This policy brief, developed by participants in the Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Program “Digital Constitutionalism and the UN Global Digital Compact”, is the product of the Digital Constitutionalism Network’s successful Teaching Partnership that spans across several universities and enables students to engage both digitally and in person with pressing rights issues in the digital context. This brief is the second of a six-part series of policy briefs from the program held at the University of Bremen in the spring of 2024.

Authors Alessandra Cavaliere, Deborah Wieg, Ginevra Marchesini, Lea-Marie Hulsebusch, and Rumbidzai Kapurura present the policy brief “Global Digital Compact: Digital literacy, skills, and capacity”, examining the Zero Draft of the Global Digital Compact and applying a feminist lens to the terminology used regarding digital skills and literacy. The brief identifies ambiguity in the definition of digital skills and the casual confusion of digital skills and literacy, and the authors offer recommendations for the use gender-inclusive language and for clarity in the definitions of digital skills and literacy, and for language that more properly acknowledges the equal capacities of individuals, regardless of their gender. These recommendations are provided to better enable the Zero Draft’s goal of 80 percent proficiency in basic digital skills across genders and to generally aid women’s empowerment through digital education. The brief recommends that the Digital Constitutionalism Network consider the efforts of UNESCO, UN Women, and IT for Change with regard to defining basic digital skills while further emphasizing the need for greater sensitivity and clarity concerning gender, moving away from language that suggests the marginalization of women and towards language that highlights their capacities.

You can find the six policy briefs here: https://www.globaldigitalcompact.org/outcomes.html 

Photos: Matej Meza/Universität Bremen