A/HRC/40/35 active creators of ICTs, not simply as users; they were essential and effective partners for change. Speakers stressed the importance of engaging youth, especially young women and girls, to bridge the gender digital gap. Solutions created not just for youth but by and with youth would lead to faster and more sustainable results. 48. Speakers reiterated that the Internet must be open, global, accessible and safe. Policies to improve Internet access needed to be comprehensive and gender responsive, addressing the underlying causes of gender inequality. Several speakers agreed that a gendered and intersectional analysis of new and emerging technologies (e.g. artificial intelligence) was necessary in order to advance women’s rights rather than reinforce and deepen existing inequalities. A human rights-based approach to advancing women’s and girls’ rights was considered vital and many speakers underlined the Sustainable Development Goals, for example Goals 1.4, 4, 5 and 9, as an important tool to complement the existing human rights obligation of States to bridge the gender digital divide. Speakers reiterated that both States and the private sector had a role to play and a responsibility to make available innovative digital technologies and applications that respected their human rights obligations. E. Responses by panellists and concluding remarks 49. In his concluding remarks, Mr. Shadrach, commenting on how to reach women and girls living in remote and rural areas, highlighted two practical examples from South Asia. Both in Bangladesh and in India, numerous online digital centres had been developed which ran e-platforms to create online businesses, for example the Sheba company in Bangladesh. Those centres enabled women to acquire digital skills and market their produce online, and were often led by women themselves. He also reflected on ways for women to protect themselves and their businesses, stating that e-consumer forums, where peer-to-peer opportunities to learn and share information could be shared, were a concrete solution. 50. Ms. Chair stressed that all actors involved in the area, whether Government, private sector or civil society, should ensure women’s participation in ICT not simply as consumers but also as creators and as part of the decision-making processes. This meant engaging with women in identifying what their role could be and how they would like to contribute; these contributions could go beyond coding and providing technical capacity to other processes in the ICT development process. She also underlined the importance of both Government and the private sector investing in systematically engaging young people on how they could improve technology to enhance their lives, both in ICT spaces and at intergovernmental forums such as the Human Rights Council. 51. Ms. Ndir reflected upon the role that international organizations could play in advancing women’s rights through ICTs and eliminating the gender digital divide. She noted that a first step would be digital literacy training, giving the example of the International Organisation of La Francophonie, which had opened an ICT training centre specifically aimed at young people, especially girls, that allowed girls to become developers and important actors in that field. She also mentioned the Smart Africa initiative, the focus of which was to make digital technology a genuine catalyst for development in the region, specifically tackling the gender digital divide. She concluded that a global strategy was needed that effectively coached States in how to eliminate the existing digital divide. 52. The moderator concluded the panel discussion with three recommendations. Firstly, given that more than 90 per cent of all new jobs will have a digital component, there is an urgent need to ensure that women have the skills to benefit from the upcoming digital economy. Secondly, Governments have a key role to play and programmes and best practices need to be shared more broadly. Finally, women and girls need to be provided with the means to not only be receivers of, but also creators and decision makers in, technology. 10