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Table 2.Women in technical positions in NTYear 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013Manager 2 2 3 3 3Deputy manager 8 8 7 7 7Senior engineer 3 3 7 7 8Engineer 16 21 21 36 35Source: www.nta.gov.np/files/GirlsInICT2013/ICT_Career_for_Women_Nepal_Telecom_Prospect.pdfadd/edit contents on Wikipedia. Telecom operatorsin Nepal also provided promotional offers targetingfemale students.Later this year on 16 June, in an event held by theWorld Bank, the International Finance Corporation,Young Innovations and the Computer Associationof Nepal, experts and technologists came togetherto address the challenges of violence against womenby finding innovative technological solutionsto issues surrounding prevention, response andawareness at the Violence Against Women (VAW)“Hackathon”. 8In November 2011, Yuwa, 9 a youth NGO in Nepal,teamed up with SPARROW SMS (as part of its corporatesocial responsibility) and launched a campaignintended to hear and act upon voices being raisedagainst VAW in Nepal. The team has launched a Facebookgroup named “Voice Heard” which allowspeople to post their views or report VAW issuesonline, including by email, by submitting a form,and real-time SMS. This project allows the public toreport VAW incidents and issues openly and anonymouslyby posting directly on the Facebook group’stimeline, or by SMS or email. 10In 2011 the Computer Association of Nepal(CAN) formed a Women in ICT Sub-Committee asa result of persistent lobbying by its women members.11 The CAN sub-committee on women has beenraising awareness on the participation of women inthe ICT sector in Nepal, as well as trying to carry outresearch to generate data on women in ICTs.Earlier this year in January the sub-committeeundertook an online survey on the role of ICT forwomen in the media and organised a workshopon “The Role of ICT for Women in Journalism: Challengesand Opportunities for Women in Media”. Theworkshop was attended by more than 30 participantsfrom different media groups and ICT sectorsin Nepal and its aim was to share best practices as8 www.vawhack.org/about-hackathon9 www.yuwa.org.np10 www.data.yuwa.org.np11 www.can.org.np/content/women-in-ict.htmlwell as the challenges of using ICT for women engagedin the media sector. 12There have been commendable efforts by theCAN Women in ICT Sub-Committee to understandand mainstream gender issues in the ICT sector. Amember of the sub-committee remarked, “First thegender sensitivity has to develop within CAN as aninstitution, before it can effectively work on womenin ICT issues in Nepal.” 13While in the past few years there have beenpositive developments as far as women’s ICT issuesare concerned, the demise of MahilaWeb raisesquestions about the sustainability of women andICT issues in Nepal. There is a need to assess whatworked, what did not work and what may work.There is a need to learn from past efforts and moveinto the future.ConclusionThe MahilaWeb effort, started more than a decadeago, was already having sustainability problemsafter its nine-month pilot period, according to thepaper “Using ICT in Development: Perspectives onNepali Experiences”. 14 It faced difficulties in collectinginformation from various organisations. Trainingon using the internet, email and web page designwere given to women from partner developmentorganisations, with the expectation that traineeswould share their organisation’s information. Butthe contribution of information to MahilaWeb by thepartner organisations did not happen. When fundingended, MahilaWeb staff members kept workingvoluntarily for a time but eventually the project wasdiscontinued.What we can conclude from the MahilaWeb experienceis that the initiative was ahead of its time.More than a decade ago, access to ICTs such as theinternet and email in Nepal was limited to a select12 Based on information provided by a member of the CAN Women inICT Sub-Committee.13 Quoted from a personal conversation with a member of the CANWomen in ICT Sub-Committee14 unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/apcity/unpan007116.pdf173 / Global Information Society Watch