International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated every 8th of March in honour of women's impact and contributions to society, economy, culture, and politics. It is also an occasion to consider the steps taken towards achieving gender equality in all spheres of life and the work that remains to be done to guarantee it.

In a statement commemorating the Day, Emmanuela Nwahiri, the Women's Rights Officer of the Centre, applauded the global contributions by women to the digital world in which we increasingly live. She calls for institutionalizing systems that will address gender equality and women's representation in the digital sphere. Citing the United Nations (UN) data, women make up only 22 percent of artificial intelligence (AI) workers globally. Also, a global analysis of 133 AI systems across industries found that 44.2 percent demonstrate gender bias, and a survey of women journalists from 125 countries found that 73 percent had suffered online violence in the course of their work.

Persistent gender gap in digital access keeps women from unlocking technology’s full potential. Their underrepresentation in Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) education and careers remains a major barrier to their participation in tech design and governance. Increasing pervasive threat of online gender-based violence too often forces them out of the digital spaces they do occupy." Factors such as race, age, disability, socioeconomic status, and location all play a role in determining women’s digital access and use.

Centre LSD is calling on governments, activists, relevant institutions, and the private sector to intensify efforts to remove all barriers that hinder and limit women’s access to the digital world. This year IWD celebration provides another opportunity to galvanize collective actions that would engender an inclusive and gender-equal digital global ecosystem.

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