A/HRC/40/35 and bias. With health and education enhanced, ICTs could then directly improve women’s equal access to economic opportunities. She highlighted that those technologies could be assets in efforts by and for women, including rural and isolated women, to build, broaden and enhance their peer and stakeholder networks and to strengthen support networks and provide access to online markets and critical forecasts and other financial services. 32. However, she cautioned that a persistent and growing gender digital divide was working against the huge potential of ICTs for accelerating women’s and girl’s enjoyment of their rights. While the divide was larger in low- and middle-income countries it existed worldwide, and in every context the offline population was disproportionately poor, rural, female and older. Women and girls who faced multiple forms of discrimination, such as those living with disability, in street situations, in rural areas or belonging to minority groups or indigenous communities, tended to face even higher levels of digital marginalization. She stressed, however, that the solutions too were clear and within reach. She recommended that active measures be taken to instil digital literacy, skills and confidence in girls and women and ensure that those with fewer financial resources could have affordable access to ICT devices or the Internet; to protect women’s and girls’ online presence against hate and harassment; to develop online content of specific relevance to women and girls, for instance comprehensive health information covering topics such as comprehensive sexuality education, safe abortion and contraception within the framework of sexual and reproductive health and rights; to transform the representation of women and girls in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and ensure their participation in the design, development and delivery of digital technologies, as well as in Internet governance; to address the widespread sexual harassment of women in science and technology; and to ensure that new and emerging technologies, and those who administered them, did not replicate or exacerbate existing harmful gender stereotypes and patterns of discrimination against women. 33. She concluded that international human rights norms and principles, especially equality, non-discrimination, inclusion, participation and the provision of effective remedies, should effectively guide any action taken in response to issues of access, use and misuse of ICTs. As the global network was inherently disrespectful of territorial jurisdiction, she reiterated that it was the duty of the international human rights system, including the Human Rights Council, to work for conditions that would respect, protect and promote the rights of women and girls on- as well as offline. B. Keynote speech by the Minister for Fisheries and Equal Opportunities and Minister for Nordic Cooperation of Denmark 34. Ms. Kjer Hansen pointed out that developments in ICT were moving extremely fast, presenting both opportunities and risks for women’s rights. She noted that more than 200 million fewer women than men were online, and the digital gender gap was widening. Women’s and girls’ access to and participation in ICTs needed to be enhanced in order to close the gap. The World Economic Forum estimated that 90 per cent of all future job would require ICT skills. Women and girls needed to be a part of that fast-growing sector. 35. She urged Governments and private companies to be more proactive in enhancing girls’ engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, including to fulfil Sustainable Development Goal 5. She mentioned initiatives launched by her Government in that regard: “TechPlomacy”, focusing on the opportunities and challenges of the fourth industrial revolution, with development partners acting as catalysts in bridging the digital gender divide; and the “African girls can code” initiative, undertaken with the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the African Union, one objective of which was to conduct trainings on the African continent to equip young girls with digital literacy and coding skills. 36. She also highlighted that her Government was working with the information technology sector and educational institutions to break down barriers for female students. By reshaping and rewording its advertising and information materials, the IT University in 7