7 Billion Reasons for Hope

by Matt Stein, GSMA mWomen Business Manager

This week we welcomed the birth of a very special baby who represented an astounding milestone for humanity; 7 billion people concurrently living together.

It is hard for us to conceive what this number really means, we have no context to place ourselves or our relationships with the other 6 billion, nine hundred and ninety nine million, nine hundred and ninety nine thousand, nine hundred and ninety nine (phew). Despite this vast number, in many ways we are more connected today than ever before. We live in, what to many just a few generations ago, would seem like a world of science fiction, the ability to communicate across vast distances and even over oceans, in a matter of seconds has become a trivial feat, even mundane. Just yesterday, I participated in meetings in east Africa, the Indian sub-continent and South East Asia, I got advice from a colleague in Norway and arranged accommodation for an upcoming trip to the UK, all of this was done from my home in Sydney using my mobile phone.
The ability to conduct work or even stay in touch with friends and family over distance is an amazing thing, though there are times when a phone call can mean so much more.

Through the work of the mobile phone industry and our NGO partners, we now have a clear understanding that being connected through a mobile phone can accelerate dramatic improvements to the quality of life. This impact is even more pronounced where other infrastructure like roads, hospitals, schools and banking are lacking. Unfortunately, it is often in these same areas where, if you are a woman, you are over 20% less likely to have access to a mobile.

So if we think back to our 7 billionth fellow inhabitant, lets for the purposes of this blog, call her Imani, in line with our current population growth trends there is a good chance she was born into a developing country. Through cultural barriers, cost, or fear of technology, Imani’s mother was less likely to be able to call a doctor when she went into labour, she is less likely to be able to call for help if she is feeling threatened, she is less likely to be able to seek out health advice for herself and her family. The GSMA mWomen program calls this likelihood the mobile phone gender gap and we are dedicated to making sure that when its time for Imani to give birth to a child of her own, the idea of not owning your own mobile because you are a woman, is relegated to history.

As Lawrence Yanovitch, the President of the GSMA Foundation recently pointed out in a presentation at the Clinton Global Initiative, “The mobile phone is a pipeline connecting the user with the accumulated knowledge of humankind”.

With 7 billion of us contributing to that knowledge, the potential benefits of being connected are greater than ever.

The State of World Population 2011 report, released this week by the United Nations Population Fund, pointed out that a global population of 7 billion could be viewed ”in many ways as a success for humanity because it means that people are living longer and more of our children are surviving worldwide”.

It warned though that, ”great disparities exist among and within countries [and] disparities in rights and opportunities exist between men and women, girls and boys”.

Babatunde Osotimehin the fund’s Executive Director, said the 7 billion milestone was ”a challenge, an opportunity and a call to action!”

We at the GSMA Development Fund couldn’t agree more. If you feel that you or your organisation can contribute to our goal of breaking down the mobile phone gender gap please do get in touch either below or at [email protected].

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