At UN, Pakistan calls for closing digital gender divide to attain women's empowerment.

UNITED NATIONS -- Pakistan has called for bridging the digital gender divide in a bid to achieve gender equality, and ensure the right to education of women and girls everywhere, as the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) continued its debate on women-related issues.

"It is time to build resilient inclusive and peaceful societies where no one is left behind, not even our women with disabilities, so that the tragic but brave story of Malala Yousafzai is not repeated," Nilofar Bakhtiar, chairperson of the National Commission on the Status of Women, told an expert panel of the Commission's 67th session.

The session, which runs from March 6 to 17, is focused on the theme 'Innovation and technological change, and education in the digital age for achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls'.

In her remarks, Bakhtiar, the Pakistani delegate, said despite national and international efforts, the digital gender gap was growing - particularly between developed and developing countries, and within developing countries.

Calling for transformative action, she underlined the need to mobilize resources and technical assistance to support millions of women and girls who have missed out on the right to an education - in particular, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impacts of the global climate change crisis. In 2021, it was...