IGF 2020 WS #147 Building digital bridges: engaging young women online

Information

Session

Thematic Track:

Topic(s):

Accessibility
Gender
Local Content Development

Organizer 1: Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Organizer 2: Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Organizer 3: Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

Speaker 1: Jahou Nyan, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 2: Alaa Abou Ghrara, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 3: Christopher Worman, Civil Society, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)

Format:

Round Table - U-shape - 60 Min

Description:

While an ever-increasing proportion of the world’s population are connected to the internet, women are being left behind. Moreover, young women (under the age of 30) face different barriers that prevent them going online. Existing social norms in restrictive settings, familial control, young women’s economic situation or the threat of online violence are all examples of obstacles for the engagement of young women online. Research shows that having basic access is not enough to guarantee that people go online. Digital inclusion is about ensuring young women not only have access to technology, but also that they are empowered to navigate the internet without fear. Digital inclusion is about making the internet an inclusive space relevant to people’s specific needs. Bridging the digital gender divide and getting the “next billion users” connected can only happen if we keep the online space respectful and inclusive. We need to go beyond a one-size-fits-all approach to identify ways to help young women feel safe to participate online. The approach needs to be flexible and closely tailored to the different needs of specific communities and individuals. To adapt approaches to fit the needs of different (gender) identities, we need creative solutions and content to increase women’s engagement online. This session will introduce different on-the-ground experiences and explore the differentiated response needed to ensure equal access and participation of young women online and to guarantee that their voices are heard. Though digital inclusion benefits individuals by granting new opportunities, improper usage can magnify, rather than bridge, existing inequalities. Empowerment and an enabling online environment in which young women can meaningfully engage and participate are key for them to equally benefit from the digital transformation. The proposed session is designed to be a dynamic and inclusive round-table discussion of 60 minutes. There are four main speakers, selected to represent at least three main areas of work on digital inclusion: technology (TechSoup); programme (RNW Media) and practice (online communities in restrictive settings). Each speaker will present their strategies, approaches and practical solutions to digital inclusion for 5-8 minutes. Participants will be invited to comment and pose questions after each presentation. The moderator will invite the speaker to respond directly but will also engage other participants to give their perspective as well. This helps ensure a good discussion flow. The online moderator will ensure questions and perspectives from remote participants are included in the session’s discussion. Quiet participants will be asked in a sensitive manner to give their views as well. This technique works with less outgoing people and proves to bring out key opinions. After 30 minutes, the moderator will recapitulate the discussion to ensure participants who streamed in can be included. There will be another recap, with key take-aways and questions for further discussion at the end.

Issues:

As stressed in various international reports on the digital gender divide, more work needs to be done to develop new digital inclusion programmes and learn from previous ones. Research and evidence gathering, lessons learned and opportunities for scaling up new initiatives should be shared and coordinated. There is a need for differentiated approaches that respond to the local needs of communities and individuals. There are several smaller innovative initiatives with the potential to provide this flexible and tailored response that are often overlooked and not included in mainstream digital inclusion policies. This session will showcase some of these new best practices for bridging the digital gender divide with a focus on young women and girls. There will also be space to discuss future opportunities for scaling up some of these best practices and ways of including them into policies and digital gender equality initiatives. Focusing on young women and girls presents an important opportunity. Addressing the digital gender divide at an early age provides important opportunities for creating an enabling environment for young women and bridging gender gaps for the future generation. During the session various stakeholders from different fields—and different geographical regions— will present some innovative approaches that contribute to bridging the digital gender divide for young women and girls. Different organisations will discuss their strategies to create an enabling environment for young women’s online participation. Locally oriented digital skills programmes and capacity building trainings are important elements to enhance digital inclusion for women. A local youth organisation will present the various inclusive approaches they employ to increase women’s engagement on their online platform. For example, encouraging positive and constructive dialogue through community moderation or targeting specific groups of young women to be the first ones to express their opinions on particularly relevant content can help create a ‘safe space’ to participate online. Ultimately, a sense of safety and security is of great importance to empower women to engage in the online space. Young women adjust their online behaviour depending on how secure they feel. Enhanced digital skills, in combination with moderated discussions and targeting approaches present innovative ways to create this safe space. The audience will be encouraged to participate in the discussion, provide feedback, include their ideas and introduce new approaches to bridging the digital gender divide.

