The sixty-second session of the Commission on the Status of Women will take place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from 12 to 23 March 2018. In our continued efforts to ensure that more women are online, and can be assured of safer platforms, we are proud to share that Centre for Social Research is organizing a panel discussion that is focused on the need to provide internet access to the women leaders in rural areas. The expected outcome of the discussion is to charter possible solutions to increase the internet access for rural women leaders in India. Internet is foreseen as a tool of transformation in the economic and social development of women in rural India.
Welcome to #CSW62!
Here is a message from @UN_CSW Chairperson, Geraldine Byrne Nason pic.twitter.com/l7YYk7XXjf— United Nations CSW (@UN_CSW) March 9, 2018
With 243 million internet users in India at present, there is a gaping gender divide reflecting on the ratio of men and women using the internet. In 2016, a report by Boston Consulting Group pointed out the gender disparity in India, in the online spaces. Only 29% of Internet users in India are women, and as per this report, this number is set to go up by 2020, with women comprising 40% of total internet users.
The potential of rural communities has been untapped for too long and with the vision of a Digital India, we finally have platforms that rural women can use to their benefit. The increase in rural users will expand the digital commerce that the world will see welcoming a new era of the digital revolution.
Our work through #SocialSurfing and #Tweesurfing, have been part of our contribution to the digital revolution in the country, where we work towards not only increasing the number of women who are participating in various online platforms, but also ensuring safer and secure online spaces for all internet users. We are looking at the digital platforms as tools to amplify the voices of rural women and move towards a growing new nation of women leaders, the right to be heard.
We look forward to your participation in the programme, which will consist of a panel discussion consisting of global personalities from India, Kenya and United States of America. Please RSVP here