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Excellencies,
Women Ministers,
Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is a great pleasure to welcome you to the 2014 GEM-Tech Awards Breakfast with Women Ministers.
This is wonderful opportunity to gather together and I am delighted to be provided with this platform for informal networking with women decision makers.
This is the time to get women to the tables where the decisions are being made – to shape the world, and to shape its future!
And let’s keep working, as well, to get more women ministers and more women on the delegations to ITU events.
Dear colleagues,
I am confident that we shall succeed – and we have already laid very strong foundations. I have made every effort to ensure that women’s digital empowerment and full participation in the information society is one of ITU’s key objectives.
In response to Resolution 70 and the ITU GEM Policy, I have set up a gender task force for efficient intersectoral coordination on these matters. ITU's Gender Task Force is dedicated to furthering gender equality for all staff. It meets regularly and comprises a mix of men and women from right across the organization.
One of the main highlights this year is the launch of the first edition of the joint ITU and UN Women GEM-Tech awards, which aim to recognize outstanding performers and role models in gender equality and mainstreaming in the area of ICTs.
We received over 360 nominations from 74 countries, and 37 finalists have been selected across seven categories for the inaugural awards. The winners will be announced here in Busan next Wednesday, 28 October.
Six GEM-Tech Global Achievers have also been shortlisted, and these will also be announced here next Wednesday.
I am pleased to note that this first edition of the Award included nominations from all regions of the world, representing all the many different types of stakeholders.
Dear colleagues,
ITU has also pioneered a number of activities aimed at promoting the power of technology to women and girls worldwide:
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International Girls in ICT Day was established at PP-10. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of April each year – which is easy to remember, as the fourth day of the fourth week of the fourth month. Girls in ICT Day aims to encourage the ICT industry to open its doors to girls so they can meet with female role models, and learn about career options and the positive impact of ICTs on their – and our – world.
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ITU’s Girls in ICT Portal is designed as a one-stop resource to assist young women in preparing for and pursuing a career in ICTs.
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The Women’s Digital Literacy Campaign reached its goal in March this year, with more than million women trained in basic computer skills, through the efforts of 153 participating organizations and 20,000 telecentres around the world.
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Through its work with the Broadband Commission for Digital Development, ITU also provides essential Secretariat support for the Broadband Commission’s Working Group on Gender, which is co-chaired by the Executive Director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, and UNDP Administrator Helen Clark.
Dear friends,
Before I close, I would like to thank the Partners of the GEM-Tech Awards 2014 for their generosity and commitment.
The Gold Partners are Oman, Rwanda and Switzerland, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Silver Partners are Cisco and Facebook. Let me thank you all for your dedication and support!
I look forward now to an enriching dialogue with the Women Ministers, and I will be sure to follow up on the outcomes of this important meeting.
I would now like to introduce Walda Roseman a long time dear friend and colleague and the orignntor to the women’s breakfast. It is my greatest pleasure to present her with the ITU Gold medal and certificate as a small token and recongnition of her wonderful, and valuable contribution to the ICT sector over the years.
Thank you.
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