The need for stakeholders to develop digital tools to meet women’s needs through the advancement of gender equality in technology innovation has again been.
Dame Pauline Tallen, Minister of Women Affairs, Dame Pauline Tallen made the plea in Abuja, during the 2023 National Women’s Conference with the theme “Inclusive Technology and Digital Innovation for Gender Equality and Women Empowerment”.
The Minister also reiterated the need to protect women and girls from all forms of Gender Based Violence perpetrated online through strengthening digital innovation to address the trend.
She also stressed the need to create a more inclusive innovations eco-system that promotes safe and gender-responsive technology and innovation that would bridge the gender digital divide.
“Despite the rapid growth of the country’s tech sector, only very few women have the opportunity to participate in the ecosystem which is largely dominated by men. It is also disheartening that only about 30 percent of 93 surveyed technology companies in Nigeria are owned by women and a third of these companies employed no woman at all” she said.
Ms. Beatric Eyoung, United Nations Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, said it was important to reflect on the ways technology and digital innovation could serve as tools in advancing gender equality at all levels.
“We must therefore harness the potential of technology and digital innovation in a way that is inclusive of women from all backgrounds, rural women with disability, women, and girls living with HIV, and design technology solutions informed by their lived experiences, realities, and needs,” she said.
Also speaking, a representative of the “Side by Side Movement for Gender Justice, Rev. Joseph Hayab, urged religious leaders to lead by example to their followers by advocating for gender justice, and equality in all aspects of lives.
