Building resilient communities through empowering women with information and communication technologies: a Pakistan case study

Sustainability 3, no 1, special issue disaster risk reduction and sustainable development:

This paper considers knowledge dissemination for disaster risk reduction and sustainable development and the great potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) for effective learning and development. It addresses the vital role of ICT intervention and resilient communities with the help of a case study carried out in Pakistan.

In an attempt to demonstrate the role of ICT in sustainable development through empowering women, and hence enhancing community resiliency in developing countries, it (i) describes the meaning of ICT and issues around ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ in regard with ICT; (ii) analyzes the Community Technology Learning Centers (CTLC), an innovative project commissioned by the Government of Pakistan to empower marginalized rural women in sixteen districts of the country, and the impact of the project; and (iii) compares the CTLC project with a similar intervention initiated in Uganda in order to illustrate and validate the hypothesis that ICT greatly contribute to the process of women empowerment.