The Gyeonggi Provincial Office, Sookmyung Women’s University and APWINC (Asian Pacific Women’s Information Network Center) are jointly sponsoring an international forum on ICTs (information and communication technologies) & Gender at Sookmyung University and GWDC (Gyeonggi Women’s Development Center) on June 24 and25, with 150 scholars and experts from relevant international organizations and NGOs in 35 countries. 

The ICTs & Gender forum is intended to discuss ways of women’s more active participation in economic activities and other social changes amid development of the information and communication technologies. In August 2003, the forum was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (www.globalknowledge.org/gender2003) in cooperation with several other international organizations. 

The forum in Seoul will play the role of a preparatory expert group meeting for adoption of the announcement on gender equality in the information-based society at the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis in November. 

It is meaningful that world-renowned experts have an opportunity for discussion at the GWDC acclaimed as an excellent model for women resources development by UNDP, UNESCO, UNDAW,and APWINC. The GWDC (www.womenpro.or.kr) has provided sessions for IT/CT education for women, in addition to providing support for women starting up businesses and establishment of the information network for women since its opening in 1997. 

The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is a biennial conference held under the sponsorship of the ITU (International Telecommunication Union). Its first conference was held in 2003. The Gender Caucus was established in consideration of the situation in which there is an increasing number of women suffering poverty, which, along with information gap for women, hamper the progress toward the goal of gender equality. 

The GWDC was honored to make a presentation on its activities as an exemplary body in the Asia-Pacific region at the first conference. This year it is co-hosting the ICTs & Gender forum as a preparatory expert group meeting for adoption of the announcement on gender equality in the information-based society at the 2005 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Tunis in November. Thus, it is expected that the GWDC will emerge as a force leading the global agenda for the development of the economic community adopting gender equality and help enhance the nation’s prestige as an IT powerhouse. 

Dignitaries making presentations at the forum include Utari Budihardjo of the National Institute of Sciences of Indonesia, Kayoko Shibata of the World Bank, ITU Secretary General Yoshio Utsumi, ITU Asia-Pacific Advisor Kim Eun-joo and Yoo Ja-gyung of UNESCAP. Gyeonggi Governor Sohn Hak-kyu, National Assembly Gender Equality Committee Chair Kim Ae-sil, and UNESCO Korea Secretary General Lee Sam-yul will also attend the meeting. 

After official sessions, attendees are scheduled to pay a visit to the Korea Folk Village in Yongin.