IWD Campaign: ‘Support One Another – Stronger Foothold in Digital Space’

On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, GCMHP is joining  the world-wide efforts to recognize the achievements of women and girls, with a special focus this year on the virtual reality which is increasingly dominating  all walks of life. Women have made untold contributions to the digital world, though most of which have not been fully unrecognized. Thus today we are using this event as an opportunity to champion women’s success in various fields, in general, and in computing, in particular, to encourage and motivate other women to follow suit, but also to reinforce the community’s belief in their abilities and contributions, while calling for more to be done to close the gender gap.

The event, celebrated on the 8^th of March each year, is marked by GCMHP through a 10-day campaign that starts from  the 2^nd to the 13^th of March, 2023, with all its elements and activities designed to spotlight Gaza women’s achievements in digital markets and other related fields.

The awareness-raising part of the campaign includes broadcasting a TV programme entitled: "Digital Technology and its Impact on Women's Mental Health"; and a radio programme entitled: "Hate Speech on Social Media and its Repercussions on Women". In addition, it includes a frequent broadcast of a radio spot that highlights  the issue of cyber extortion of girls and how to seek support.   A short video with uplifting messages by a group of professional women at GCMHP has been broadcast to motivate women to push the boundaries towards reaching their full potentials. The messages also carried a  reinforcing sense of women and their role.

Besides, a vox pop video about how technology has contributed to women’s empowerment has been published as part of the media campaign. The video is designed to assess women’s awareness about the significance of using the virtual reality in achieving themselves socially and professionally, and also to underpin the  importance of computation as a means of enhancing their social contributions.  

Educational text messages and brochures  about ‘violence against women and social stigma’ have been among the other tools used in the media campaign.

To share experiences with other stakeholders and main actors in the field of human rights, a workshop has been scheduled to take place on the 13^th of March, 2023. Carrying the title ‘Women's Mental Health in the Digital Space’, the event will focus on  discussing digitization and its impact on women's mental health and how to link technology to mental health. As importantly, it will spotlight the double-edge of social media as a facilitator or hindrance in access to mental health services.

The workshop will also function a showcase of the main media elements of GCMHP’s IWD’s campaign and a platform of discussion among the concerned actors, who will formulate their recommendations to be later communicated with the decision-makers and community organizations.