Policy Question(s):

Does the digital gender divide play out the same ways across social and/or geographical contexts or do we need to speak of different digital gender divides? Which existing inclusive strategies to tackle the digital gender divide can be further developed to ensure the digital inclusion of young women in all their diversities? How can we scale-up existing inclusive strategies, while at the same time ensuring these strategies keep responding to the local needs of young women worldwide? What can we do to ensure development policies respond to the local needs of young women from the global south when implementing digital inclusion programmes? How can we include young women in the development of such policies?

Expected Outcomes:

This session will demonstrate different innovative approaches to addressing the digital gender divide. It will broaden the perspective on getting women online and address the importance of a differentiated approach to engaging and encouraging young women to stay online. Through the sharing of best practices and input from the diverse speakers, the session will build the knowledge of internet governance thinkers and practitioners on the best strategies for engaging more young women in digital communities. Suggestions on how to scale-up the approaches to address the digital gender divide will be shared by the speakers and the audience, which will lead to refining strategies, and inform (international) policy recommendations. The input and analysis from this session will serve to inform an issue brief to be published by RNW Media on how to create an enabling digital environment to increase young women’s engagement online.

Relevance to Internet Governance: The new and innovative best practices for bridging the digital gender divide with a focus on young women and girls presented and discussed in this session contribute to the further development of programmes already addressing the digital gender divide. This will encourage other civil society organisations, companies and governments to move away from mainstream programmes by presenting them with new insights and best practices that can inform their strategies. This session stresses the need to go beyond the one-size-fits all approach, demonstrates existing tailored strategies and will explore possibilities for scaling up these initiatives.

Relevance to Theme: This session ties into the Inclusion theme as it addresses the need for a differentiated response to ensure equal access and participation of young women online and to guarantee their voices are heard online. To reach digital inclusion for young women around the world, policies and programmes need to respond to the local needs of communities and individuals. The session addresses ways in which we can move beyond a one-fits-all approach to ensure digital inclusion. Furthermore, the session format is inclusive. Our speakers represent various areas of work, geographical regions and organisations around the world, and young women will be represented as speakers. Also, we will ensure interactive online participation in the session to ensure that those people around the world that cannot be physically present at the meeting can participate equally.

Discussion Facilitation:

The proposed session is designed to be a dynamic and inclusive roundtable discussion of 60 minutes. Each speaker will present their strategies, approaches and practical solutions to digital inclusion for 5-8 minutes. Participants will be invited to comment and pose questions after each presentation. The moderator will invite the speaker to respond directly but will also engage other participants to give their perspective as well. This helps ensure a good discussion flow. We will ensure interactive online participation in the session to ensure that those people around the world that cannot be physically present at the meeting can participate equally. The online moderator will ensure questions and perspectives from remote participants are included in the session’s discussion and that remote participants are given the floor equally to share their ideas. Online participation will be further increased through the use of digital tools such as Mentimeter, which allows for polling among physical as well as remote participants. This will feed into the discussion and ensure all views and opinions are represented. Quiet participants will be asked in a sensitive manner to give their views as well. This technique works with less outgoing people and proves to bring out key opinions. After 30 minutes, the moderator will recapitulate the discussion to ensure participants who streamed in can be included. This is also a key moment to poll the opinions of the participants, which will give new insights for further discussion. There will be another recap, with key take-aways and online as well as offline questions from the participants for further discussion at the end.

Online Participation:

Usage of IGF Official Tool. Additional Tools proposed: With the use of Zoom, the online moderator will ensure questions and perspectives from remote participants are included in the session’s discussion and that remote participants are given the floor equally to share their ideas. Online participation will be further increased through the use of digital tools such as Mentimeter, which allows for polling among physical as well as remote participants. This will feed into the discussion and ensure all views and opinions are represented.

SDGs:

GOAL 5: Gender Equality
GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
GOAL 10: Reduced Inequalities
GOAL 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions