions in support of women, enact gender-specific legislation, and formulate policies promoting gender equality. She also stated that the online labour market, also known as the platform economy, has huge potential to create employment opportunities for women.
Platform work, unlike traditional offline employment, does not have any eligibility requirements. As a result, it offers alternative employment opportunities to people with limited educational and professional experience. It is also mentioned that the promise of flexibility and the option to work from home allows women to work while caring for their families. As a result, the platform economy is a viable solution to the remaining barriers to women’s participation in the paid labour market.
Moreover, in conjunction with the national and global recognition of women’s accomplishments during Women’s Month, another homegrown e-commerce platform leads by example in encouraging more women to take the reins in technology and business to create more diverse and effective management teams.
Access to digital ICTs can provide economic empowerment to women, but it does not always translate into increased social or political power. While increased economic opportunities for women through the use of digital ICTs are valuable in and of themselves, programmes must be politically informed if women are to use economic empowerment as a steppingstone to increased social presence and influence and political spheres as well.
The existing data does not go into enough depth and detail about how women use ICTs and why they do so less frequently. Gaining a clearer picture of the types of technologies and technological interventions used by women is an important aspect of empowerment in the context of ICTs.
Therefore, ICT policy and programmes must look beyond technical and economic factors to assess the potential positive and negative impact of ICTs on society, culture, and politics. This could entail the government’s ICT department incorporating gender concerns into its work and the Ministry of Women focusing on the impact of ICT on gender relations.
Increased access to online resources, on the other hand, is vital to achieving that women’s and girls do not fall behind in an increasingly digital world, and it can, in some cases, catalyse women’s interest in the opportunities offered by technology and ICTs.
Trying to combat gender inequality is a complex and time-consuming process, but digital technology can help accelerate progress. Women can now access finance, integrate into national, regional, and global value chains, and gain knowledge because of digital transformation.
