GSMA ANNOUNCES CLINTON GLOBAL INITIATIVE COMMITMENT FOR GSMA CONNECTED WOMEN PROGRAMME

GSMA to Undertake Ground-breaking Research to Accelerate the Female Digital Economy

London: The GSMA today announced its Clinton Global Initiative Commitment to Action, Connected Women: Accelerating the Female Mobile Economy, at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York City. The GSMA and its partners are working together in the Connected Women Programme to accelerate growth of the female digital economy, having already reached 10 million women through existing initiatives. The Connected Women Programme will undertake studies that will offer critical insights into the socio-economic benefits of greater inclusion of women at all points in the industry and will be used by partners to develop initiatives and services for female consumers and employees.

The ubiquity and affordability of mobile presents us with the unprecedented opportunity to improve and enhance social and economic development said Anne Bouverot, Director General, GSMA. However, women in particular tend to be left behind, not only as consumers of mobile services, but also as employees and leaders in the mobile industry. To address this, the GSMA has partnered with key industry stakeholders with the vision of accelerating the potential of the female digital economy.

In partnership with the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the GSMA will undertake a research project to increase understanding of the current mobile phone gender gap, the drivers for and barriers to mobile phone access and usage, and implications for industry policymakers and other stakeholders. The study will be amongst the most comprehensive taken to date by the international community on women's technology wants and needs at the base of the pyramid. The research project will include 12,000 interviews and 84 focus group sessions across China, Columbia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kenya, Mexico, Niger, Nigeria and Turkey.

In partnership with A.T. Kearney, the GSMA will also undertake and publish a landmark piece of research examining the state of gender diversity across the industry, highlighting best practices and offering strategic advice on areas of potential change. The objective of the research is to raise awareness of the opportunities for and the role of women in the global telecoms ecosystem and to drive change across the industry by demonstrating how women can support the aspirations of the industry. The report will provide metrics for monitoring progress and activity.

Upon completion of the research reports in early 2015, the GSMA Connected Women Programme partners, which currently include Ooredoo, Qualcomm, Roshan and Smart Communications, commit to using the insights and recommendations generated, to create programmes and services for their female customers and employees. GSMA operator partners will use the findings to deliver the appropriate services including: enhanced access to the mobile Internet for women; recruitment of women to become distributors of mobile airtime credits within their communities, which will allow them to expand digital access while generating household income; provision of information and services that women need with regards to health, education and entrepreneurship skills; provision of mobile technology to women factory workers to enable access to health information; and launch services designed to protect women in vulnerable situations by enabling them to block unwanted callers, preventing harassment and verbal abuse.

Ms. Bouverot continued, The GSMA Connected Women Programme is spearheading the growth of the female digital economy and we look forward to welcoming new partners to help to bring critical socio-economic benefits to women consumers and employees across the globe.

-ENDS-

Notes to Editor:

About the Clinton Global Initiative

Established in 2005 by President Bill Clinton, the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), an initiative of the Clinton Foundation, convenes global leaders to create and implement solutions to the world's most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings have brought together more than 180 heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media. To date, members of the CGI community have made more than 2,900 commitments, which are already improving the lives of more than 430 million people in over 180 countries.

CGI also convenes CGI America, a meeting focused on collaborative solutions to economic recovery in the United States, and CGI University (CGI U), which brings together undergraduate and graduate students to address pressing challenges in their community or around the world. For more information, visit clintonglobalinitiative.org and on Twitter @ClintonGlobal and Facebook at facebook.com/clintonglobalinitiative.

GSMA Connected Women Programme

The GSMA Connected Women Programme builds upon the achievements of both the mWomen Programme, which was launched by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in October 2010 to increase women's access to and use of mobile phones and life-enhancing mobile services in developing markets, and GSMA Connected Women, launched in Brussels in 2012 to close the ICT skills gender gap, attract and retain female talent and encourage female leadership in technology on a global basis.

The Connected Women programme builds on the momentum of these two programmes through the delivery of research, technical assistance, meetings, advocacy case studies, best practices and toolkits to further address the digital skills and connectivity gender gaps to enable women to meet their full potential as consumers and employees. For more information visit: www.gsma.com/connectedwomen.

About the GSMA

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