Claiming My #FeministTechGoddess

The theme for #CSW67 has revived my connection with the #feministtechgoddess & this week I joined a panel at the Asia Pacific CSO Forum bringing attention to #PacificIsland women and gender diverse people's priorities when it comes to appropriate and accessible technology. There is joy in the work with the Shifting the Power Coalition which celebrates and builds Pacific Island feminist innovation. The POWER system platform is a wonderful example of feminist learning and collaboration - and I personally hope that we can also add community radio models to this platform as well.

#CSW67 outcomes must drive Inclusive & Gender Transformative Action for the diversity of women in our oceanic region preventing techno-centric approaches that ignore the realities of climate change and disasters for women, OR our solutions for the conflict prevention including GBV, OR the disregard of how technology is a means to support women’s food, health, water and economic security security: 1. CSW67 outcomes must prevent the further institutionalized marginalisation of voices and leadership of women and gender diverse people. 2. Accessible and appropriate technology is an inclusive accelerator of change for women in the existing initiatives amplifying their voice and outreach, as well as enabling their leadership in community-led responses. 3. We need transformative local action through investment in local, innovative and transformative action, strengthening collective power to hold political power accountable 4. CSW67 is an opportunity for accessible and appropriate innovation in the context of Information-Communication technology for gender equality and feminist tech needs transformative action: i. Member states can collectively lobby with International Telecommunication Union (ITU,UN) to ensure there is support to develop relevant and inclusive national and regional ICT policies and national plans; collaboration with feminist movements and networks to ensure there is a dedicated focus on feminist funding approaches (financing) - right now there are very few resources going to locally-led movements centring women, girls, and all historically marginalized people that are creating and using technology. ii. Redesigned stakeholder processes – We need to see a localisation and interlinkages across the Generation Equality Action Coalitions and Compact to reaffirm what the feminist and women’s rights movement offers - our networks, agency, abilities and innovations – and overcoming homogenization of all women and young people iii. Redesign the table for inclusive local action –investing in dedicated spaces for inter-generational, cross-gender and multistakeholder engagement - to ensure national ICT policy and programmes are building more inclusive institutions with the feminist movement, climate action and peacebuilding networks.