Outcome document of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on the overall review of the implementation of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society A/RES/70/125 the Plenipotentiary Conference of the International Telecommunication Union in 2014. 26. We also recognize digital divides in digital uses and literacy and the need to bridge them. 27. We emphasize our concern that only 41 per cent of women have Internet access, and draw attention to the gender digital divide, which persists in women’s access to and use of information and communications technologies, including in education, employment and other areas of economic and social development. We recognize that ending the gender digital divide and the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 5 on gender are mutually reinforcing efforts, and we commit to mainstreaming gender in the World Summit on the Information Society process, including through a new emphasis on gender in the implementation and monitoring of the action lines, with the support of relevant United Nations entities, including the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women). We call for immediate measures to achieve gender equality in Internet users by 2020, especially by significantly enhancing women’s and girls’ education and participation in information and communications technologies, as users, content creators, employees, entrepreneurs, innovators and leaders. We reaffirm our commitment to ensure women’s full participation in decision-making processes related to information and communications technologies. 1.2 Enabling environment 28. We recognize that certain policies have substantially contributed to bridging digital divides and the value of information and communications technologies for sustainable development, and we commit to continuing to identify and implement best and emerging practices for the establishment and functioning of education, innovation and investment frameworks for information and communications technologies. 29. We recognize the importance of the free flow of information and knowledge, as the amount of information distributed worldwide grows and the role of communication becomes all the more important. We acknowledge that the mainstreaming of information and communications technologies in school curricula, open access to data, the fostering of competition, the creation of transparent, predictable, independent and non-discriminatory regulatory and legal systems, proportionate taxation and licensing fees, access to finance, facilitation of publicprivate partnerships, multi-stakeholder cooperation, national and regional broadband strategies, efficient allocation of the radio frequency spectrum, infrastructuresharing models, community-based approaches and public access facilities have in many countries facilitated significant gains in connectivity and sustainable development. 30. We recognize that a lack of access to affordable and reliable technologies and services remains a critical challenge in many developing countries, particularly African countries, least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States and middle-income countries, as well as countries in situations of conflict, post-conflict countries and countries affected by natural disasters. All efforts should be deployed to reduce the price of information and communications technologies and broadband access, bearing in mind that deliberate interventions, including through research and development and technology transfer on mutually agreed terms, may be necessary to spur lower-cost connectivity options. 7/14