Abstract
Abstract:
Access to Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) can
have dramatic impact on poverty alleviation for rural women and for achieving
socio economic development goals. Rural women need to treat ICTs as an
empowerment tool and a means to a living. The use of mobile communication
devices and internet are changing the way agricultural activities are managed by
farmers nowadays. Rural women's lack of mobility and less hands-on computer
experience might hinder women's welfare and empowerment. This paper analyses
how use of the telephony (both cellular and land line), internet and other ICTs can
benefit rural women in educational, business and economic sector. Women in
rural India and rural South Africa were marginalized partly due to their lack of
ability in being vocal when it comes to empowering themselves using ICTs due to
cultural norms in India, and apartheid in South Africa. Over the years, unlike
other developing countries, the above-mentioned countries have its unique ICT
projects meant for empowering rural women. This paper is driven from the
authors' commitment for rural development and rural women empowerment. It
highlights different low-cost ICT initiatives and strategies taken by women's
organizations, various companies and other non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) for rural women empowerment. The paper also highlights various factors
influencing use of internet and mobile phone adoption by rural women. Various
bottlenecks for the community projects, factors de-motivating the use of mobile
phones and internet by rural women and possible solutions for these are also
mentioned.