With the inaugural meeting of the Steering Committee on Digital Gender Inclusion, Ministry of IT & Telecom & PTA formally commenced implementation of strategy on 7th August 2024. The meeting was chaired by Ms. Shaza Fatima Khawaja, Minister of State for IT & T and convened by Chairman Pakistan Telecom Authority Major General (R) Hafeez Ur Rehman. The steering committee will be overseeing the smooth implementation of the strategy to significantly reduce digital gender divide within next three years. The committeewill be continuously assessing the outcome of the identified thematic working groups on access, affordability, digital literacy, inclusion, safety & security and data & research.
The steering committee comprises of representation from concerned government organizations, private sector and academia including Ms. Raheela Hameed Khan Durrani, Minister for Colleges Higher & Technical Education Balochistan, Mr. Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani, Secretary Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training; Dr. Naeem Uz Zafar, Chief Statistician Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Ms. Aisha Humera Chaudhry, Secretary of the Ministry of IT & T, Prof. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman HEC; Dr. Babar Majid Bhatti, CEO National IT Board; Aamir Ibrahim, CEO Jazz; and Ms. Gulalai Khan from Lahore University of Management Sciences.
The Committee will be assisted by a Technical Advisory Group in discharging its responsibility. The group members including Mr. Kar Hung Antony Tam country director UNESCO, Mr. Julian Gorman and Ms. Lara Dewar from GSMA, Mr. Waqas Hassan from the Global Digital Inclusion Partnership, Ms. Sadaf Khan of APC and Ms. Zara Higgs from TikTok were present in the meeting, The working group heads Mr. Amer Shahzad, DG PTA, Ms. Rabiya Javeri Agha, Chairperson NCHR and Mr. Muhammad Ismail, Chief NCSW also joined the meeting.
During the meeting Ms. Shaza Fatima Khawaja, emphasized the government’s commitment to advancing Pakistan’s Digital Gender Inclusion Strategy, highlighting the need for collective action to bridge the digital gender gap. Maj. Gen (R) Hafeez Ur Rehman, Chairman PTA, underscored PTA’s role in coordinating efforts and ensuring effective implementation through collaboration with key stakeholders and thematic working groups.
It was decided that in order to assess the progress of working groups, steering committee will meet every 3-4 months to review progress for which PTA will serve as the Secretariat. Multi sectorial collaboration is essential for closing the digital gender gap and advancing women’s role in Pakistan’s digital transformation.
Editor: Kamran Raja