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MEDIA LITERACY AND INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE Strategies, Debates and Good Practices the implementation of forceful actions that result in a reduction of gender inequalities. In such a context the commitment to influence the realities that characterise a large sector of Colombian society, in particular the realities of women at all levels, educational, economic and health makes it difficult to accomplish. This paper reports the initial outcomes of a project which proposes an educational practice that aims at empowering women to become agents of change in their reality, they themselves set the priorities to be taken into account when designing actions aimed to improve conditions in Colombian society. This project focused on women who suffer the consequences of an unequal distribution of resources and inadequate provision or in some cases absence of educational services. Such women are often permanent members of the informal employment sector with the consequences that this has on their entitlement for social services. In Colombia, 58% of men and 69% of women are linked to the so-called micro-businesses. These women are often the same women who have difficulties in accessing health services and/or counselling for sexual and reproductive rights, contributing to the increase in teenage pregnancy. In fact according to the National Demographic and Health Profamilia statistics (2005) up to 19% in 2002 and 21% in 2005, girls between 15 and 19 years of age were reported pregnant (Ministerio de Protección Social. Política Pública de Salud Sexual y Reproductiva, 2005). These women are often victims of domestic violence. According to journal Legal Medicine in 2006 there were 61,015 victims of domestic violence and 37,047 (60.7% of the population) victims of violence perpetrated by boyfriends. 13, 287 cases amounting to 21.8% were victims of violence between other family members and 10,681 cases of child abuse (17.5%) (Instituto Nacional de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses, 2006). 2.1. ICT in Colombia The so-called "Knowledge Society" presents great challenges to any country, but in developing countries the challenges are much greater. These countries have many obstacles to overcome, such as poverty, social inequality, low educational provision, scarce health services, lack of employment opportunities and insufficient housing. Developing countries are still struggling with such issues. Currently, Colombia records serious disparities in access to Information Technology and Communication. The country still struggles with providing sufficient educational provision to its population and provision of basic telecommunication infrastructure. Among the most notable causes are the apparent poverty and inequality of income amongst the population. Despite the economic recovery experienced in recent years, poverty and inequality of 23
MEDIA LITERACY AND INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE Strategies, Debates and Good Practices income remain high particularly in rural areas (Report by the Council of Pamplona 2010). Although the country has recorded some improvement in the educational sector, the educational level of the population, when compared to North America, is still low, in particular in the rural areas of the country. Despite the efforts at facilitating access to ICT, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the World Bank, both declare that the digital divide is still too wide for this Latin American country. Acts such as low electricity coverage in the country, school dropouts and the number of computers per student, shows the gap between rural and urban. The concentration of wealth and the distribution of the same structural facts are configured as a complement explaining the low penetration of ICT in the country. Statistical analyses clearly show a positive relationship between income and the use and exposure to ICT. Those with higher income have better access to ICT (Pínzón Ramírez, Sánchez Gutiérrez, 2008). ICT has been introduced in Education but ICT is not considered as a essential tool for empowering low-income sectors of the society in accessing the labour market. Often the only relationship between these projects and ICT is the use of the Internet. National policies identified for promoting sustainable development and the fight against poverty, are far from reaching the aim of empowering communities. Very often these projects are distinctively occasional, scattered and fragmented in nature, commonly with short-term objectives (Finquelievich, et al, 2003). Initiatives in ICT and Gender are scarce; with those found mostly offering social assistance and training for traditional jobs to women with low economic means. Very few initiatives relate to the need to apply new ICT tools for changing the labour market. In Colombia, ITSA (Instituto Tecnológico de Soledad, Atlántico), developed the Mothers Network Program which aims to provide ICT training to women, mothers, and victims of violence from the armed conflict in the region. Programs aimed at the promotion and dissemination of ICT rarely take into account gender issues. Very few of such programs focus specifically on training women in ICT tools and/or target women’s employability involving ICT components, even though research shows clearly that there is inequitable gender disparity (Finquelievich, Martínez Lago, 2004). 3. ICT training as a strategy of empowerment Our commitment to encourage the creation of new knowledge, to conduct research from a gender perspective and use new approaches and support innovative initiatives, has directed our action to promote women's empowerment through the use of information technology and communication as an innovative tool for this achievement. 24
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