Hybrid participation (in-person and virtual participation) 

The Asia-Pacific Regional Commemoration of International Women’s Day 2023, jointly convened by ESCAP and UN-Women, highlighted the crucial roles held, and contributions made, by women and girls working to transform the world into a more connected place. The Commemoration also recognised the need to build a more secure, accessible, inclusive and equitable digital world for women and girls. 

The theme of IWD 2023 was, “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality”, which focused on key topics such as the gendered impact of the digital revolution, meaningful connectivity to narrow the gender digital divide, gender-transformative technology design, and gender-inclusive environments for STEM education and careers. These topics were in alignment with the priority theme of the sixty-seventh session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67), i.e. “Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls”. 

The Commemoration served as a forum for policy dialogue, capacity building and networking for stakeholders, in order to:  

• Enhance the knowledge of gender-transformative innovation and digital technology design that meet the needs of women and girls, and incorporate a gendered lens into digital spheres;  

• Share lessons learned and discuss prevalent challenges that hinder women and girls from attaining the benefits of digital transformation and innovation, such as stereotypical gender norms, a lack of meaningful connectivity, and online VAWG; 

• Facilitate the exchange of experiences and good practices related to advancing gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in the digital age, in addition to providing inputs and recommendations for concrete future action and policy initiatives.