Advancing digital gender equity

While global connectivity is increasing and more women are connected than ever before, 3.4 billion people remain digitally excluded. The majority – 885 million – are women and live in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), around 60% in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa. Across LMICs, women are still 14% less likely than men to use mobile internet, which translates into 235 million fewer women than men using mobile internet. Progress in closing the mobile internet gender gap has stalled, and gender gaps in smartphone ownership and overall mobile ownership have remained relatively unchanged, at 14% and 8%, respectively, in 2024. Meanwhile, the gender gap in mobile money account ownership in LMICS has widened since 2021 to 36%.

As mobile connectivity becomes increasingly important to economic and social participation, leaving the mobile gender gap unaddressed will exacerbate existing inequalities and cause women to miss out on opportunities for better livelihoods, well-being and climate resilience.

The Connected Women team, with support from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Gates Foundation and the GSMA and its members, have been a vital voice on the mobile gender gap. With progress stalling across LMICs, the team’s advocacy and awareness-raising efforts have ensured the issue remains on the international agenda and a priority for national policymakers. The Connected Women programme’s annual flagship Mobile Gender Gap Report continues to fill a critical data gap and be widely cited and used by numerous organisations.

The team have also continued to provide targeted advisory support to the mobile industry, governments and other partners, underpinned by our data and insights on key barriers such as handset affordability and digital skills. Over the past two years, the team has worked with 24 MNO partners as part of the GSMA Connected Women Commitment Initiative to accelerate digital and financial inclusion for women. In parallel, the team have trained more than 240 representatives from government and regulatory agencies on the drivers and opportunities to address the mobile gender gap, supporting governments in Ghana, Kenya, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and the Philippines to implement or enhance policies.

Data on the mobile gender gap and the barriers women face are driving action to address the digital gender divide. The Mobile Gender Gap Report 2025 presents the latest data on the mobile gender gap, drawing from more than 17,000 face-to-face surveys across 15 LMICs. It explores the structural and social barriers preventing women from accessing and using mobile internet, while outlining urgent actions needed to close the gender gap. The report also highlights the significant socio-economic value of addressing the mobile gender gap – not just for women, but for the mobile industry, national economies and society at large. Regularly cited by organisations such as the World Economic Forum, the W20, Deloitte and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Mobile Gender Gap Report is a trusted reference shaping global conversations and priorities.

We use our gender data and insights to deliver tailored workshops and technical advisory that translate insights into practical strategies for partners.

Mobile phones can be a powerful source of economic and social empowerment for women micro-entrepreneurs (WMEs). Yet, across LMICs, they are less likely than men to use them for their business. To address this gap, we conducted research in 10 LMICs and are working with MNOs and other partners to identify, test and scale approaches that reach WMEs more effectively. The research found that WMEs are often unaware of the variety of ways a mobile phone can be used for their business, and how to derive maximum benefit from mobile services. Many also do not have access to an internet-enabled handset. We have used insights such as these to advise and support more than 20 partners, more than 10 of which have already taken steps to address these issues.

In workshops in Ghana, for instance, we used in-country research and data to inspire and support MTN to serve WMEs in ways that are both commercially sustainable and socially impactful. Following the workshop, it launched Adwumapa in 2025, a solution for WMEs offering a range of services, including relevant service bundles, financial literacy training and digital payment solutions. Tailoring products and services to women’s needs, aspirations and relevant use cases can expand access to digital tools that empower their businesses and livelihoods.

In Pakistan in 2023, we shared our research, data and recommendations for reaching WMEs with JazzCash. Since then, JazzCash has created an all-female sales team to drive in-person, group-based onboarding events for WMEs. By mid-2025, 830 women had been reached and 444 onboarded to JazzCash’s merchant payment solution or personal m-wallet service – tools that now help them to increase their financial autonomy, build business credibility and gain confidence in managing finances and transacting securely. This demonstrates how our evidence and technical assistance, when paired with partner action, delivers real progress on digital and financial inclusion.

An example of this work is Jazz Pakistan’s Mera Gaon Live (“My Village is Digitally Enabled”) campaign. A Commitment Partner since 2022, Jazz launched the campaign following a GSMA strategy workshop in 2023. The aim was to raise awareness of the benefits of mobile internet through in-person digital education sessions for women and rural communities. By the end of 2024, the campaign had reached 97 villages, educating more than 17,000 women.

