Question4

Existing power relations in society determine who enjoys the benefits from ICTs, which means that these technologies are not gender neutral. There are an array of tools and technologies available to some but not to all. Reliable infrastructure is needed in order to use these tools. This question seeks to explore what is needed to use ICTs effectively, what are the barriers to using ICTs and which tools are being used by women and why, particularly in rural and agricultural contexts. What are the barriers which constrain and limit rural women's ability to harness new technologies in their lives and how can projects and programmes employ relevant ICTs to improve rural livelihoods? Jennifer Forum Moderator

Jennifer is right to point out that "Existing power relations in society determine who enjoys the benefits from ICTs, which means that these technologies are not gender neutral." As I mentioned in my last post, applyng a gender analysis or lens to our work on ICT is about making sure that we recognise and analyse these power relations, and the effect they have on people's access to communication tools and media, to inform our decision making and understand/ direct our potential impact. THis means that there are no 'off-the-peg' answers to this question. The fact that ICTs are not gender neutral does not mean that we can make assumptions aboiut which ICT will be best for women. But by applying good participatory assessment and power analysis tools to ICTs and existing communciation patterns it will be possible to understand the types of barriers, constraints and opportunities (poor) women face in accessing and using ICTs. For example, in many places we have found that women do not control household income, meaning that access to mobile phones is limited. Even where they have access to the phone, they do not have control over top up and use of credit. In other places, as mentioned in my last post, women had access to radios in their household but did not control the listening choices - neither timing nor tuning - so rarely accessed programmes designed for and targeted at women. When working on telecentre type projects, I designed participatory tools to pick up on some of these issues. For example, getting groups of women and men to rank different communication tools by accessibility, affordability, appropriateness etc can generate good discussion about the differences and uncover some of these underlying power dynamics which will have such an impact on how a project plays out, and who benefits. I would be happy to share them, though they are about 8 years old now so may need updating! Hannah

Many "tools" that were used in many different gender and development initiatives have been transferred to and used in the context of ICTs and agriculture and rural development to meets the challenge of gender equality. These tools include efforts such as training and learning opportunities, strengthened advocacy, inclusive policies/rule-making for availability, accessibility and sustainability of ICTs for rural women. Other examples were mentioned in this forum. But MORE has to be done and everything has to be done BETTER... we know this to be the case because we see the continuing inequalities experienced by women and men in our societies and economies. We live in an ICT world now --- where being excluded from information, communication and knowledge breaks a fundamental human right. And I am implying that such inequality exists locally, nationally, but also, worldwide. For me, it is power relations that underpin all examples of gender inequality, including those involving ICTs. These arise in systemically structured discrimination against women as well as in the loss of human rights for all and especially men who do not want to be bystanders in the violation of women's rights or who, reject patriarchal roles that no longer fit with their view of themselves as men or in their life with their children/spouse/family/friends/co-workers, etc.. There are many, many conventions, policies and rules in place for preventing and stopping gender inequality. Governments have signed onto them and sometimes, invest in programs. Let's congratulate governments when these rules work - let's tell them when they don't! The current challenge I believe is to ACT ON, ENFORCE (speak up) and FOLLOW UP gender policies. In other words, Let's "use the tools to enforce the rules" -- this is why I like tools such as GENDER and ICT AUDITS; GENDER ANALYSIS of Project Outcomes; MENTORING for gender and ICT students/practitioners; SMALL FUNDS (like GenARDIS) to do innovative work in more places; BIG FUNDS for investing in gender-responsive ICT entrepreneurship ...

In addition to the mentioned tools in the foregoing posts,incentives for compliance may also be introduced.When governments and agencies will properly implement projects/programs they may be recognized through some celebrations and offered certificates.This system may encourage the defaulters to rectify themselves and join the competition for better compliance.