We Can’t Co-Create Without Women

One of four sisters, I have had the great privilege to grow up in a family of impressive women—an experience that has made me certain of two things. First, tapping into the limitless potential of women is beneficial to society as a whole. Second, issues that affect the day-to-day lives of women are largely overlooked when we speak of “man’s” (referring to both men and/or humankind) problems.

My mother, armed as she is with all of the rights afforded by her United State citizenship, shared many of the same concerns as women all over the world when she took on the momentous task of raising four girls. Like mothers everywhere, she was doubly concerned about basic public services and information regarding healthcare, educationAccountability within the public education system is key to improving outcomes and attainment, and accountability is nearly impossible without transparent policies and opportunities for participation ..., day care, and security, because she understood that such services and information could mean a brighter future for both herself and her children. And while the core OGP values of openness and accountability encompass women in theory, I think a gendered lens is critical to actually improving women’s lives and achieving the overarching goal of co-creating a platform that “empowers and delivers for citizens, and advances the ideals of open and participatory 21st century government.”

Throughout Global Co-Creation Week, the World Wide Web Foundation used the #OGPcocreation and #myNAPask hashtags to highlight the need for more women- and gender-centric commitments in OGP action plans. Of nearly 3,000 OGP commitments, fewer than a dozen commitments in current action plans focus on issues specific to women and genderOGP participating governments are bringing gender perspectives to popular policy areas, ensuring diversity in participatory processes, and specifically targeting gender gaps in policies to address gov... (see the table below).

The Web Foundation tweeted out a list of recommendations to give gender a more prominent place in the OGP agenda. Covering actions to be taken by both the OGP Support UnitThe OGP Support Unit is a small, permanent group of staff that work closely with the Steering Committee and the Independent Reporting Mechanism to advance the goals of the Open Government Partnership.... and OGP countries, the suggestions ranged from appointing a gender point person for each of the seven working groups, to consulting women’s groups for commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... ideas and implementation, and using innovative methods/technology to provide women greater access to information.

To further emphasize the need for OGP initiatives created by and for women, the Web Foundation tweeted out a number of country report cards measuring gender gaps in information and communications technologies (ICTs) and offering improvement plans adapted to each country’s context. With more OGP commitments devoted to open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... and digital services, recognizing gender inequality related to ICTs is essential for creating OGP commitments that result in positive changes for the greatest number of citizens, women not excluded. Below are a few of my favorite improvements proposed in the six OGP countries of the ten assessed:

• Colombia: “Establish training programmes focused on the needs of all Colombian women, aiming to foster access and use of the Internet as a tool for the full enjoyment of women’s rights and empowerment.”
• Ghana: “Existing policies should be revised to address online violence against women (VAW), and awareness campaigns should be mounted to publicise the legal processes available for seeking redress. The Ghana Police Service and the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) must be trained and equipped with all resources (technical, human, financial) to fight all forms of digitally enabled violence against women.”
• Indonesia: “Set concrete targets for gender equity in ICT access, with adequate budget for programmes. These targets should also be monitored with timely data collection. Indonesia is already one of the few countries to collect basic gender-disaggregated data on Internet use and should now expand this effort into other key ICT indicators.”
• Kenya: Because the women in the study reported that prepaid data prices are “‘unrealistic’ and prevent them getting online, the Kenyan government must “work with mobile operators and Internet Service Providers to lower tariffs. Free public Wi-Fi initiatives should be scaled and offered in all public places including schools.”
• Nigeria: “Government must prioritise wide online availability of local language information about women’s health, rights and services that empower women.”
• Philippines: “All government websites should be audited to assess the relevanceAccording to the OGP Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should include a clear open government lens. Specifically, they should advance at least one of the OGP values: transparency, citizen partic... of their content for women, and their effectiveness in supporting women to access information. Women should be consulted on what they require from government websites.”

I want nothing more than OGP to work for both the women in my family who continue to inspire me and for all of the incredible women spread across the globe whom I have yet to meet. As underscored by the Web Foundation, we first need more women at the proverbial OGP table to co-create action plans that reflect their realities. I, for one, am convinced that the goals of open government and female empowerment are stronger together.

Existing OGP Commitments* Addressing Gender Issues (tagged under “Gender & Sexuality” in the IRM Explorer)

*Commitments introduced in current NAP cycles (2015-2017 and 2016-2018)