Quetta, DEC 19 /DNA/  – Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), in collaboration with UNESCO Pakistan, hosted the third consultative workshop for the development of digital gender inclusion strategy. The workshop was held in Quetta.
The workshop, organized at PTA’s Quetta Zonal Office was the third of a series of five consultative workshops being held to gather multi-stakeholder experts’ recommendations for a strategy to reduce digital gender divide in Pakistan.
The workshop was conducted by Ms. Sadaf Khan, UNESCO consultant. Experts from various stakeholder groups including government organizations such as State Bank of Pakistan, PTV and others attended the workshop. Representatives from Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), NIC Quetta, telecom operators, academia, women entrepreneurs, tech start-ups and non-governmental organizations such as Mercy Corp, People’s Primary Health Care initiative (PPHI), and Health Education and Environment Program Balochistan (HEEP) etc. also participated.
Director Wireless PTA and the head of PTA’s initiative for gender inclusion in ICTs informed the participants that PTA is committed to ensuring the provision of best quality of services to all citizens of Pakistan including women.

PTA’s gender inclusion strategy is being developed with support from UNESCO Pakistan. It aims to recommend specific amendments and additions in policies that can help achieve gender parity in use of internet, mobile phones and digital skills in line with International Telecommunication Union’s 2030 goals. This strategy will help PTA, along with other public and private sector stakeholders, to tackle various barriers to women’s use of mobile and ICTs. The next workshop in the series is scheduled in Karachi on 22nd of December 2022.