MANILA -- The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) is organizing an event at the United Nations (UN) in New York aimed at taking a closer look on whether digitalization has benefitted or empowered women and resulted in gender equality.
PCO’s “Going DigitALL: Women’s Empowerment through Digitalization” to be held on Tuesday, March 19, at the UN Headquarters, wants to find out if e-governance actually help create safe spaces for women and empower them to become agents of change.
It also wants to know how gender perspective plays a significant role in e-governance initiatives and whether digitalization further promote investments in programs and infrastructure that help strengthen women’s empowerment and gender equality.
Media participation will be scrutinized to see if it creates and sustains a dialogue to help promote women’s involvement in digital transformation to bridge the gender gap.
“While the fullest potential of e-governance has yet to be realized, its impact, or lack thereof, on the various segments of society may already be observed,” the PCO said in organizing the side event as United Nations organizes the UN Commission on the Status of Women.
“Through a gender perspective, societies need to take a closer look at whether digital transformation in government systems and processes indeed contributes in reinforcing institutions to promote gender equality while making resources, both public and private, available for programs that uplift the lives and welfare of women and girls.”
Women have been defying societal challenges as they champion gender equality and empowerment, but as the world traverses the digital age, women’s rights and safety are still undermined and even compromised.
Poverty remains the world’s biggest issue today as the gap between the wealthy and the impoverished continues to widen, especially during the pandemic years, with women remain disproportionately affected with regard to their health, employment, and safety.
Aside from experiencing gender inequality, women also face multiple intersections of discrimination such as racism, classism, and ableism, exacerbated by stereotypes branding women as mere household caretakers.
The PCO side event in New York aims to spark a discussion on the existing legal framework on gender financing, its successes and challenges in the context of e-governance; global digitalization as a strategic approach to strengthening institutions and ensuring gender-responsive budgeting in addressing the challenges amongst women; and opportunities for improvement to accelerate poverty alleviation, especially through digital transformation.
It shall likewise provide a venue to identify opportunities for improvement and collaboration to accelerate poverty alleviation for the ultimate purpose of achieving gender equality and women empowerment.
Among the speakers include Ms. Chandy Eng, the executive director of Gender and Development for Cambodia (GADC), Ester Apin-Aldana, the incumbent Assistant Secretary for Administration, Finance and Comptrollership in the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), and Prof. Edna Imelda Fernandez-Legazpi, the current the Director IV of the Office of Student Development and Services (OSDS) and the Focal Person of the Gender and Development Office (GAD) of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
Other speakers are UN Women Asia and the Pacific Regional Director Alia El-Yassir; MWFCD, Malaysia Deputy Secretary General Chua Choon Hwa; USAID Senior Advisor for Digital Inclusion and Gender Equality Gwen Snyder; and PCO Undersecretary Emerald Ridao. (PND)
