Designing a future-fit world for women and girls in Asia-Pacific

With digital technologies rapidly advancing across the world’s most populated region, now is the time for Asia and the Pacific to lead the charge for empowering women and girls in science and technology.

Gender equity in these sectors is woefully lacking, and this must change.

In an era when technology and science have unprecedented power to shape our future for the better, we must ensure that women and girls, in all their diversity, are actively involved in the design of solutions. The digital world, for instance, holds enormous potential to empower women and girls and help close the gender gap. At the same time, it has given rise to new manifestations of systemic bias and online violence against women and girls. This calls for a radical overhaul of conventional frameworks, historically oblivious to the needs of half of the world’s population.

Regrettably, the current developmental paradigm often marginalizes women and girls, leading to solutions that are blind to gender-specific needs. This prevailing trend across numerous sectors, from healthcare to education, too often omits women's and girls’ perspectives in development and design processes. One cannot claim that a new product is safe or effective for women and girls if they were never part of the design process. In the healthcare sector, for example, three-quarters of clinical trials fail to include women – and today, on average, women wait four years longer than men to be diagnosed, and they are twice as likely to experience an adverse reaction to medicines.

And we must ask why. Why aren’t more girls studying science? Why aren’t more women seeking careers in technology? Why aren’t more women and girls part of the research and developmental processes of cutting-edge innovations and technologies? 

We thus stand at a historic crossroads demanding a bending of age-old traditions towards a future where women and girls can equally excel in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), as well as healthcare and the digital domain — a future where women and girls are safe and free to fully engage in the digital space. 

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), through its L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science global partnership, elevates role models of women in STEM by recognizing, through annual awards, the scientific excellence of female researchers. In the all-important area of gender equality in the development of generative AI, UNESCO continues to foster the inclusion of women and girls at the forefront of this rapidly developing technology through education, the forging of ethical guidelines, and women and girls’ participation in the battle against all forms of algorithm bias. The Global Forum on the Ethics of AI held in Slovenia under the patronage of UNESCO in early February 2024 reaffirmed that partnerships with the private sector will be needed to assess the impact of AI on gender equality. 

The Equity 2030 Alliance led by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is a global initiative that aims to unlock this potential by elevating gender equity across the fields of science, technology, and financing industries to ensure that women and girls are actively involved in the development of women-centric solutions. Through the alliance, UNFPA invites partners across the world, region, and countries, to commit to building an equitable future for all by investing in gender equity at all levels of product development, including strategy and policy development. Moreover, among other activities, UNFPA provides policy advice to governments to foster inclusive education in the digital age that facilitates and promotes women’s and girls’ access to STEM education and careers across Asia and the Pacific.

Addressing the myriad challenges in redesigning a world towards true equity for women entails acknowledging and harnessing the unique contributions of women to our diverse societies. This year’s theme of International Women’s Day, 'Invest in women: Accelerate progress,' underscores the need to invest in gender equality for the prosperity of economies and the sustainability of our planet. 

As the Asia-Pacific Regional Directors of UNESCO and UNFPA, we see the critical need for everyone to confront the systemic inequalities women and girls continue to encounter. As the champions of millions of women and girls across Asia and the Pacific, whose voices and needs are yet to be fully heard and recognized, we are committed to propelling this agenda forward.

We urge governments, the private sector, civil society, and individuals across the region to join us, to crowdsource our efforts in this digital age. Only by working together can we forge a future where every woman and girl can flourish safely and become an integral part of creating a healthier and more harmonious world for all.

#GenderInEducation #GenderEquality #EthicsOfAI #EthicsOfScience