E/2003/27 E/CN.6/2003/12 Annex I Panel discussion on participation in and access of women to the media, and information and communication technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women Summary submitted by the moderator (Birgit Stevens (Belgium)) 1. At its second meeting, on 3 March 2003, the Commission on the Status of Women held a panel discussion followed by a dialogue on participation in and access of women to the media, and information and communication technologies and their impact on and use as an instrument for the advancement and empowerment of women, one of the thematic issues of the Commission’s forty-seventh session. The panellists were Carolina Aguilar Ayerra (Cuba), editorial director of “Women of Cuba”; Ammu Joseph (India), freelance journalist and media analyst; Rosalind Gill (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), lecturer at the London School of Economics; Concepción García Ramilo (Philippines), project manager for the Association for Progressive Communications Women’s Networking Support Programme; and Sarbuland Khan, Director, Division for Economic and Social Council Support and Coordination, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. The panel was moderated by Birgit Stevens (Belgium). 2. Participants noted that the emergence of new information and communication technologies (ICT) and the profound changes in global media and communication systems posed opportunities and challenges for the promotion of gender equality. They emphasized the role of ICT and the media as tools for development and as central to the empowerment of women. These new media and ICT were increasingly used to share knowledge, enhance participation of all members of society, increase networking, give voice to marginalized groups, organize political action, empower people, fight poverty and enhance economic development. It was therefore particularly important to address gender-based discrimination and inequalities that undermine women’s access to opportunities in the emerging knowledge and information society and diminish the potential of ICT and the media to be an effective tool for the promotion of gender equality. 3. A human rights approach framed the debate as participants placed emphasis on women’s rights in the information society, with enhanced opportunities for democratic governance, the exercise of citizenship and full participation in development for all, based on rights to information and communication. Participants also made reference to the call in the United Nations Millennium Declaration (see General Assembly resolution 55/2) that ICT become available to all. As these technologies were seen as tools for the achievement of all the millennium development goals, their gender perspectives had to be addressed in their use. 4. Participants underlined that consideration of the role of media and ICT in the empowerment of women presented the Commission on the Status of Women with a crucial opportunity for enhancing attention to gender perspectives in the ongoing preparations for the World Summit on the Information Society and for ensuring that gender equality was at the centre of global discussions on the future of the information society. While the draft declaration that had emanated from the second 47