PTA signs pact on gender equality

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) collaborated with GSM Association to reduce digital gender gap in the country, a press release said on Tuesday.

The authority signed a cooperation agreement with the telecommunication service provider at Mobile World Congress 2022 in Barcelona.

As per the agreement, GSMA will facilitate PTA by sharing data/insights/expertise in identifying target-oriented projects to reduce digital gender gap. These would include initiatives related to digital financial inclusion, accessibility, affordability, online security awareness and digital skills by females in both rural and urban areas, PTA informed.

The association will support PTA in designing SMS/WhatsApp/IVR based consumer surveys to capture an authentic gender disaggregated data on different gender disparity areas such as SIM and device ownership, internet, social media usage, and financial access gap.

The company will also share with PTA practices, guidelines, and data indicators on gender inclusion in ICTs. In addition, GSMA will be providing mobile internet skills training toolkit (MISTT) in Urdu language, a set of resources to promote digital literacy, and help people use the internet safely on their mobile. PTA termed the collaboration an initiative for bridging the digital gender divide in Pakistan.