Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation, Rosy Akbar says there is a huge issue of gender disproportion in the ICT sector.

She made the comment while opening the Pacific Media Partnership Conference in Nadi this morning.

More than 140 participants from across Asia and the Pacific are at the conference.

Akbar says Pacific countries cannot turn a blind eye to the obvious disproportion and there needs to be country commitments and action frameworks to change the tide.

She says steps need to be taken now to change the imbalance that we face with the progressive boom of the ITC sector highlighting the gender imbalance.

She reiterates that Pacific Island countries must ensure accessibility of Information Communications Technology (ICT) as a tool for the economic empowerment for woman.

The minister also noted that in Fiji in the field of ITC, women accounted for twenty-three percent of senior management whereas men occupied more than seventy percent of these positions.

From the UN agency International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Head of the Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, Iowane Korovuki shared Akbar sentiment’s about the importance of ITCs in addressing the economic empowerment of women.

Korovuki says opening up options for women in ITCs is integral to any county’s development given that women reinvent in their families and subsequently the economy.

The conference theme is focused on Partnering for Broadcast Development and is spearheaded by the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union which has 265 members spread across 65 countries.

The three day conference will focus on several issues including Women’s Economic Empowerment through ICTs, Reporting Pacific Fisheries as well as Public Service Media and Broadcasting in Pacific Countries, challenges & opportunities.