Digital inclusion is essential to equitable development. Lack of access to affordable and reliable internet connections and devices is a critical barrier to development for nearly three billion people around the world, with women and girls, people with disabilities and other people who experience discrimination and exclusion most impacted.
Once online, excluded people often struggle with a lack of digital literacy and skills, with negative impacts on their ability to study and earn a living. Simultaneously, online violence is disproportionately targeted at women, girls, and gender and sexual minorities, with governments often ill-equipped to address this.
Digital Inclusion aims to reduce and ultimately eliminate the barriers to access to digital products and services which excluded people and groups typically experience. This may be increasing women’s digital literacy so they can use mobile devices to access information, work and government services. It also includes making the internet a safer place for women, girls and sexual and gender minorities by addressing technology-facilitated gender-based violence. Another aspect of digital inclusion is the use of technology to make information, products and services more accessible to people with disabilities, such as through the use of assistive technology.
SDDirect has varied and in-depth experience of increasing the digital inclusion of women, girls and other excluded groups, as well as of reducing online harms.
Our staff has expertise in the following thematic areas:
The first installment of the digital blog series is out now! Read "How digital technology can promote women’s economic empowerment in Pacific Island countries" by Rebekah Martin now.
If you would like to hear more about our work on Digital Inclusion, please reach out to Kavita Kalsi, Head of Digital Portfolio, kavita.kalsi@sddirect.org.uk.
This third learning brief looks at some of the wider implications of technology facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV), and offers recommendations for key stakeholders, including humanitarian agencies, donors and online industries, on priority actions to take to prevent and respond to TFGBV.
