Accelerating digital and financial inclusion
Mobile has the power to transform lives. But while access is spreading quickly, it is not spreading equally. There remains a significant gender gap in mobile phone ownership and use. It is critical that we work together to address this issue to advance women’s digital and financial inclusion for women and unlock significant commercial and socio-economic opportunities. When women thrive, societies, businesses and economies thrive.
We have an opportunity to contribute to the achievement of
gender equality and empowerment
of all women and girls through mobile.
Supports UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly SDG #5 (Gender Equality)
Mobile can make women
more connected, safer,
and able to access services such as health and financial services.
In a GSMA study across 11 low- and middle-income countries, including both mobile phone owners and non-owners:
• 74% – 98% of women in every country said mobile phones save them time (or would save them time)
• 89% – 100% of women in every country said mobile phones help them (or would help them) stay in touch with friends and family
• 68% – 94% of women in every country reported they feel safer (or would feel safer) with a mobile phone
But there is a significant
gender gap in mobile phone ownership and use,
particularly for more transformational services like mobile internet and mobile money.
Women in low- and middle-income countries are, on average, 10% less likely to own a mobile phone than men, 23% less likely to use mobile internet and 33% less likely to use mobile money.
The gender gap is wider in certain parts of the world – e.g. women in South Asia are 28% less likely to own a mobile than men and 57% less likely to use mobile internet.
Closing the gender gap also represents a
significant market opportunity
for the mobile industry and can spur economic growth.
We estimated that if mobile operators could close these gender gaps in low- and middle-income countries by 2023, this would provide an estimated additional $140 billion in revenue to the mobile industry over the next five years.
To close the mobile gender gap we need to address issues of gender equality and social norms and focus on:
Accessibility
including to quality network coverage, handsets, electricity, agents and formal IDs
Usability and Skills
including of handsets and services and addressing a lack of awareness and understanding
Affordability
including handsets, tariffs, data and transaction fees
Safety and security
including addressing harassment, theft, fraud and data protection
Revelant
of policies, content, products and services
Our top 3 recommendations:
The Mobile Industry
Understand your gender gap and the women in your market by conducting consumer insights research and collecting and analysing gender disaggregated data
Make women part of your business strategy including setting KPIs
to target women
Ensure your products, services, marketing and distribution consider women’s needs and the barriers they face to mobile access and use
Development Community
Embed activities that drive women’s mobile access and use in your initiatives
Invest in research to better understand women’s mobile access and use and how to reduce the gender gap
Raise awareness of the barriers to women’s mobile access and use
Policy Makers and Regulators
Ensure appropriate policy and regulation to lower access barriers for women
Promote gender equality in education and invest in programmes that improve digital literacy for women and girls
Improve women’s safety on mobile through effective policies and strategies including legal frameworks and awareness campaigns
Related Videos
Hear from leading advocates on why digital and financial inclusion of women is important
CEO of Telenor Pakistan discusses the importance of digital and financial inclusion for women
CEO of Telenor Pakistan discusses the importance of digital and financial inclusion for women
CEO of MTN Ghana discusses the importance of financial inclusion for women
CEO of MTN Ghana discusses the importance of financial inclusion for women
CEO of Wave Money discusses the importance of financial inclusion for women
CEO of Wave Money discusses the importance of financial inclusion for women
CMO of Telenor Pakistan explains why Telenor is committed to closing the mobile gender gap
CMO of Telenor Pakistan explains why Telenor is committed to closing the mobile gender gap
Global CIO of Bharti Airtel addresses the importance of digital inclusion for women
Global CIO of Bharti Airtel addresses the importance of digital inclusion for women
The Executive Director of UN Women explains the importance of connecting women
The Executive Director of UN Women explains the importance of connecting women
The CEO of Zanzibar Telecom explains why digital and financial inclusion for women is important
The CEO of Zanzibar Telecom explains why digital and financial inclusion for women is important
The ITU’s Chief of Strategic Planning and Membership shares her views on the mobile gender gap
The ITU’s Chief of Strategic Planning and Membership shares her views on the mobile gender gap
The former Direct General of UNESCO talks about digital and financial inclusion of women
The former Direct General of UNESCO talks about digital and financial inclusion of women
The CEO of Women’s World Banking shares her views on the importance of financial inclusion of women
The CEO of Women’s World Banking shares her views on the importance of financial inclusion of women
GSMA’s CEO explains why financial and digital inclusion of women is an important issue
GSMA’s CEO explains why financial and digital inclusion of women is an important issue
The Executive Director for UN Women explains why digital inclusion is an important issue for women
The Executive Director for UN Women explains why digital inclusion is an important issue for women
The Executive VP of Millicom explains why digital and financial inclusion of women is important
The Executive VP of Millicom explains why digital and financial inclusion of women is important
The Executive Director of A4AI explains the importance of addressing the mobile gender gap
The Executive Director of A4AI explains the importance of addressing the mobile gender gap
The Chairman of Econet Wireless explains why digital and financial inclusion of women is important
The Chairman of Econet Wireless explains why digital and financial inclusion of women is important
The CCO of Robi Axiata explains why digital and financial inclusion of women is important
The CCO of Robi Axiata explains why digital and financial inclusion of women is important
The Group CEO of Dialog Axiata explains why digital and financial inclusion of women is important
The Group CEO of Dialog Axiata explains why digital and financial inclusion of women is important
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The W20, under the Japanese Presidency, presents this policy brief to outline some of the challenges for women’s access and meaningful use of digital technologies, and to provide guidance for coordinated and effective action by the G20.
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