Mr. President,
We share the Working Group's emphasis on the need to incorporate a gender perspective into the design and deployment of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence tools.
However, many women and girls in developing countries still lack access to information and communication technologies. It is urgent to bridge the digital divide. The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence risks deepening existing structural inequalities unless inclusive measures are adopted to ensure equitable access.
Greater and more effective international cooperation is needed to strengthen AI capacity-building through an inclusive and equitable approach that is centered on the priorities of the Global South.
Without such cooperation, it will not be possible to guarantee women and girls equal access to and participation in science, technology and innovation, as a means of advancing their empowerment and achieving gender equality.
In the case of Cuba, the criminal blockade imposed by the Government of the United States for more than 60 years, and cruelly intensified over the past five months through a total fuel siege, severely limits access to technology and the ability to develop the infrastructure required for greater digitalization.
The blockade also severely restricts Cubans' access, including that of women and girls, to broadband Internet connectivity, affecting software download speeds and limiting Cuban users' access to a wide range of virtual platforms, including artificial intelligence tools.
Thank you.