Over 1 million women empowered with digital literacy skills

This month, the Telecentre Women: Digital Literacy Campaign – launched by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the telecentre.org Foundation – reached its goal by training a total of 1,014,096 disadvantaged women in basic digital literacy skills.

e-Women Award winner Ms. Saiyud Poonsawas

This result is a key step forward towards achieving goal 3 of the UN Millennium Development Goals: promote gender equality and empower women.

Since 2008, the Thai Ministry of ICT has made the Telecentre program one of its top policy priorities in its efforts to reduce the digital divide in Thailand and provide Internet access to all members of society. Since then, the Research Centre of Development and Communication Knowledge and Management (CCDKM) at Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU), and many other stakeholders – including UN agencies, NGOs, and academia – have been working together to reduce the digital divide and alleviate poverty at the grassroots by promoting ICT literacy, life-long learning initiatives, enterpreneurship and e-commerce strategies.

Today, as an outcome of the Telecentre Women: Digital Literacy Campaign, over 1 million disadvantaged women have been empowered with the digital literacy skills required to improve their employability, access information and utilize digital services. A Certificate of Appreciation was awarded to Dr Kamolrat Intaratat, Chair of the Asia Pacific Telecentre Network (APTN), for actively involving thousands of grassroots telecentres in Thailand and throughout Asia in this global initiative.

Learn more about Thai Telecentres from e-Women Award winner Ms. Saiyud Poonsawas at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCBVN4HZgsU or visit APTN Asia Pacific Telecentre Network website

Sara Gabai
CCDKM, APTN