The United Nations is currently using artificial intelligence (AI) to fight gender inequality in Southeast Asia in projects that focus on the protection of women and other vulnerable populations, on giving the latter a voice, and on providing them with training. As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly interwoven into the fabric of people’s lives, UN agencies are leveraging such devices to address these gaps in access and learning, as well as social care in the region.
Given the rising internet connectivity and high digital literacy in Southeast Asia, the region provides a perfect landscape for using AI in development projects. Among them is a pilot project in the Philippines where the use of AI in gender-friendly manner is revolutionizing training and business support to women entrepreneurs in rural areas. Due to geographic conditions, the opportunities have been limited in the past specifically for those living in remote islands in the archipelago. However, the International Labour Organization has employed mobile AI chatbots to proactively provide technical advice and marketing solutions to women entrepreneurs. For instance, in Siargao Island, women selling coconut products have started using chatbots to generate marketing content in a few minutes as it used to take hours to accomplish. It also helps them share more clicks-worthy, target demography-oriented content that increases online interactions and sales. While the initiative is still in its pilot run, it is proposed to expand the program and reach at least 15,000 s and MSMEs across the country within the next three years.
In Thailand, the utilisation of AI in addressing the social problems affecting women and girls in vulnerable situations. The SoSafe platform based on AI provides detailed information regarding topics such as the prevention of unintended pregnancies, violence at home, and sexual harassment. Available to more than 600,000 people in 14 pilot regions, it allows users to find information on social benefits and rights in government registers. This technology has expanded the possibility for different forms of communication between women and different services, and more than one thousand cases of domestic violence have been reported to the authorities. Created by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) in conjunction with Thailand’s National Science and Technology Development Agency, SoSafe guarantees that women and girls receive the right information at the right time, thus cementing its position as an essential tool for thousands of women and girls.
In Indonesia, the emphasis is made towards the empowered voice of female within the patriarchal village settings. Data collected using questionnaires revealed that power of decision making in most of the 75,000 villages across the country lies in the hands of middle aged men hence restricting women’s involvement in decision making and planning. In a bid to balance this, the UN Development Programme (UNDP) came up with the Social Innovation Platform (SIP) which has an artificial intelligence app that can survey villagers without exposing them. This tool opens up the process for farther participation from the villagers since they can post things by photos or videos, texts, or recordings without any worry of being stigmatized. Due to the accumulation of various views, it provides relevant approaches to the planning of villages, thus encouraging voices of different levels in decision-making.
These projects align with a larger UN initiative to leverage technology in attaining the Sustainable Development Goals. David McLachlan-Karr, Director for Asia and the Pacific at the UN Development Coordination Office, acknowledges that information technologies like AI are essential to enhancing UN’s capacity in face of this century’s challenges. Shown in these interventions, there is a way that AI can positively influence the lives of the people and contribute to the gender equity of disadvantaged African women and girls in Southeast Asia.
Source: https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/12/1158226
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