Section 1 | GLOBAL CONTEXT (a public-private partnership of USAID, NetHope, Intel Corporation, World Pulse, World Vision, UN Women, and Women in Technology in Nigeria committed to bringing more than 600,000 young women online in Nigeria and Kenya by 2016)47 and the Action Plan to Close the Gender Digital Gender Gap, launched in December 2015 (co-organized by the ITU and UN Women in partnership with the Association for Progressive Communications, Microsoft, Mozilla, and the governments of Costa Rica, Sweden, Switzerland, Tunisia, and the United States).48 A recent mapping exercise by the ITU found more than 240 active projects addressing the gender digital divide around the world, primarily initiatives of CSOs (64 percent) followed by the private sector (23 percent).49 See Annex D for this and other recommended resources. There are several components to the global gender digital divide. First, women and girls around the world experience unequal access to ICTs due to wage disparities and affordability (devices as well as internet connectivity); disproportionate representation among the illiterate, elderly, and people with disabilities; safety issues around public access computing (PAC) venues 50; and gender norms around distribution and control of household resources, assets, and labor. Second, women and girls have fewer digital skills due to less extensive usage of ICTs; limited availability and affordability of formal and informal skills training; and normative and structural barriers to STEM education and ICT industry employment. Third, women and girls are more likely to lack real and perceived benefits from ICT use due to the lack of relevant digital products, services, and online content by and for women and girls. The lack of tangible benefits from ICT use sets up a negative cycle in which the dearth of relevant online content for women and girls and female ICT industry role models dampens interest in exploring the potential benefits of more advanced ICT functionalities and ICT sector employment. These components are compounded for women and girls with disabilities, those who are illiterate or speakers of minority languages, and members of marginalized groups such as refugees and internally displaced people, all of whom face an additional layer of difficulty in accessing relevant and affordable online information and services. USAID, “Women and the Web Alliance,” February 26, 2016. ITU, Action Plan to Close the Digital Gender Gap (Geneva: ITU, 2016). 49 ITU, Mapping Gender Digital Inclusion Initiatives (Geneva: ITU, November 2016). 50 A. Sey, C. Coward, F. Bar, G. Sciadas, C. Rothschild, and L. Koepke, Connecting People for Development: Why Public Access ICTs Matter (Seattle: Technology & Social Change Group, University of Washington Information School, 2013). 47 48 Ending the Gender Digital Divide in Myanmar: A Problem-Driven Political Economy Assessment | 20