WOMEN’S RIGHTS ONLINEREPORT
CARD
GHANA
Measuring Progress,
Driving Action

INTE’SENACCESS & W
ET OWERM OM
NENR MPTEGHANA
OVERALL SCORE:
SCORE:

30%

SCORE:Y

41GB of data costs over 7% of average monthly
income. The government has established some public
Community Information Centers, but many are notfully operational, with breakdown of equipment andlack of connectivity cited as concerns. Public libraries
increasingly provide ICT access.

DIGITAO R DA BILIT

Less than 20% of women in Ghana have access tothe Internet. The national ICT policy recognises ICTs
as a tool for fighting gender inequality. The 2015
national gender policy also recognises the gender gap
in access to technology, digital knowledge and ICTskills. However, there are no clear targets in place tomonitor these objectives, and data on female Internetusers is not regularly collected.

SCORE:KILLS & EDU
SCLIONATFAF

2

1

Ghana has a policy on compulsory ICT education inschools and integration of ICT into teacher training,but implementation has been slow and there are nospecific gender targets for women or girls’ digital skillsand education. No data is available on the number ofschools with Internet access.

RELEVAICESRVSCORE:

LINE S AFETYNOCONTENT & SETN

4A few civil society organisations maintain websitesthat provide information and services related toreproductive health, but more needs to be done inthis area. 12% of women in Ghana have access tomobile financial services.

SCORE:

5The Ghana Police Service and its Domestic Violence
and Victims Support Unit received some training onICT based violence against women, but responses
are currently inadequate due to lack of resources.
A Data Protection Act was passed in 2012, which
includes an independent commission mandated toenforce compliance.

CLOSING THE GENDER GAP: A 5 POINT ACTION PLAN
1ESTABLISH SPECIFIC TARGETS TO CLOSE THE ICT GENDER GAP. The National
ICT for Accelerated Development Policy should be reviewed to include targets for improving women andgirls’ access to the Web and and bridging the ICT gender gap. Data on women’s Internet access and use
should be collected annually.

2

MAKE THE INTERNET MORE AFFORDABLE. The 20% import tax imposed on mobile phones
in Ghana must be removed, as promised by the government. Consider adopting pricing models and/or tax
incentives to subsidise rural Internet access. Multimedia centres offering public Internet access should bemade available throughout Ghana.

3

IMPROVE DIGITAL SKILLS INTERVENTIONS FOR WOMEN AND GIRLS. Government
must incorporate ICT literacy into teacher training and school curricula, and encourage women and girls
to enter science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programmes. Adult ICT centres andprogrammes should also be established to support women’s economic empowerment.

4

MAKE RELEVANT CONTENT AND SERVICES FOR WOMEN AVAILABLE ONLINE.
Develop a systematic approach to including women and girls in the design and programming of ICT hardware
and software so that products, services, and content are relevant to women. Train and support women’sgroups to create content and use the Internet and social media tools to amplify women’s voices.

5ENSURE A SAFE ONLINE ENVIRONMENT. Existing policies should be revised to address
online violence against women (VAW), and awareness campaigns should be mounted to publicise the legal
processes available for seeking redress. The Ghana Police Service and the Domestic Violence and Victims
Support Unit (DOVVSU) must be trained and equipped with all resources (technical, human, financial) tofight all forms of digitally enabled violence against women.

PROJECT OVERVIEWThe United Nations recently
made gender-equitable access to
information and communications
technologies (ICTs) central to the
Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs), which set the global
development agenda until 2030.
Why? ICTs are powerful. They can help todeliver improved healthcare, quality education
for all, financial inclusion, more accountable
government, and much more. In adopting theSDGs, all countries have pledged to prioritise
universal Internet access, and to use ICTs toempower women.
But much hard work lies ahead if weare to translate this vision into reality. A
formidable gender gap in Internet access,digital skills and online rights exists - our
Women’s Rights Online research shows that inmany communities, women are 50% less likely
than men to be online and 30-50% less likely
to use the Internet for economic and politicalempowerment. Women face many barriers including high costs, lack of know-how, and ascarcity of relevant and empowering content as well as social and legal obstacles to speaking
freely and privately online.
The Web Foundation and partners have
prepared these gender audits to help countries
assess what they need to do to overcome thegender digital divide. Media Foundation forWest Africa has taken the lead, in consultation
with other national stakeholders, on identifying
concrete steps that government can take inthe next year to address the challenges andgaps identified. We hope that this report cardand action plan will spark debate and galvanise
policy change.

A NOTE ON METHODOLOGY:
We based our scores on 14 simple indicators for which reliable empirical evidence
exists, and grading was done in the second quarter of 2016. See the accompanying
overview for a description of the indicators and sources used. A full methodology isavailable on our website.

Produced in collaboration with:

With support from: