2021-04-22
BIK Team
awareness
cyberbullying
parents and carers, teachers, educators and professionalsThis year’s theme will be “Connected Girls; Creating Brighter Futures”. Once again, it will be a virtual event available in all UN official languages. It will see the participation of 19 panellists, including representatives from international organisations, non-governmental organisations, governments, and the private sector to discuss efforts and solutions to fill the digital gender gap and the female underrepresentation among performers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) for a more inclusive and equal access to ICTs for girls and women.
This year’s edition is particularly significant as it marks the tenth anniversary of Girls in ICT Day. To properly celebrate the occasion, the ITU has launched a series of online events focusing on “10 Moments of Girls in ICT” that will be held all year long. The International Girls in ICT Day represents the third moment: dialogue and conversation.
This milestone reaffirms the ITU and its partners’ commitment to the cause, because, as Doreen Bogdan-Martin, Director of the ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau, states, “by giving girls the tools to explore the world of tech with curiosity and imagination, we can stimulate innovations that use ICT to solve some of the biggest challenges of our times”.
Better Internet for Kids supports the Girls in ICT Day agenda and strongly believes that the first step to reducing the gender gap in STEM and ICT careers is to address the gender-specific online risks which girls and young women encounter in the digital environment. If you are interested in the topic, we recommend having a look at the following resources:
- Look back on Safer Internet Forum (SIF) 2019 From online violence to digital respect which explored gender-based online violence – the brochure, the report, the slides and the livestream are available to consult.
- Read the December 2019 BIK bulletin on building digital respect at Safer Internet Forum 2019 which gives a summary of the conference.
- Additionally, some Safer Internet Centres from the Insafe network have produced resources exploring the issue, such as Girl Power Squad by the Belgian Safer Internet Centre (available in Dutch and French) and the recording of a webinar for parents, teachers and counsellors on online violence against girls by the Italian Safer Internet Centre (available in Italian).
Learn more on International Girls in ICT Day on the ITU’s website and keep an eye on #GirlsinICT on social media.
