Statement by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield on International Women’s Day
United States Mission to the United Nations
Office of Press and Public Diplomacy
For Immediate Release
March 8, 2022
Statement by Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield on International Women’s Day
Growing up in Louisiana, I would visit the library and borrow a book whenever I wanted to learn something new. Today, we can access vast amounts of information through our phones and computers. The digital revolution is here, but we’re not all equipped with the same skills or access yet.
The theme of International Women’s Day 2023 is “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality”. Globally, women and girls lack digital resources disproportionately – this is particularly critical for women and girls with disabilities. Upgrading their skills and fostering digital literacy is essential to bridging the gap so they can harness the productive potential of technology.
In my travels, I’ve seen firsthand that increasing the participation of women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fosters innovation and creativity, which leads to economic growth.
But while access to digital platforms can be a source of empowerment for women and girls around the world, we also know that they are at disproportionate risk of gender-based violence online. Women in politics, journalists, human rights defenders and other civil society actors are acutely affected.
At the United Nations, we are working to strengthen systems that prevent and respond to all forms of gender-based violence, including technology-enhanced gender-based violence.
In December, the United States released an actionable update to the US Strategy for Global Prevention and Response to Gender-Based Violence, which for the first time places a focus on countering technology-enhanced gender-based violence. This strategy promotes a comprehensive, unified, and multi-agency response to gender-based violence abroad through US foreign policy and assistance.
On this International Women’s Day, we must ensure that women and girls, in all their diversity, are prepared to be seated at the table – both offline and online.
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