Empowering Women in Developing Countries ICT Applications and Benefits

Contents: Foreword. Preface. Introduction. I. Importance of ICT in Women Empowerment: 1. Empowering Young Women in Developing Countries through ICT: A Public Health  Approach/Suman Kapur. 2. Empowering Science and Technology Communication through Information and Communication Technology: Programmes in  Indonesia/Finarya Legoh. 3. The Roles and Responsibilities of Academic Institutions to Encourage Women Participation in ICT Related Disciplines/Shireen K. Assem. 4. Empowering Rural Women for Socio-economic Development through Information, Communication and Technology: Challenges and Opportunities for Malawi/Catherine Chaweza. 5. Women Empowerment through Information and Communication Technology in Nepal/Parbati Pudasaini. 6. Social Security of Women in Developing Countries through ICT/Isha Sehgal, Pinky Singh and Parul Sehgal. II. Important Role of NGOs in Women Empowerment through ICT with Special Focus on Rural Women: 7. ICT Framework Used as Women’s Tool for Poverty Alleviation in Rural Areas of Kenya/Catherine Kathure Kaimenyi. 8. ICT and Women’s Empowerment: A Paradigm Shift Needed in Outlook/Archita Bhatta. 9. Harnessing the Power of New ICTs for Rural Women in India: NGO Roles/Jane Schukoske. 10. Women’s Empowerment Gap and Sustainable Development in Sudan/Hanan Mohamed A. Karim Abbas. 11. Myanmar Women and Girls in ICT/Khin Mar Lar Tun. 12. Empowering Women Skills in Combating Desertification in Sudan/Maha Ali Abdel Latif and Eiman Elrashid Diab. III. Best Practices and Case Studies on Gender Equality and ICT: 13. Country Status Report on ICT Development in Gambia/Bintou Dibba. 14. Information Technology for Women Empowerment: The Case of Suvidha Kendras under Mission Convergence/Rashmi Singh. 15. Empowering Women in Developing Countries through Information Communication Technologies/Geeta Malhotra and Yashpal Malik. 16. Women’s Empowerment through ICT: Case Study of 2 Projects under Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), Malaysia/Puspadevi Kuppusamy. 17. Women in Research and Development Institutions: Case Study of National Center of Research/Eiman Elrasheed Eltayeb Diab, Migdam Elsheikh Abdel Gani, Maha Ali Abdel Latif and Gamma AbdELgader Osman. 18. Globalizing India: The Sunshine Sector and its Shadows–The Call Center Industry: A Case Study/Rekha Pande. 19. High performance computing in materials science research: are there  women?/Rapela Regina Maphanga. Annexures.

There are several challenges that are currently plaguing the issues of women’s rights in the world. ICT is a major element in personal growth and development of both men and women. It is however observed that the involvement of women in ICT sector is highly inadequate, particularly in the developing nations and there is a ‘gender divide’ resulting in lower numbers of women accessing and using ICT compared with men. At the same time, particularly for women, it could be a highly effective tool in improving their knowledge, staying informed and earning a living as well as reducing their sense of isolation, helping acquire new skills, actively participating in national and global dialogues, learning about taboo subjects (such as reproductive health and HIV) and making them feel safer and more in touch with family and friends, and also strengthening their self-esteem. ICT would also helps them improve ability to express themselves, speak in public and engage with adults and other decision makers to negotiate their needs and rights. Eradicating the gap and educating women through ICT is a step that will largely set this entire movement rolling down the hills to crash and break the wall of negligence.

This book is an extended and updated version of the papers presented at the International Conference on ‘Empowering Women in Developing Countries through Information and Communication Technologies’ organised by the Centre for Science and Technology of the Non-Aligned and Other Developing Countries (NAM S&T Centre) at Waknaghat (Solan, HP), India during 1-3 June 2013 in association with the JUIT Centre for Women Studies at Jaypee University for Information Technology (JUIT), the Non-Government Organization of Rural Education and Development - India (READ-India) and the Women in Development (IWID). 46 specialists from 20 countries, namely, Angola, Egypt, The Gambia, Indonesia, Iraq, Kenya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, Venezuela, Vietnam and the host country India participated in this International Conference.

This publication brought out by the NAM S&T Centre includes 19 articles and focuses on efforts being made by various governments to effectively leverage Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for women empowerment and betterment of qualities of their lives. (jacket)