Background
The International Girls in ICT Day, which is celebrated worldwide every year on the fourth Thursday of April (27 April 2023), is an opportunity to inspire young girls to study and pursue technology. This day highlights female role models in technology as a way to increase interest in information and communication technology among young girls to help balance the gender gap within the workforce. It is also to the benefit of ICT in enabling their career and aspiration. To date, over 377,000 girls and young women have taken part in more than 11,400 celebrations of International Girls in ICT Day in 171 countries worldwide. The Girls in ICT Day programme aims to increase the visibility and digital competence of young women and girls (aged 12 to 24) in the STEM fields, notably ICTs. Given the success of this programme over the years, ITU in 2022 decided to promote girls in ICT Day not just on one day in the year but all year long.
Expanding The Influence to the Multi Sectors In ASEAN
The Indonesian ASEAN Chairmanship 2023 adopts the theme of “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth”, implying the region’s direction and determination to continue fostering ASEAN’s relevance in responding to regional and global challenges, and strengthening ASEAN’s position as the epicentre of regional economic growth, including through digital technology and transformation, for the prosperity of the people of ASEAN.
The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights inaugurated a Special Session on Women’s Empowerment in the Digital Age, focusing specifically on digital gender equality for the first time. The ASEAN Comprehensive Recovery Framework aims at putting women at the core of recovery efforts, and the first ever ASEAN Women Leaders Summit was held during the 37th ASEAN Summit. At the more practical sphere, the ASEAN Digital Masterplan 2025 stipulates the need for national and regional collaboration to promote digital skills including for the workplace through the establishment of ASEAN Working Group on STEM education including formulation of curriculum objectives, preferred university courses such as software engineering, gender targets and etc.
The International Girls in ICT Day will be an avenue where prominent female actors, authorities and activists from different sectors are converging to share information, knowledge and contacts. The event shall also be expanding from the Philippines to ASEAN. Additionally, the Girls in ICT Day 2023 shall also bridge the digital generational gaps and thus provide the stage for the roles performance of female youth particularly amongst the Generation Connect in the Philippines and in ASEAN region.
In this regard, it becomes imperative that the International Girls in ICT Day in the Philippines is linked to ASEAN sectoral bodies’ activities including those under the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of The Right ff The Women and The Children (ACWC). The International Girls in ICT Day celebration should build the momentum towards the deliberation of some key agenda in the ASEAN Summit 2023 and, in that context, the need to link this event with the ASEAN meetings that are being organised in the lead up to the summit itself.
Beneficiaries
The target beneficiaries of this initiative are the following categories:
- Girls and young women: female population [aged 12-24] particularly those from low-income, remotely located and with specific needs in the Philippines will benefit from the engagement with their fellows as well with prominent personalities in the digital technology sector.
- Officials and public figures: actualising one of the strategic objectives of the International Girls in ICT Day, the event will feature prominent government officials, business women, entrepreneurs, educators, scientists and other personalities that bring add value to the conversation and, at the same time, inspire girls and young women to embark on STEM discipline and digital-based occupation and career , and;
- ASEAN network: government officials, women organizations, Industries partners, girls, female youth representatives, and businesswomen in the ASEAN Member States will benefit from establishing, strengthening, and cultivating one another through working relationships among ASEAN people’s network.
Objective
Under the initiative, the program in 2023 aims:
- to enhance the digital literacy of girls and young women and their meaningful utilisation of such skills in the area of cyber security, data literacy and analytics, and use of ICTs and emerging technologies;
- to explore and enhance partnerships among and with government and UN agencies as well as other actors in ASEAN Member States to continue supporting digital literacy and digital skills development of women and girls; and
- to influence regional digital agenda and policies through the articulation of perspectives by girls and young women as result of the consolidation of perspectives and lessons learnt as well as best practices being accumulated in and from this International Girls in ICT Day celebration.
Highlights of the Event
Agenda
8:30 – 9:15: Registration
9:15 – 9:30: Group Photo (Physical & Virtual Session)
9:30- 10:15: Introduction
Welcoming Remarks
- Kishore Babu, ITU Representative for Southeast Asia and other Member States in Asia and the Pacific
Special Address
- Oyunsaikhan Dendevnorov, UNICEF Representative in the Philippines
- Kristine Rosary Yuzon-Chaves, Executive Director, Philippine Commission on Women (PCW)
- Lenny Rosalin, Deputy Minister, Gender Equality, Ministry of Women and Empowerment and Child Protection, Republic of Indonesia, in its capacity as the present chair of ASEAN (Online)
Opening Speech
- Secretary Ivan John Uy, Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT)
10:15-10:30: Coffee Break
10:30- 11:15: Panel 1: Sharing good practices from the previous Girls in ICT Day celebration in Southeast Asia from ASEAN
Participants:
- Dian Wulandari, Junior Policy Analyst, Ministry of Communications and Informatics, Indonesia
- Van Khemry, Industry Linkage Officer, Ministry of Post and Telecommunications, Cambodia
- Carmelita Soi Tolentino, Logistics Profesional, Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANC), Timor-Leste
- Trairat Viriyasirikul, Deputy Secretary General, Acting Secretary General, Office of the Office of the
- National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), Thailand
- Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, Undersecretary for ICT Industry Development, DICT
Moderator:
- Rury Demsey, Junior Project Officer, ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
11:15 – 12:30: Panel 2: Girls in ICT Day Group Session: Girls and female youth representatives from ASEAN
Participants:
- Lenlen Rosalyn Mesina, UN Women Philippines
- Haidy Seang Ear-Dupuy, Head, NGO and Civil Society Centre (NGOC), Asian Development Bank
- Maria Teresa Magno Garcia, Director IV, ICT Literacy and Competency Development Bureau, DICT
Moderator:
- Maria Victoria Castro, Director, National ICT Planning, Policy and Standards Bureau (NIPPSB), DICT
12:30 – 1:30: Lunch Break
1:30 – 2:40: Panel 3: Girls in ICT Day Group Session: Academe-Industry Collaboration
Participants:
- Kristelle Ong, Managing Director, Philippine Call Center Institute (PCCI)
- Celeste Ilagan, Policy and Regulatory Affairs, IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines
- Judy Saw, Director of Business Development, Wissen International
- Haidee Enriquez, CEO, Microsourcing Philippines (Invited)
Moderators:
- Bless Ann De Vera, Generation Connect for Asia-Pacific Youth Envoys from The Philippines
- Karenina Nuraini Yustika, Generation Connect for Asia-Pacific Youth Envoys from Indonesia
2:40- 3:00: Coffee Break
3:00 – 3:45: Introduction to ITU Project: AI and Gender Social Biases
Presentation: ITU project on ‘Enhancing the Development of Standards and Frameworks for Critical Technologies in Southeast Asia’ by Catherine Setiawan, Project Coordinator, ITU
All speakers of the ASEAN Girls in ICT Day hosted by the Philippines
Moderator:
- Shumate Royo, Co-Founder at ATT3ND
3:45- 4:30: Panel 4: Enhancing Women participation in STEM
Action Plan of the ASEAN Girls in ICT activities
- Jocelle Batapa-Sigue, Undersecretary for ICT Industry Development, DICT
Moderator:
- Rury Demsey, Junior Project Officer, ITU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
4:30 -4:45: Closing Ceremonies
- Kishore Babu, ITU Representative for Southeast Asia and other Member States in Asia and the Pacific
- Maria Teresa Camba, Assistant Secretary for Regional Development, DICT
Hosts:
- Gichelle A. Cruz
- Carlos Albornoz