Position of African Women in relation to ICTs

Women's burden is heavier in all these aspects because women represent the majority of the poor and illiterate. The relative high cost of access to ICT facilities and equipment as well as the unavailability of access to funding and credit also contribute to this burden.

Further, the unavailability of appropriate technologies designed for an African context exacerbates the problems of women's access and participation in ICT and in the Information Society. Gender discrimination excludes the majority of women from benefiting from the opportunities that ICTs offer as a tool and catalyst for development and al human enterprise.

The ICT sector is dominated by values which favour profit over human well being. This lack of concern for human development objectives does not augur well for women in Africa. Within the firms, markets and institutional contexts through which ICTs are diffused, power relations do not advance women's empowerment and the agenda of the few groups representing the interests of gender equality and human development in policy processes are marginalised.

These groups occupy low status and are seen to have little relevance. In addition, women are underrepresented in all aspects of decision-making in operations, policy and regulation. Unless this dominant culture and its related practices are changed, rapid diffusion of ICTs will contribute little to gender equality and human development for the world's majority.

The failure to achieve greater equity in access to the Information Society poses greater risks that the African region and women in that region will fall further behind, becoming more marginalised and excluded. The Information Society as it is presently constituted does not reflect different women's concerns, needs and interests and fails to recognise and protect women's human rights and dignity. This failure is leading to the imposition of external models and perspectives that will aggravate present conditions of poverty and exclusion. The concept on the Information Society as it stands now, leads to an absence of an African, and an African women's perspective.

Women are seen as passive receivers of information rather than actors able to shape and contribute to decision making and policy formulation in general and in the ICT sector in particular. African women are able to contribute to the formulation and implementation of creative solutions to the digital divide and are legitimate partners and actors in building an Information Society in Africa.

ICTs and the upgrading of human capacity are increasingly considered to be agents for development. It is, therefore, critical to ensure equal access and gender equity in the Information Society. Increased access to ICTs can uplift African women's livelihood through:

• Greater access to and control of local and international markets for African women producers and traders
• Employment and other profit-related opportunities which do not require a physical presence thereby allowing women to combine the care economy with their professional roles
• Promotion of health, nutrition, education and other human development opportunities
• The capacity to mobilise for women's empowerment and societal well being.