“DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality” Roundtable Discussions for International Women’s Day

On the occasion of International Women’s Day the United Nations in Saudi Arabia organized round table discussions under the theme of “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality” celebrating the women and girls who are championing the advancement of transformative technology and digital education.

IWD 2023 explored the impact of the narrowing down of digital gender gap on widening economic and social inequalities. According to the Gender Digital Divide Index Report 2022, Saudi Arabia was among the top 10 countries in the ranking, based on indicators such as Internet coverage and affordability, programs to support women’s STEM education, and little-to-no gender gaps in use of digital payments systems.

The event aims to raise awareness on the challenges and opportunities Saudi women are facing with specific gender digital divide and to contribute to a better understanding of the necessary steps to tackle these specific digital divides.

Due to the significant investment made by UN, the UN Country Team hopes to leverage the commitment of the leadership to foster strategic partnerships with key national counterparts, so as to advance Vision 2030 and UN Agenda 2030 in line with a gender-responsive approach to innovation, technology and digital education can increase the awareness of women and girls regarding their rights and opportunities and challenges.

The events brought bring together economists, technologists, innovators, entrepreneurs, and gender equality advocates from government, CSOs, Youth organizations to provide an opportunity to highlight the role of all stakeholders in improving access to digital space.

To that end the objective of IWD event is two-folds:

• Overall inclusive access and transformative technology and digital education for Gender Equality.
• Accessible and inclusive digital solutions for persons with disabilities, with focus on women and girls.