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Bridging the gender digital divide: challenges and an urgent call for action for equitable digital skills development

Around 90 per cent of adolescent girls and young women do not use the internet in low-income countries, while their male peers are twice as likely to be online, according to this new UNICEF analysis. The report – Bridging the Digital Divide: Challenges and an Urgent Call for Action for Equitable Digital Skills Development – takes a close look at the gender digital divide among young people aged 15-24 years by analysing available data on internet use, mobile phone ownership, and digital skills in mostly low-, lower-middle-, and some middle-income economies. Though more gender-disaggregated data is needed to better monitor, understand, and work toward digital inclusion, the report finds that girls are being left behind in an increasingly digital and connected world.