WSIS online gender discussions |
The WSIS Gender Caucus is currently conducting a series of online discussions to try and develop gendered perspectives on three central themes that are being taken up at the Tunis phase of WSIS, namely, Financing ICTD, Internet Governance, and Implementation and follow-up of WSIS.
In addition, the MDG-WSIS connection is also being discussed, not only because of its centrality to the WSIS process and its genesis, but also its topicality in view of the forthcoming Millennium +5 Summit.
The over arching discussion focus for WSIS and Financing ICTD is: While we cannot deny that the market and the private sector have to lead the IT revolution, the question remains as to whether these structures are adequate to ensure that all groups, especially disadvantaged groups like women, benefit from these new technologies. There is no doubt that a sound policy and regulatory environment can have beneficial effects on private investment towards meeting the goals of social equity. However, it is also possible that the regulatory environment even when ostensibly pushing social equity goals can actually be playing a role that denies disadvantaged groups, like women, access to cheap technology with its obsession for protecting the incumbent technology regimes.
So, in the light of the above, the following questions, among others, need consideration:
1) Does basic technological infrastructure and capabilities represent a global public good, like education, that needs to be provided to all as a public responsibility, and the universal acquisition of which represents a gain for everyone in a proportion vastly out-weighing the costs incurred for this purpose? Should this principle underlie global ICT diffusion? How much do women stand to gain from this?
2) Or conversely, will such efforts of extensive public investments undercut the innovation-incentive system represented by market based strategies, which can scuttle the very advance of the IT revolution? Would this result in greater losses for women, who seem to be gaining from IT-enabled employment opportunities?
3) What is the role of public finance and community finance for furthering the spread and use of ICTs and ICTD, especially for women?
4) Are the same social production and distribution models that underlie industrial societies relevant for the information society? Or can we see in the context of the information society, innovations like open and free software, open content and open telecom access, which imply a new social paradigm with greater promise for equality and justice? How can we articulate these models as having relevance for the debates around financing? Where are women in this new paradigm?
5) Does the conservativeness of international donor agencies to fund telecom expansion and ICTD activity in fact represent a disinclination to fund areas which can lead to diminishing the comparative advantages enjoyed by the developed world vis-a-vis the developing countries?
6) In order to achieve the MDGs and other development goals, what should be the priorities that financial mechanisms we need to focus on? How should adequate financing be ensured for initiatives and projects aimed to specifically further the interests of women?
7) How should the funds needed for building the capacities of women be raised and utilized?
8) According to the Task Force on Financial Mechanisms - Greater cross-sectoral and cross-institutional coordination of financing programs and ICT for development initiatives would improve effectiveness and make better use of resources. Who should the onus for this be on? What should be the role of specialized agencies like UNIFEM that cater to protecting women’s interests?
General information about the mailing list is at:
http://lists.genderwsis.org/mailman/listinfo/gcwsis-financing
Source: www.genderwsis.org
