Strengthening International Cooperation for Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Women and Girls in the Context of Digital Technologies

Urges States to respect, protect and fulfil the human rights of women and girls in the context of digital technologies, including throughout the research, design, development, deployment and use of such technologies and in the development and implementation of related policies, regulatory frameworks and legislation;

Calls upon States to adopt gender-responsive measures aimed at bridging the gender digital divide within and among countries and expanding opportunities for women and girls, including through affordable, meaningful and equitable access to connectivity, digital, media and information literacy and data literacy, accessible and inclusive education, training and skills development in digital technologies, and to promote, as appropriate, in cooperation with the private sector and other relevant stakeholders, their meaningful participation in the design, development and deployment of technologies, including artificial intelligence, and in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics sectors;

Encourages States to promote the full, equal and meaningful participation of women and girls and the integration of a gender perspective in national, regional and international discussions on the governance of artificial intelligence, including on its human rights impacts;

Calls upon States to take effective measures to prevent and address technology-facilitated gender-based violence and other forms of violence against women and girls that occur through or are amplified by the use of digital technologies, and to promote accountability and access to effective remedies, consistent with international human rights law, while stressing the need to fully engage men and boys as strategic partners, allies and beneficiaries in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls;

Also calls upon States to take appropriate measures, consistent with their obligations under international human rights law, to identify, prevent and mitigate discrimination, including racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, and other adverse impacts on women’s and girls’ enjoyment of human rights arising from digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, and to address the risks of algorithmic and other forms of bias and the lack of representativeness of data used in the design, development, deployment and monitoring of digital technologies, including in the training of artificial intelligence systems, which may reproduce or amplify existing gender inequality, discrimination and gender stereotypes;

Encourages relevant United Nations entities, within their respective mandates and existing resources, to promote cooperation, mutual learning and the exchange of information, experiences, expertise, good practices and lessons learned among those working on gender equality, human rights and digital technologies, including through existing focal points or points of contact, as appropriate, with a view to strengthening cross-sectoral knowledge and expertise;

Invites States to consider, in accordance with their national legal and institutional frameworks, designating, where appropriate, focal points on gender equality and digital technologies or utilizing existing institutional mechanisms, to facilitate cooperation and exchange of information, experiences and practices among States and with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) and other relevant stakeholders, with a view to strengthening cross-sectoral cooperation and promoting and protecting the enjoyment of human rights by women and girls in the context of digital technologies;

Encourages States, relevant United Nations entities and other relevant stakeholders, in accordance with their respective mandates, roles and responsibilities, to strengthen international and multi-stakeholder cooperation and the exchange of information, experiences, expertise, good practices and lessons learned aimed at addressing the differentiated and disproportionate impacts of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence, on women and girls and advancing gender equality and the full enjoyment of human rights by women and girls in the digital age;

Encourages increased capacity-building cooperation between and among States, including policy exchanges, knowledge-sharing activities and the transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms, technical assistance, lifelong learning, personnel training, skilling of the workforce, international research cooperation, voluntary joint international research laboratories and artificial intelligence capacity-building centres, with full consideration of countries’ national needs, policies and priorities, and to hold training courses, seminars and workshops, among others for sharing experiences and best practices;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to prepare a report that takes into account the panel’s discussions, key findings, experiences, good practices and lessons learned, as well as opportunities for strengthened international and cross-sectoral cooperation, and, in consultation with relevant United Nations entities and human rights mechanisms, to include in the report concise and action-oriented recommendations for States and other relevant stakeholders on promoting and protecting women’s and girls’ full enjoyment of human rights in the context of digital technologies, and to present the report to the Human Rights Council at its seventy-first session.