Empowering Women in and through ICT

October 2024

The intersection of technological advancement and gender inequality presents a complex challenge, as technology both holds the potential to reduce and perpetuate disparities in the digital economy. According to a United Nations report, women account for only 20% of STEM jobs and 33% of the workforce in the top 20 largest tech companies. This gender gap has resulted in a USD 1 trillion loss to the GDP of low- and middle-income nations over the past decade, with this figure expected to rise to USD 1.5 trillion by 2025 without corrective actions.

The Empowering Women in and through ICT Thought Paper examines barriers that hinder women’s participation in the workforce and their economic empowerment through digital financial inclusion. These challenges include gender stereotypes, systemic biases, limited access to education and technology, underrepresentation in leadership roles, cybersecurity risks, low financial awareness, and insufficient funding for entrepreneurship.

Drawing from global case studies, surveys, and roundtables, the paper proposes actionable strategies and initiatives to promote women’s empowerment and financial inclusion in the digital economy.

The paper also presents a unified framework for empowering women in and through ICT that offers a robust structure for the identification, planning, and implementation of high-impact initiatives on women empowerment in the digital economy.