Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Shaza Fatima Khawaja addressed the 9th Organisation of Islamic Cooperation Ministerial Conference in Islamabad on July 13, reaffirming Pakistan’s commitment to closing the digital gender divide and advancing inclusive digital development across member states of the Muslim world.
In her address, the minister stated plainly that meaningful digital transformation cannot be achieved while women remain excluded from digital opportunities, framing gender inclusion not as a peripheral social objective but as a prerequisite for the kind of broad-based digital progress that the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and its member states have collectively committed to pursuing. She highlighted Pakistan’s own ongoing efforts to expand digital access for women, strengthen digital skills development, promote women’s participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and foster entrepreneurship within an enabling ecosystem that allows women to fully participate in and benefit from the digital economy.
The minister called on Organisation of Islamic Cooperation member states to deepen collaboration on the digital inclusion agenda, specifically urging partners to share best practices and learning from programmes that have demonstrated measurable impact, invest in digital infrastructure that reaches underserved women and girls, and develop policies ensuring equitable access to technology, digital finance, education, and innovation across the bloc. She framed these as shared obligations rather than individual national responsibilities, arguing that the scale and complexity of the digital gender divide requires coordinated multilateral action rather than isolated national programmes operating without mutual reinforcement or exchange of knowledge.
Shaza Fatima Khawaja reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to working actively with Organisation of Islamic Cooperation partners to build a more inclusive, connected, and digitally equipped future across the Muslim world, positioning technology as a tool for generating economic opportunity and sustainable development when access to it is made genuinely equitable. The 9th OIC Ministerial Conference, held in Islamabad, provided a significant diplomatic platform for Pakistan to assert its role as an active advocate for inclusive digital development within the broader Organisation of Islamic Cooperation framework.
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