Unesco 'bridging' gender gap in digital space

Paris, March 3 (IANS/WAM) The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) aims to increase the visibility of women in the digital space by organising a global call for contributions, the "Edit-a-thon", on International Womens Day on March 8.

The objective is clear -- everywhere in the world, people will be invited to create, edit or translate new Wikipedia pages of portraits of women who have played a key role or who still contribute today in the fields of education, science, culture, and communication.

Approximately 130 volunteers, among them students, journalists, retirees, representatives of civil society and diplomats will participate in the event at Unesco Headquarters. They will receive training provided by the Wikipedia team.

Unesco Director General Audrey Azoulay will open the ceremony. Gender equality, one of Unecso's priorities, will be promoted through a series of events organised on the occasion of International Women's Day.

The event will feature a symposium focused on gender, cultural rights and scientific freedom at the inauguration of the International Women's Day Exhibition "Rural Women", a conference on the theme "Women Engineers and Empowering Rural Women and Girls".

The launch of the 2018 Global Education Monitoring (GEM), Report Gender Review, will also take place during the conference.

--IANS/WAM

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