Fw: ICT accessibility for women

[Narine Abazian <narabazian@xxx>]

Dear ITU team.

Our company, as civil society,  have sent view with the purpose do not ignore the women component (  ICT accessibility for women ) in Draft of the future ITRs.

I would be appreciate if will receive your confirmation and reason whether not been included in WCIT-12: Public Views and Opinions.

Kind regards,

Narine Abazian,

President of “Women and Information Society” NGO

Tel: +37491 22 55 35

www.facebook.com/womenandis

Armenia

narabazian@xxx

 

--- On Tue, 10/30/12, Narine Abazian <narabazian@xxx> wrote:

From: Narine Abazian <narabazian@xxx>
Subject: ICT accessibility for women
To: wcit-public@xxx
Date: Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 10:42 PM

ICT Accessibility for Women and Child Protection

The telecommunication industry has undergone a number of major changes over the last years.  Convergence and the associated deployment of Next-Generation Networks (NGNs) make a variety of audio, video, data and voice services available over a single infrastructure. Broadband access is available through different wireline and wireless technologies, particularly in remote and rural areas. In this new reality there is a need to ensure that legal and regulatory frameworks take into account the converged telecommunication/ICT environment.

 

 In this respect we express our gratitude to ITU  in the organization of the WCIT and for given opportunity to all stakeholders to express their views and opinions on the content of the Draft of the future ITRs.

 

 We propose to include in the discussions on the content of the Draft of the future ITRs as well the following points:

1.      ICT accessibility for women

 

This is Information Society era. Participation in the Information Society by means of current and modern communication technologies offers the prospect of significant and sizeable benefits. Everyone can benefit from the opportunities that ICTs can offer. Dissemination  of  telecommunication/ICT  services  in  all  regions  so  that  all  sections  of  the  society  can benefit  from  them,  irrespective of  the economic  status of  the  region and population, this has to been a major goal in most countries around the world.

The rural/urban and rich/poor divides that characterize ICT development generally, have a greater effect on women given that in developing countries the majority of women live in rural areas.

 

 WSIS, Geneva Plan of Action stated “Policies that create a favourable climate for stability, predictability and fair competition at all levels should be developed and implemented in a manner that not only attracts more private investment for ICT infrastructure development but also enables universal service obligations to be met in areas where traditional market conditions fail to work. In disadvantaged areas, the establishment of ICT public access points in places such as post offices, schools, libraries and archives, can provide effective means for ensuring universal access to the infrastructure and services of the Information Society.”

     We believe, that WCIT would  create  open discussions and give right solutions in respect  universal service obligations with  community access points to promote e-Inclusion, serving a broad clientele, including the women, elderly, disabled and immigrant or other challenged communities. Women are often not fully involved as agents and beneficiaries of these processes. Women with disabilities face significantly more difficulties, experience double discrimination.

 

 

2.       Child protection

As the Internet and other online resources continue to expand, the internet environment is constantly changing, Internet usage amongst children is growing rapidly around the world. Online technologies present many possibilities to communicate, learn new skills,  be creative and contribute to  establishing a better society for all, but often they also bring new risks , that can expose children and young people to potential dangers like illegal content, viruses, harassment,  the misuse of  personal data, etc.

 

We propose to include in Article 5 Confidence and security of telecommunications/ICTs, special points devoted to online child protection,  that will protect children in cyberspace and promote their safe access to online resources.

 

 

Narine Abazian,

President of “Women and Information Society” NGO

Armenia

narabazian@xxx