South Africa is one of the African countries that is far ahead in technology, proof of this was revealed in a report, which guarantees that the South Africa has 10 million USD in the Universal Service and Access Funds destined to the provision of Internet access in the country.
In addition, the report (published by the Foundation, Alliance for Affordable Internet and UN Women) says that many African governments are failing to take steps to connect women and other sections of the population, despite the existence of funds earmarked for this purpose. This happens at a time when accessibility is a major barrier for women to be able to access the Internet, with 1GB of prepaid Internet by phone, which costs approximately 2,35% of the average monthly income.
Universal Service and Access Funds offer an incredible and widely underutilized opportunity to make real progress, an opportunity we must not miss. Every day these funds are not used, the other day women and girls are set aside in the digital revolution.
For this Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, Executive Director of UN Women) urged governments to take immediate action to put those funds in the direction of their intended purpose and work to make the history of the digital divide known, starting with women and girls.
Some of the analyzes and perceptions in the report show that, in order to reduce the growing gender disparity in Internet, a gap that is the widest in Africa, the USAF should increase investments in programs specifically aimed at combating obstacles to the use of the Internet. and access faced by women.
