On the Occasion of International Women’s Day: Radio 99 FM Interview with Anthea Basson

What is the importance in celebrating women on this day?

First of all, #Happy Women's Day to all the ladies at the station and to our listeners.

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually and globally on March 8. The day marks and opportunity to orchestrate, to lead and make vital decisions to bring special attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence and abuse against women.

Brief us on the theme for this year?

The COVID-19 pandemic called for a rapid digital adoption and highlighted the inequalities in access that prevails, globally and in Namibia. To elaborate on his year’s theme #DigitalAll: Innovation and technology for gender equality, women's day rallies and encouraged us to take stock of our achievements, to renew our efforts in advancement of human dignity, equality, and to ensure limitless possibilities for all.

What does the current stats show in terms of women in the digital space?

Findings form the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) 2021 report revealed that globally, gender remains a factor in disparity.  The report highlighted that 62% of men have access or use the internet in comparison to 57 % of women. Needless to say, a significant digital gender gap is noted in Africa, whereby only 24% of women use the internet compared to 35% of men. Consequently, African female participation continues to indicate significant gaps within Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) disciplines. But I do want to underscore that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes the enormous potential of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) and the endless socio-economic benefits to Africans and especially for women and girls.

To bring it home, the World Wide Web Foundation in Namibia have concluded a similar study and their research has found that only 47% of women in our country have access to the internet. it is also noted that no national policy exist that recognizes ICTs as a tool in fighting gender inequalities. What does this mean to women in Namibia? With the absence of gender-responsive ICT policies, there are no clear targets set at any level of governance for using ICTs to empower women. With today's #IWD vision, the Sustainable Development Goal 5b calls upon us all for the enhancement of the use of technology, in particular information and communications technology (ICT), to promote the empowerment of women.

What more can be done by governments to improve on this? 

Considering what we have experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an urgency for Namibia to improve ICT policies which addresses the growing digital gender inequality for women to participate and be heard in the digital revolution. The support should not entirely rest on the shoulder of government, but development partners and the private sector have a role to fulfill too. Specifically, to ensure impact, results (data) and to ensure we are leaving no one behind. The support required is to accelerate digital skills interventions for women and girls, to improve ICT access and make it more affordable, to prioritize relatable online content for women participation, to establish specific targets to close ICT gender gaps and most importantly and considering violence against women, to ensure a safe online environment that protects women plus the boy and girl child ’s digital rights.

Any advice to women and girls listening to us right now? 

My personal call would be to women who are computer literate or who owns technology skills to serve as role models and mentors for girls and women so that they can grow and invest in themselves knowing and believing that their gender should not be a barrier to anything they want to become. This sizeable gender gap in access to technology in our country remains a stark reminder of the inequality between men and women. As the digital world grows, we risk leaving women and girls even further behind. Women and girls should also empower themselves to close the tech access and usage gap by grabbing opportunities whether its paid or unpaid to improve their own lives.