LEADERSHIP INSIGHTS
Mats Granryd
General Director, GSMA

HOW MOBILE NETWORK OPERATORS ARESUPPORTING WOMEN THROUGH COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the urgency to reach women with mobile technology. As COVID-19 spread
across the world resulting in tragic health and economic impacts, lockdowns, uncertainty and misinformation,
for some a mobile phone can be a lifeline.
Mobile is the primary way most people in low- and middle-income countries access the internet, which is proving a vital tool forsharing information about the pandemic, supporting livelihoods, and enabling remote access to critical services such as healthcare
and education. For women, mobile plays an important role by providing them with a gateway to essential information, services andopportunities, often for the first time. Mobile phones are helping women during the current crisis in many ways, including:•

Getting online medical advice or remote video consultations with doctors.

•Making and receiving voice calls which can be a comforting way of keeping in touch with friends
and relatives during isolation.

•Using mobile money to send funds to family members affected by the pandemic, and paying
for essential bills and services.

•Receiving digital welfare payments from the government during the pandemic.

•Accessing online educational content to support children with home schooling.

•Accessing virtual marketplaces for sustaining microbusiness or finding essential products.

Connecting women and helping them reap the benefits of mobile technology matters more than ever during the pandemic, andthe mobile industry is rising to the challenge, supporting women to access mobile connections and services including mobile money.
As part of the GSMA Connected Women Commitment Initiative launched in 2016, mobile operators have collectively reachedover 35 million additional female customers with mobile internet or mobile money services. Operators have launched a range ofactivities as part of the initiative including offering low-cost internet-enabled handsets, increasing the number of female agents,
improving digital literacy among women through educational programmes and interactive content, and developing marketing
materials which target women.

The first wave of operators to make or renew their Connected Women Commitment to reduce the gender gap in the customer
base of their mobile money and/ or mobile internet services by 2023 include: Grameenphone Ltd. (Bangladesh), Mobitel (Pvt)
Limited – Sri Lanka, MobileMoney Limited (subsidiary of MTN Ghana), Ooredoo Maldives, Orange Finances Mobiles Sénégal(OFMS), Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (JIO) India, Robi Axiata Limited (Bangladesh), Safaricom PLC, Turkcell Turkey, Vodacom
Congo (RDC) SA Democratic Republic of Congo and Vodacom Tanzania PLC.
Mobile operators are also supporting women to acquire advanced ICT skills and are working to increase female leadership andrepresentation in ICT industries. Turkcell, for example, is supporting the Women Developers of the Future programme, which
has trained more than 770 women in Turkey and supported the launch of over 200 mobile apps designed by women. Vodafone haslaunched the #ChangeTheFace Initiative, a new industry-wide programme calling on technology leaders and individuals topledge to increase diversity and equality in the technology sector. AT&T has been recognised for its commitment to genderequality by the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index for the third year in a row.
The GSMA is committed to upholding the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles by bridging the gender divide both in its
operations and in supporting the mobile industry’s efforts to accelerate digital and financial inclusion for women. This commitment
is also reflected in the work it does around the world, not least within global partnerships like EQUALS which have “...brought
together public and private sector organizations...” as COVID-19 threatens to reverse gains made on the gender equality front.
So far 30 mobile operators have joined the GSMA in committing to the UN Women Empowerment Principles and fosteringbusiness practices that empower women. It has never been more important to address the mobile gender gap, to ensure women
can access and reap the full benefits of mobile technology and can participate meaningfully in all aspects of the digital future.
When women thrive, societies, businesses and economies thrive.

Women’s Empowerment Principles

High-level corporate
leadershipweps.org

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Workplace HR

Employee well-being
and safety

Education and training
for women

weps@unwomen.org

Produced by:

Supplier diversity& marketing practices@WEPrinciples

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engagement

Measurement andreporting@Empower_Women

In support of:

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the European Union, UN Women, International Labour Organization orthe United Nations and their Member States.