Dynamic Coalition on Gender and Internet Governance (DC-Gender)

Introduction

Women, as one of the fundamental stakeholders in the information society, play a very crucial role. It is important for the IGF to fully integrate gender concerns in its work. The three sectors with the IGF's defining feature of mutistakeholderism are not monolithis, unitary and consistent actors. Greater efforts have to be to ensure that women's diverse perspectives are brought to the forefront in each stakeholder group. Ultimately, a rights based approach to Internet governance is the only safeguard for women to fully enjoy the benefits of the Internet.

Access to the Internet is extremely important for women to be able to gain information which may not be available to them otherwise. This will also facilitate them to achieve full realisation of their rights, especially in case of those from the marginalised communities. The Internet can also function as the harbinger of citizenship rights, bridging their right to be informed with the duty of the governance institutions to inform.

Action Plan

The Dynamic Coalition on Gender Equality aims to ensure gender perspective is included in the key debates around internet governance issues, such as content regulation, privacy, access, freedom of expression among others. Among others, the coalition wants to promote women's visibility at the IGF and related fora; to conduct research and input on the main topics of IGF debates; to support capacity building of gender advocates and to promote more effective linkages between local, regional and global initiatives on gender and information society.

Since 2011, APC's Women's Rights Programme has been compiling Gender Report Cards to monitor and assess the level of gender parity and inclusion at the IGF's workshop sessions. These Gender Report Cards have been instrumental in monitoring the level of gender parity and inclusion at IGF workshop sessions.