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In Kenya, Mudhai (2004) observes that the legal and structural changes that
separated the regulatory and operational services of the Kenyan lCT
strategy in 1998 and 1999 have now been effected. These policies have
opened a new chapter for the telecommunications, radio and postal sectors,
with the establishment of Telkom Kenya, the Communications Commission
of Kenya (CCK) and the Postal Corporation of Kenya.
In relation to the types of lCT policies and strategies needed to incorporate
women in development programs, Marcelle (2002:3) calls for the
empowerment of women through the enhancement of skills, knowledge, and
access to lCTs. This includes making improvements in access and promoting
initiatives that include rural women and women in the informal sector.
Marcelle further asserts that 85% of the world's-commerce websites are US­
based, with Western Europe and Asia making up the rest. Not many people
possess visa cards etc. that would enable them to buy off the internet.
It was observed that in-order to improve the ability of women in developing
countries to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by information
technology, there is need for more education at all levels, from basic literacy
through to scientific and technological education. Women are also not likely
to benefit equitably from lCT projects unless special efforts are made to
identify their situation and needs and effective action is taken to incorporate
their active participation in project implementation and development. For
example, women not only have less access to the technology itself, but are
also financially limited and have less time to learn and use the technology.
Women are also absent from decision-making positions in information
technology and in developing countries (see chapters 5.1 and 5.2).
Gender considerations are crucial from the beginning of project design, i.e.
the planning stages of the project under consideration. Some of these
include: (i) the need for sex-disaggregated data on projects, especially
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