| POLITICAL
EMPOWERMENT
IT
is a powerful tool to improve governance and strengthen democracy.
It is particularly useful for giving a voice to women in developing
countries who so frequently have been isolated, invisible,
and silent. One way that IT can contribute to the political
empowerment of women is as a tool for women's networking and
social and political advocacy. Also, IT can be used to strengthen
women's participation in the political process, improve the
performance of elected women officials, increase women's access
to government and its services, and dissiminate knowledge.
IT is particularly useful for increasing the transparency
and accountability of government, an application from which
women's advocacy groups already are profiting in countries
such as India and Bangladesh.
| Did
you know? |
| In
India, hunderds of thousands of small telecommunications
businesses have been set up offering public telephones
for long distance calls. Established with a capital
investment of about $2,500, some 300,000 such shops
have been created, employing an estimaged 600,000 people.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO),
women hold nearly half of these jobs. Although they
pay only about $500/year, they have been created at
the relatively low cost of $1,250/job. The Indian National
Council for Science and Technology is working to expand
the services that the shops can offer, including voice
mail, email, paging and Internet access.
S.
Ramani, "Internet Kiosks in India"
~
(INTECH) |
|
Nancy
Hafkin and 
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