THE National Government’s promotion of women’s economic empowerment in this digital age will particularly focus on women and girls in the informal market sector whose contribution to the economy often goes unrecognised and undocumented.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Women, Youth, Children and Family Affairs (MWYCFA), Dr Cedrick Alependava, stated this in his country statement which aligns with the statement of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat at the 67th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York.
Dr Alependava and the Director of Women Development Division,
Vaela Falefehi Ngai, represented Solomon Islands at the event which ended last Friday.
The theme of the 67th session was ‘Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls.’
Dr Alependava informed the commission that the realities of digital technology in Solomon Islands, especially for about 86 percent of women and girls in the rural areas remains a challenge.
He said in most areas, digital technology is non-existent due to significant cultural, geographical and structural barriers.
Dr Alependava highlighted that there are only two telecommunication companies in Solomon Islands and while the introduction of undersea cable has somewhat improved access and connectivity, infrastructures in the rural areas are largely missing.
He said Solomon Islands is a nation of about 900 to 1000 small islands, with a high dependency on agriculture, fishing, and forestry for livelihood and a small economic standing, making it very vulnerable to internal and external shocks that mostly affect women, girls, children and other vulnerable groups.
“Ensuring gender equality while responding to these shocks has been very challenging, in light of our existing long list of challenges, including limited resources and budgets,” the MWYCFA PS said.
Dr Alependava said affirmative actions must be adopted and applied to ensure the accelerated narrowing of the digital gap for women and girls, especially those in the rural and remote areas where the gap is the widest, and that here is a need for relevant researches and studies to help inform efforts to narrow this gap.
He said a key opportunity to ensure the legislation of the protection of women and girls from technology-facilitated gender-based violence is a Cyber Crime Bill which is in the drafting stage.
“Solomon Islands has made significant progress in addressing gender inequalities this past decade and with these, we are confident that we have laid the necessary foundation to hopefully accelerate our address of this digital poverty or gap for women and girls,” Dr Alependava added.
The MWYCFA PS said this year’s theme, while it might be overwhelming and daunting, is a critical one requiring commitment to take steps to address and calls for significant support and resources, partnerships and collaborations that will be needed from donors, development partners and the private sector to ensure that Solomon Islands is not left behind.
He informed the commission that Solomon Islands will continue to strive to bridge the digital divide between women and girls to ensure its priorities are in line with the theme of the 67th session and the Sustainable Development Goals.
Dr Alependava acknowledged the significant progresses that were shared on the floor to advance gender equality in this digital age, including those of fellow Pacific Islands countries, despite the many challenges faced including climate change.
MWYCFA through its Women Development Division is committed to advance gender equality and women’s empowerment in the Solomon Islands through the implementation of the National Gender Equality and Women’s Development Policy (GEWD) with the support of its partners including its other gender frameworks.
– MWYCFA
