Archived Newsroom • Press Release |
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Nominations now open for ITU/UN Women annual GEM-Tech awards
Recognizing leaders and organizations using the power of
technology to drive change
Geneva, 18 June 2015 –Nominations are
now open for the annual Gender Equality and Mainstreaming in Technology
(GEM-Tech) Awards, a global prize that recognizes outstanding contributions from
women and men in leveraging the potential of information and communication
technologies (ICTs) to promote gender equality.
The awards will be conferred on outstanding people or organizations working
in the field of gender empowerment at a ceremony to be held in New York in
December, as part of activities around the World Summit on the Information
Society +10 Review.
Winners will travel to New York to accept their award from ITU
Secretary-General Houlin Zhao and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile
Mlambo-Ngcuka, and join a global celebration promoting the power of ICTs to
transform lives.
“In
2014 we celebrated the achievements of many amazing GEM-Tech winners
from around the world, as well as some outstanding Global Achievers who have
really been making a difference to gender balance in the technology sector,”
said ITU Secretary-General Houlin Zhao. “ITU is delighted to support our
GEM-Tech partner, UN Women, in the 2015 awards, and encourages all those
committed to using ICTs to empower women to submit their entry to the
competition.”
As the global community prepares to commit to a new UN framework for
sustainable development for the next 15 years, ITU and UN Women believe the use
of ICTs should be recognized in the Sustainable Development Goals as an
important means of implementing gender equality commitments. The year 2015 also
marks the 20th anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, and the GEM-Tech
Awards are an opportunity to highlight ways in which women’s meaningful access,
use and development of technology can be achieved.
This year’s awards span three categories:
- Application of Technology for Women’s Empowerment:
Recognizing applications of technology across all sectors, and
particularly the pillars of the Beijing Platform for Action, for
the empowerment of women and to achieve gender equality
- Women in the Technology Sector: Recognizing
success in the promotion of girls and women as creators,
drivers, leaders and decision-makers in the technology sector
- Gender-Responsive Technology Governance, Policy and
Access: Recognizing efforts to bridge the gender
digital divide through strategies, policies and regulations that
ensure enabling and foundational factors such as access,
connectivity, security, digital literacy and citizenship.
Online nominations are open until 11:59 EDT on 31 July 2015
here or at
www.itu.int/en/action/women/gem/Pages/award-2015.aspx. ITU and UN
Women encourage men and women working in the ICT sector to nominate their
colleagues – or themselves – with the final three winners to be selected by a
committee of experts from ITU, UN Women, and 2014 GEM-Tech winners.
“If we want to end gender inequality by 2030 we need to use all the tools as
our disposal, aim for bold and transformative changes and ensure that women are
leaders in critical 21st century sectors. ICTs hold incredible promise and
influence. We must do our utmost to accelerate their positive application for
gender equality and to achieve equality within the technology sector itself. We
look to GEM-Tech for exactly this focus and inspiration,” said UN Women
Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka.
The disclosure of ‘diversity’ figures by major tech companies, including
Google, Facebook, Yahoo and Linked In, reveal that, across the board, the number
of women in tech jobs is well under 20%. The GEM-Tech Awards complement ITU’s
annual
‘Girls
in ICT Day’ initiative, which aims to promote the many
opportunities in the tech sector to school-age girls who are choosing their
career path.
ITU estimates a global skills shortfall of over two million ICT jobs in the
coming ten years. With digital technologies now pervading every business
sector, girls and young women who learn coding, apps development and computer
science will have a significant advantage over their non-tech-trained peers,
regardless of the field in which they eventually choose to work. More
information on ITU’s ICT and gender activities is available
here.
Information on the 2014 GEM-Tech Awards ceremony and winners can be found
here.
Follow the discussion over Twitter: #GEMTechAwards
For more information, please contact:
Sarah Parkes
Chief, Media Relations and Public Information
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Oisika Chakrabarti
Senior
Communication
and Media Specialist,
UN Women
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About ITU...
About UN Women
UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality
and the empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women
was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. UN
Women supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving
gender equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws,
policies, programmes and services needed to implement these standards. It stands
behind women’s equal participation in all aspects of life, focusing on five
priority areas: increasing women’s leadership and participation; ending violence
against women; engaging women in all aspects of peace and security processes;
enhancing women’s economic empowerment; and making gender equality central to
national development planning and budgeting. UN Women also coordinates and
promotes the UN system’s work in advancing gender equality.
www.unwomen.org