Cinderella or Cyberella? How to Support Women’s ICT Sufficiency in Africa
Dr Nancy J. Hafkin
What role can ICT play in women's aspirations? How can ICT advance their hopes for equal opportunity in societies in developing countries? This is a topic Dr Nancy Hafkin has been devoted to for over 30 years. The well-known scholar is not only a pioneer in the field of ICT for Development. Her work with the Association for Progressive Communication, for example, helped bring e-mail connectivity to nations that had no Internet connection. She is also a strong advocate of gender equity in technology usage. Nancy Hafkin will bring a broad perspective to the plenary discussion on Thursday, May 28th.
 eLA: Dr Hafkin, you once said that gender barriers in the dissemination of technology can be subtle. Could you explain this in more detail?
Dr Nancy J. Hafkin has been working to promote information and communication technology in Africa and other developing areas over the last 30 years, with a particular emphasis on gender. She worked as Chief of Research for 12 years in the programme for women and development at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa — the first international women and development programme in the world — and went on to head the ECA programme to promote Information Technology for Development in Africa from 1997 until 2000, where she was Coordinator of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI). In 2000 the Association for Progressive Communications established the annual Nancy Hafkin Communications Prize competition. She has written widely on information technology, gender and international development, including the recent Cinderella or Cyberella: Empowering Women in the Information Society and Engendering the Knowledge Society: Measuring Women’s Participation. She served as the series editor for eight volumes on reform in African universities for the Partnership on Higher Education in Africa. She is a member of the Scientific Committee of the IDRC-sponsored Pan African Research Agenda on the Pedagogical Integration of ICTs. Nancy has a PhD in history (African) from Boston University
Nancy Hafkin: It's not overt discrimination in the sense of not enrolling girls in computer classes in secondary school, but rather it usually takes the form of teacher, parent and community attitudes discouraging girls' interests in computers or dismissing girls' technical abilities. Also frequent are cultural and social practices that result in a negative impact on girls and their eLearning – for example, in most African schools, computers are found in computer labs. Aside from the short classroom hours available for student use, there are often after school or evening hours when the labs are open. During these times it is much easier for boys to attend than girls. Another similar example comes from the shortage of equipment: when computers are few in number, it is usually boys who are more aggressive in gaining access than girls, who are either told to hold back or have internalised it rather than rushing to the machines.
eLA: How would you describe the situation in Africa? Does it appear as being quite homogeneous or are there striking differences regarding women’s inclusion in ICT and eLearning?
Nancy Hafkin: What you ask presents the case for more data. We have very little evidence from which to draw conclusions. The evidence is largely anecdotal. One exception to this is the large-scale data collection and analysis project of ROCARE/ERNWACA, supported by International Development Research Center (IDRC)-Canada and entitled "PanAfrican Research Agenda on the Pedagogical Integration of ICTs in Africa". The project has made a practice of collecting gender-disaggregated data on the use of ICTs in teaching and learning in 11 African countries. Regrettably, the data does not yet show any clear distinctions between areas of Africa, largely because most of the data does not easily reveal differential gender impact. Few teachers, administrators or students reported open discrimination or unequal access between girls and boys, or unequal use by men or women teachers. It takes qualitative research to reveal differential gender impact – looking, for instance, at gender socialisation with regard to technology, at teacher attitudes, at cultural norms for behaviour. This calls for further research on the subject.
eLA: What comes to mind when you think of any outstanding projects that could serve as examples of effectively empowering women?
Nancy Hafkin: The project using ICT for economic and social development that impresses me especially is the work being done at the Village Knowledge Centers in India, which train women as knowledge workers to assist other men and women in using information technology. They have a tremendous impact on women's self-esteem and the way they are regarded in the community, which reinforces their desire to learn and to improve their own situation and that of their families.
eLA: What would you say: Is there a chance to considerably raise the number of African “Cyberellas” in the next few years?
Nancy Hafkin: Absolutely! I think that many African Cyberellas or Cyberellas-to-be will attend the conference in Dakar. Each one will become a role model for many other young women in the region. I have seen it so often in the more than 20 years that I have been looking at this phenomenon. I know many young African women are comfortable with information technology, find innovative uses for it and adapt the technology to serve their purposes. This is what a Cyberella is. And each will have a multiplier effect on the other.
eLA: Dr Hafkin, many thanks for your time.
The Plenary Session on Thursday will highlight e-Education initiatives and the importance of partnerships, including public-private and multi-stakeholder partnerships. It will also underline the importance of inclusion and of using ICTs to break down barriers related to gender, location and opportunity. It will be chaired by Son Excellence Monsieur Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, Ministre, Conseiller auprès de Monsieur le Président de la République du Sénégal. Further speakers include Cheick Modibo Diarra, Chairman for Africa, Microsoft Corp., South Africa, and Artur Dyro, Managing Director, Young Digital Planet, Poland.
May 7, 2009
 Newsportal: Empowering Women Through ICT
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