Official FCC Blog

• Print
• Email

Even when the Internet was new – and expensive and slow – it gave us essential access to the rest of the world. In 1994, when I lived in Senegal, the only Internet access available to me was a hold and forward account through a science research group, meaning I would dial into their servers in order to upload and download my messages. It was very expensive (I believe I paid more than $500 during my year in Senegal), but compared with faxes and telephone was so much more cost-effective and efficient. And it became crucial during the devaluation riots when many phone lines were cut. Our families were relieved to get news through the Internet that we were safe.

By the end of 1999, dial-up connections in Africa were more and more available, but still rare, slow, and expensive. I remember in 2000, the look on the face of West African Nutrition Officers in a cybercafe in Bamako when I accessed (sllllloooooooowwwwwwlllllyyyy) the WHO Nutrition web page, with copies of important documents in multiple languages. The Nutrition Officer from Niger shouted "There it is! I have been asking for someone to mail me that document for over a year!" She was able to leave that day with a 160 page print-out and a copy on a floppy disk. She also got her first email account that day and we added her to the West African Nutrition Network mailing list.

Just two years ago, I was interviewing some folks from Academy for Educational Development (AED) on the Afghanistan Education Portal project, and they told me an almost identical story -- a senior official In the Ministry of Education was overcome with emotion when he saw there was a copy of a key document he had been seeking for a year, now available to him on the internet, in several languages.

Some things never change.

The Peace Through Business program is an initiative of The Institute for Economic Empowerment of Women (IEEW), a non-profit group inspiring women in the United States and abroad to pursue greater entrepreneurial roles, to grow their businesses and start new ventures, and become more active public policy advocates.  Through its program, the IEEW recently hosted  twenty-five women from Afghanistan and Rwanda  here in the United States to receive high-level business and leadership training on topics such as accounting, finance, economics, digital marketing, and the importance of women’s involvement in politics.  

On July 24, 2012, we had the opportunity to accompany FCC International Bureau Chief, Mindel De La Torre to the graduation ceremony for these women and the experience was compelling.

Speakers at the graduation ceremony included Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues; Terry Neese, Founder and CEO of IEEW; and the Honorable Eklil Hakimi, Afghanistan’s Ambassador to the United States. Ambassador Verveer spoke of the difficulties that Rwanda and Afghanistan have faced after years of war and highlighted the progress each nation has made in women’s rights and economic and political development.

Today in Afghanistan, over 25% of Parliamentarians and 10% of judges are women. In Rwanda, women from different political and social parties came together to integrate their efforts and contributed to the prevention of further conflict after the genocide in 1994.  Today, 56% of Rwandan Parliamentarians are women.

Last week, I was honored to represent the Federal Communications Commission at the White House’s observation of the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) 22nd anniversary.  Kareem Dale, the Special Advisor to the President on Disabilities Issues, opened the event, and Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President, gave closing remarks.  

Joining a panel of 4 other administration officials, I had the opportunity to speak on the many ways in which the Commission has successfully implemented the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act (CVAA), signed by President Obama in October 2010.  The CVAA requires access by people with disabilities to emerging Internet-based and digital communications and video programming technologies.  Like the ADA, it seeks to ensure that people with disabilities can be fully independent and productive members of our society.

My remarks at the event highlighted 4 areas of accomplishment by the Commission:

When we think about mobile technology access to services, opportunities and products – particularly in remote, rural corners of the developing world – we occasionally miss the chance to emphasize the importance of tackling macro-level regulatory frameworks and policy-making functions.  Instead, we contemplate what it takes to provide women and men with the critical, micro-level social services and infrastructure they need to drive economic growth and strengthen family and community livelihoods.  We focus on reaching  “the last mile” and the components necessary for rural connectivity. 

But both ends of the spectrum must be targeted. 

Many assume if the mobile infrastructure has been built, connectivity exists and people can afford it, customers will sign-up and use the service.  Doing so will allow people the prospect of maximizing mobile technologies that can drive development change.  But this is often not true for many women in the developing world, where – although the infrastructure exists – they are 21 percent less likely to own mobile phones than their male counterparts.  There are greater factors at play -- primarily cost of mobile services, limited technical literacy and traditional attitudes around women owning productive assets.  These key barriers have shaped the objectives behind the GSMA mWomen Program.