FAO Digital Media Hub - International Women's Day 2023

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International Women's Day 2023

3 March 2023, Video Message by Dr. QU Dongyu, Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) on the International Women's Day 2023 (IWD 2023), DigitALL - Innovation and technology for gender equality: 'Leveraging the transformative power of inclusive digitalization and innovation for rural women and girls'

Language English

Duration 6m9s

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Video Type Video Message

Date 03/03/2023 4:05 PM

File size 454.45 MB

Unique ID UF16DRA

Production details and shotlist

UNFAO Source FAO Video

Script RBA INTERNATİONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2023
DigitALL - Innovation and technology for gender equality:
Leveraging the transformative power of inclusive digitalization and innovation
for rural women and girls
Video Message
By
Dr QU Dongyu, FAO Director General
8 March 2023
Excellences,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues,
1. Welcome you to this year’s RBA International Women’s Day celebration.
2. This year we focus on the transformative power of inclusive digitalization and
innovation for rural women and girls.
3. Today, we gather to collectively recognize and celebrate the achievements of women
and girls around the world,
4. and to reaffirm our commitment to advancing gender equality and the empowerment of
women and girls everywhere.
5. We are all aware that closing the gender gap in agrifood systems and the rural areas is
essential to eradicating hunger, malnutrition, and rural poverty.
6. And is at the core of our pledge to “leave no one behind”, and to achieving the
Sustainable Development Goals.
7. Women are the backbone of rural economies, and their contributions are key and
indispensable in all agrifood subsectors and value chains.
1
8. However, they have lag behind in accessing resources, knowledge, services and markets.
9. Digital technologies can help bridge these gaps by delivering a wide range of economic,
institutional, environmental, and social benefits.
10. They can help increase rural people’s access to services such as information, advisory,
market, business development, social protection, and financial services thereby enabling
them to optimize the use of inputs and natural resources.
11. However, globally, in 2020 62% of all men were using the Internet, compared with only
57% of all women.
12. The divide remains particularly wide in the Least Developed Countries, where only 19%
of women are using the Internet - 12 percentage points lower than men.
13. Statistics show that rural usage is especially low, with the share of Internet users in
urban areas being twice as high as in rural areas.
14. Furthermore, rural women continue to face many additional systemic and structural
barriers to technology access and adoption,
15. and they therefore make up just a quarter of users of digital agricultural solutions.
16. Due to persistent gender-discrimination across social norms and practices, rural women
often lack the necessary skills, knowledge and resources to take full advantage of digital
tools – and this limits their opportunities for empowerment in all areas.
Dear Colleagues,
17. We must ensure inclusive access to digital technologies and education that benefit men
and women equally, to reduce gender inequalities and unleash the potential of rural
women.
18. Digitalization can significantly improve rural women’s ability to act effectively and
productively across agrifood systems.
19. FAO is walking the talk to integrate innovative approaches and digital technologies in its
core business and strategic priorities,
2
20. by promoting the digitalization process through, among others, the
 Hand-in-Hand Geospatial Data Platform
 International Platform for Digital Food and Agriculture
 E-Agriculture Community of Practice
 1000 Digital Villages Initiative,
 the Data Lab for Statistical Innovation, and
 the FAO Digital Services Portfolio.
21. The FAO Digital Services Portfolio, for examples, represents a unique cloud-based
platform to disseminate information and scale-up agricultural services for smallholders
and family farmers,
22. and has been recognized as a digital public good capable of increasing inclusion,
resilience and adaptation by providing better data and models, and more targeted
services.
23. FAO recognizes the need for a systematic attention to gender in the design and
implementation of digital public goods.
24. Next month, we will launch the Report on the Status of Rural Women in Agrifood
Systems, which will provide more data and insights on the gaps on women’s access to
digital and other technologies, and to innovation,
25. to help further inform policies and actions that ensure no one is left behind.
26. FAO is committed to support governments and partners in bridging the multidisciplinary
digital divides,
27. through an inclusive approach that focuses on the accessibility, availability, and
affordability of digital solutions that target both women and men equally.
28. In addition, FAO’s Global Network on Digital Agriculture and Innovation Hubs supports
Members to foster innovation within their digital agriculture ecosystem, with a special
focus on women and young agripreneurs.
Dear Friends,
3
29. Digitalization can be a powerful tool for empowering rural women and girls.
30. As we celebrate International Women's Day, let us renew our commitment to gender
equality and working together to ensure that all women and girls can benefit from the
digital revolution.
31. Gender equality is core to achieving agrifood systems transformation, and our common
goal of the 4 Betters: Better Production, Better Nutrition, a Better Environment and a
Better life for all, while leaving no one behind.
32. I thank you.

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