Women should not shoulder a world they can’t lead

There’s a quote that Melinda French Gates shared in the 2022 Goalkeepers Report: “We can’t just talk about empowering women without making sure they are actually gaining power in their families and communities.”
Deep in rural western Kenya, in Cheptais village, women attending a workshop sang: “ who am I ? I am a woman. The family depends on me, the community depends on me, the world depends on me. I am a woman”
In most community set ups in Kenya and most African countries- both rural and urban- women literally run families and communities. They are in charge of all family affairs and nurturing other members both young and old. Women tend to the farms, take care of the aged and invalids, secure food, help children with studies, manage most of the domestic bills and sometimes all family bills but will miss in major decision making tables. Including those that touch on their fundamental rights and we’ll being.
On this year’s International Women’s Day, the theme: #DIGITALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality, is a mirror of how much women are still left behind in major sectors that have significant impact in social and economic development of any country. It is apparent that the benefits of digital transformation are currently not equally balanced between societal groups and genders and access, use and ownership of digital tools are not gender-neutral. Global internet penetration rate is about 45% for women compared to 51% for men- corresponding to having 250 million fewer women than men online (ITU, 2017).
Access to technology as in other resources is all about power. Those who make decisions also distribute resources and decide who gets what. With lesser women in powerful positions and in key sectors it means that, gender gap in technology will not be closed any time soon. There are a number of root causes of digital gender divide, including hurdles to access, affordability, education (or lack thereof) and lack of technological literacy, as well as inherent biases and socio-cultural norms that lead to gender based exclusion (OECD, 2018d; OECD,2015a; Hilbert,2011; Cooper, 2016; Korrup and Szydlik,2015). A closer look at the factors reveal similarities with those that hinder women in participating in politics and other leadership positions.
If women can be reliable to shoulder their families and communities, then they need a table at the decision making tent. If not, then they should not be relied on to carry the world on their backs.