Islamabad (December 22, 2022): Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), in collaboration with UNESCO Pakistan, hosted the fourth consultative workshop for the development of digital gender inclusion strategy. The workshop was held in Karachi.
The workshop, organized at PTA’s Karachi Zonal Office, is the last in the series of consultative workshops that have been held to gather multi-stakeholder experts’ recommendations for a strategy to reduce digital gender divide in Pakistan. The consultative process will continue for another month through surveys and interviews.
Director Wireless PTA and the head of PTA’s initiative for gender inclusion in ICTs, briefed the participants that these workshops have been conducted to capture insights of experts and local communities from Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
The workshop was conducted by Ms. Sadaf Khan, UNESCO consultant. Experts from various stakeholder groups attended the workshop. Representatives from Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), National Incubation Centre Karachi, Careem, telecom operators, academia, banking sector, social enterprises, women entrepreneurs, and non-governmental organizations such Association for Progressive Communications (APC), Aurat Foundation etc. also participated.
PTA’s gender inclusion strategy is being developed with support from UNESCO Pakistan. It aims to recommend specific amendments and additions in policies that can help achieve gender parity in use of internet, mobile phones and digital skills in line with International Telecommunication Union’s 2030 goals. This strategy will help PTA, along with other public and private sector stakeholders, to tackle various barriers to women’s use of mobile and ICTs and bridge the digital gender divide in Pakistan.