Another example comes from India, where the GSMA’s research identified digital skills training needs for women. Using these insights, the GSMA and Reliance Jio collaborated to develop needs-based training resources, including videos in Hindi and Tamil. Jio’s pilot reached more than 5,000 rural women through retail stores, digital channels and self-help groups, with 81% reporting they had learned new skills, 80% an improved ability to access and use mobile internet and 90% a positive impact on their lives. Since then Jio has grown the campaign, delivering it through multiple channels to reach the underserved, including women, at scale. This has included a collaboration with Reliance Foundation and in-person training through self-help groups and other digital channels. By the end of 2024, around 200,000 women had been trained in self-help groups across eight Indian states, and more than 2 million unique viewers accessed the training resources through Jio’s YouTube channel and in-store efforts. Jio has translated the training content into eight additional languages to take the campaign to more regions in India.

We support and contribute to policies to accelerate digital inclusion for women at the national and international level

Closing the mobile gender gap requires concerted action by governments and stakeholders to address women’s barriers to mobile access and use. We leverage our data and evidence to influence policy, providing capacity building and advisory support to policymakers and regulators, and participate in global forums to ensure these barriers are a priority.

For example, in 2023, we supported the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and UNESCO in developing the PTA’s Digital Gender Inclusion strategy, which was launched at MWC Barcelona 2024.

The GSMA supported the policy development process by (1) sharing data and insights on the mobile gender gap in Pakistan; (2) sharing policy best practices in addressing the barriers to mobile internet adoption and use; (3) actively contributing to the development of the policy and providing feedback where requested; and (4) convening MNOs in Pakistan to ensure they had an opportunity to provide inputs.

These efforts helped ensure that PTA’s final Digital Gender Inclusion Strategy focused heavily on addressing the key barriers women in Pakistan face to accessing and using mobile phones and mobile internet. Now that the strategy is being implemented, the GSMA has joined and is contributing to the working groups. This engagement has inspired other governments to act as well. After hearing about our support for the PTA policy development process, another government agency, GIFEC (Ghana Investment Fund in Electronic Communications), approached us to help them explore whether a similar policy and strategy might be feasible in Ghana. We intend to work with them on this over the coming year.

For several years, we have been playing a key role in Women 20 (W20), the official G20 engagement group for advancing women’s economic empowerment and gender equality. In 2024, we strategically engaged with the W20 Brazil process through evidence-based advocacy, policy inputs and the representation of GSMA leaders. Our insights, drawn from the Mobile Gender Gap Report 2024, informed key messaging and recommendations, culminating in strong commitments in the W20 Brazil Communiqué to halve the digital gender gap by 2030 and invest in inclusive digital tools and public services. Our efforts continued in 2025 with the W20 South Africa agenda, with our messaging and recommendations on investing in digital inclusion programmes and addressing key barriers to device affordability and digital skills reflected in the final W20 South Africa Communiqué. Separately, the G20 South Africa Leaders Declaration reaffirmed a commitment to halve the gender digital divide by 2030. Our sustained engagement highlights the critical role of data-driven advocacy.

We also participated in a targeted, multi-pronged advocacy strategy for the inclusion of digital gender equality in the Beijing+30 Declaration and Platform for Action adopted by UN Member States in March 2025, a landmark document that will shape national gender equality agendas for years to come. As a result, bridging the digital gender gap was named one of six priority areas in the Beijing +30 Action Agenda, marking a major step forward in global digital inclusion. 

Capacity building for meaningful impact

We have shared tailored data, analysis, insights and recommendations with policymakers and regulators in several countries. Our Bridging the Mobile Gender Gap capacity building course equips policymakers in LMICs to understand the scale of the mobile gender gap and the factors driving it. The course provides actionable insights and recommendations on improving digital inclusion for women, with a focus on barriers such as affordability, digital skills, safety and relevant content. Recognising mobile as a transformative tool for societal benefit and inclusion, the course empowers participants to interpret gender-disaggregated data, integrate gender perspectives in strategies and budgets and develop practical action plans to close the mobile gender gap. Between 2023 and 2025, the course was offered both in-person and through online learning platforms, training more than 240 individuals from governments and regulatory agencies in more than 40 countries.