Empowered Girls,
Empowered Futures

International Day of the Girl
Theme: “Girls and Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities & Responsibilities”
October 11^th, 2024
Ataşehir, Istanbul

Background

October 11 was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Day of the Girl to raise awareness on the rights of girls and the challenges they face around the world. While gender inequality in the global community is decreasing through advocacy and supportive policies, issues based on gender inequality continue to severely limit girls' access to their fundamental rights. This year's International Day of the Girl Conference provides an opportunity to recall Sustainable Development Goal 5.5, which emphasizes the importance of women's and girls' “full and effective participation at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life, and equal opportunities for leadership” and Sustainable Development Goal 5.b, which emphasizes the importance of increasing the use of enabling technologies, such as information and communication technologies, to support the empowerment of women and girls.

Theme for year 2024: ‘Girls and Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities & Responsibilities’

Since 2015, Aydın Doğan Foundation, together with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and UN Women, has organized various conferences in Turkey on this important day. Over the years, these conferences have focused on themes such as inclusive and quality education; preventing child marriage; the role of girls as agents of change and resilience; girls' empowerment through science, arts and sports; invisible challenges to access to quality education, employment and a life free from violence; girls changing the world and girls rebuilding the future.

The theme of this year's International Day of the Girl Conference organized for the tenth time by Aydın Doğan Foundation has been determined as “Girls and Artificial Intelligence: Opportunities & Responsibilities” with a perspective that combines artificial intelligence, one of the most important and rapidly developing technologies of our age, with the future of girls.

Within the framework of this theme, we will discuss the impact of artificial intelligence technologies on girls' education, career and social lifes, as well as our responsibilities that arise in parallel with these developments. Our conference will aim to increase girls' equal opportunities in this field, while at the same time underlining the ethical and social responsibilities related to the use of artificial intelligence. At our conference, representatives from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), UN Population Fund (UNFPA), UN Women and Aydın Doğan Foundation will answer questions of young people and discuss the opportunities and responsibilities that AI will provide to girls' lives.

The impact of the digital world and artificial intelligence on women and girls

In line with the 2030 Development Goals¹, women's empowerment is specifically targeted to increase the use of information and communication technologies. While digital literacy is increasingly becoming an essential skill for current employment opportunities, gender inequality as an important factor effect to the acquisition of knowledge and skills related to digital technologies such as communication and information systems, virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, robotic software. According to UNICEF, more than 90% of jobs globally have a digital component, but access to the digital world is unequally distributed between genders, this stituation is creating a gender digital divide². Research shows that women's digital skills lag behind those of their male counterparts by around 25%³. Related to this, professional and academic choices are changing and the gender breakdown in new technology industries is also becoming unbalanced. The European Commission has reported that women's representation in science, technology, engineering, etc. is around 33%, but only 20% in artificial intelligence expertise⁴.

Women and girls are not able to access AI-related job opportunities because of their becoming distant to digital technologies and digital skills, leading to underrepresentation problem of disadvantaged groups in the AI sector. Due to the lack of diversity and inclusion in the AI sector, the models created by developers reflect a one-sided perspective, leading to blind spots and AI bias, which in turn leads to online violence. The research also reveals that artificial intelligence software used in production processes, recruitment processes and credit approval processes further disadvantages girls and women⁵.

We invite everyone to take responsibility for the representation of girls in the field of artificial intelligence

Research shows that there has been a 93% increase in women publishing their first work in AI in the last decade, and an average annual increase of 16% in women working in AI⁶. It is critical that the teams building the future of our world are inclusive, embrace gender equality, therefore include women equally in leadership roles. We continue to work for women and girls to access education systems in the field of technology, to develop their digital skills, to be included in decision-making mechanisms in every field, to be empowered and to build a better future.

Efforts to support girls' full and meaningful access to their inherent rights and to eliminate gender inequality will enhance social development and contribute to society. We advocate for equal opportunities for girls and women to participate in decision- making mechanisms in all areas of social life, to be empowered, to develop leadership skills and to look to the future with hope, and we call on all stakeholders who bear responsibility in this regard to take action.

The event will bring together young people, decision makers, women, youth and humanitarian organizations, role models and members of the press to highlight girls' rights and the role they can play in building resilient and equitable futures where girls can make their own choices to realize their potential in the age of AI. The event will provide important assessments on how girls can be empowered in the field of AI and how opportunities and responsibilities in these areas will be shaped.

The event will be held in Istanbul with a limited number of guests. The agenda will be shared in more detail with those who confirm their participation.