Internet access has continued to widen on the continent of
Africa despite efforts to bridge the gap between all genders, reports ITRealms.
The latest
revelation is coming at the commencement of the meeting of Commission's fall session in
New York City which took off yesterday, Sunday, 17 September.
ITRealms also
reports that recent studies though showed that the disparities in gender access
are becoming wider in developing countries, especially in Africa.
The UN report also decried the growing digital inequality
between developed and developing countries.
While 48 per cent of the global population is now online,
some 3.9 billion people still do not have access to the Internet – with the
digital gap growing between developed and developing countries.
According to UN estimates, Internet penetration in the
developing world is projected to reach 41.3 per cent by the end of 2017, while
Internet user penetration is projected to reach only 17.5 per cent in Least
Developed Countries (LDCs) in 2017.
ITRealms also
gathered that in the gender divides overview, men have continued to outnumber
women in terms of Internet usage worldwide, though women now outnumber men in
Internet usage in the Americas.
Commenting on the report, the Secretary-General if the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Mr. Houlin Zhao, and who serves as
co-Vice Chair of the Commission said "Broadband is crucial to connecting
people to the resources needed to improve their livelihoods, and to the world
achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.”
Pix: Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director, UN Women
No comments:
Post a Comment