In this image made available from Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations on March 12, 2025, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annapurna Devi addresses an event organised at UN HQ on sidelines of the 69th session of Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
| Photo Credit: PTI
India has voiced its willingness to share with the world its experiences of using digital public infrastructure to bridge the gender digital divide, as top U.N. leaders lauded measures taken by the country towards scaling digital financial inclusion.
“India is moving ahead with women-led development, building a country where women lead the way as active architects by participating from conceptualisation to design, implementation and monitoring the measure that shapes India’s development trajectory toward a developed nation,” Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annapurna Devi said.
She was at the U.N. headquarters on Wednesday (March 12, 2025) to attend an event organised on the sidelines of the 69th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
Ms. Devi addressed the Ministerial-level roundtable organised by India’s Permanent Mission to the U.N. and U.N. Women on ‘Digital & Financial Inclusion for women’s empowerment’ and ‘Financing for Women empowerment — criticality of core resources’.
Digital public infrastructure
Underscoring the transformative power of digital public infrastructure to bridge the gender digital divide and build a resilient government system, Ms. Devi said “India is happy to share its experience with the world” and highlighted the critical need for resources to realise the vision of women-led development.
The ministerial roundtable provided a platform to share experiences of Member States, especially from the Global South and hear their views on how U.N. Women can better leverage its mandate to provide effective and strategic support to Member States in delivering on their commitments on gender equality and women’s rights and empowerment.
Ms. Devi is leading India’s delegation at CSW, the world’s largest annual conference focused on women’s issues currently underway at the U.N. Headquarters. The 69th session of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women kicked off on March 10 and will run through March 21.
Ms. Devi highlighted that the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) developed in India has transformed the system of routine transactions, completely digitalised the field of full data protection, with 87.35 million transactions growing 147% in terms of volume. “This has transcended barriers of gender, urban, rural, rich and poor and women are increasingly taking ownership of digital payment interface,” she said.
‘Safe, responsible use of technology’
Ms. Devi stressed that nations have to be mindful of the fact that while promotion of digital inclusion of women is of paramount importance, at the same time, protection of security and privacy of data must be ensured.
“Hence, in today’s technologically advanced world, there is a need for balancing regulation for the safe and responsible use of technology, especially in leveraging e-governance for social protection system. Digital public infrastructure should be a bridge, not a barrier,” she said.
She added that the Indian government is seized of the fact that a safe digital environment is a must for ensuring women’s dignity and participation in nation building.
Published – March 13, 2025 11:16 am IST
