Advancing digital rights and legal reforms to end technology-facilitated gender-based violence and protect women and girls in Southern Africa

The event brought together CSO actors, youth policymakers, and digital rights advocates to reflect on the state of digital rights and TFGBV in Southern Africa. Thirty-one young people and leaders from Madagascar, South Africa, Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Tanzania, Ghana, and Kenya attended. Participants called on Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states to recognise that women and girls in the Global Majority and the Southern African region are disproportionately vulnerable to biases and discrimination arising from Artificial Intelligence (AI) datasets, the enviromental and climate impacts of  Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure and a deepening digital gender divide, worsened by inaccessible emerging technologies.

The recommendations call on States to:

• Close the digital divide
• Protect rights and safety online
• Promote inclusion and leadership
• Uphold fundamental digital rights
• Advance sustainable digital economies