# **Introduction**

The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has the second largest gender economic gap, after South Asia, with an average population-weighted score of 63.4%. The regional average score on the Economic Participation and Opportunity sub-index is 46% in spite of an educational attainment score of 99.5% (Global Gender Gap Report, 2022). Female labor force participation (FLFP) is the lowest worldwide with a rate of 19.6% in 2021 (World Development Indicators, 2022).

The gender economic gap is driven by several factors, including individual and household socioeconomic characteristics, the structure of economic growth, educational attainment, trade openness, and population growth (Assaad et al, 2014; Rodgers and Zveglich, 2012; ElborghWoytek et al, 2013; Nazier and Ramadan, 2017; Bursztyn et al, 2018; Efobi et al, 2018; Assaad et al, 2018; Osundina, 2019; Kooli and Al Muftah, 2020). Informal institutions such as social norms, traditional gender roles, motherhood, and work–family responsibilities may explain the gender gap in labor market outcomes, especially in conservative societies such as the MENA region (Kleven et al, 2019; Nazier and Ramadan, 2020; Patricia and Cortés, 2020). Additionally, formal institutions promoting more equal gender roles and redistributing child responsibilities equally between fathers and mothers are significant determinants of FLFP (Patricia and Cortés, 2020).

Another key driver of FLFP is digital inclusion that ensures equal access to, use, and benefit of information and communication technology (ICT). As the World Bank (2021) has highlighted, universal adoption of digital technologies would double FLFP by 20 percentage points over a 30-year period. Digital technologies would provide women information and knowledge, economic opportunities, and flexible arrangements. Such arrangements may be more compatible with the family-work responsibilities in conservative societies where women are the main caregivers and their mobility is limited (Chen, 2004; Antonio and Tuffley, 2014; World Bank, 2016; Bertrand, 2018; Kusumawardhani et al 2023). The literature shows that increasing access to ICT reduces the gender gap in employment by creating new economic opportunities, improving labor matching, and reducing transaction costs and entry barriers. The industries where job growth is expected in the fourth industrial revolution require science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and digital skills (Badran, 2019). The digitalization of business procedures and payments has the potential to reduce the gender gap in business ownership by increasing women’s access to markets, productive assets, credits, and information (Chen, 2004; Antonio and Tuffley, 2014; World Development Report, 2016; Klapper et al, 2016; OECD, 2018; Viollaz and Winkler, 2020).

The need for flexible arrangements through the use of ICT increased with the spread of the novel coronavirus. The COVID-19 pandemic shed light on the importance of technology and accelerated the use of technology-based solutions worldwide. Limited mobility, working remotely, and e-learning made digital devices and internet access necessary to accessing economic opportunities.

Nevertheless, digital access is not universal, and the gender digital gap is wide, particularly in the MENA region. Ten countries in the region have internet penetration less than 70% 2