By: Nur El-Mahrakawy

On March 11, the Global Center on AI Governance hosted a webinar titled, “Gender Rights in AI Governance - Insights from the Global Index on Responsible AI,” to discuss gender equality in AI governance. The session featured the launch of Dr. Kelle Howson’s Gender Equality Report from the Global Index on Responsible AI Project and brought together leading experts to explore solutions for a more gender-inclusive AI landscape.

Moderated by Dr. Rachel Adams, CEO and Founder of the Global Center on AI Governance, the webinar included expert insights from Dr. Nagla Rizk, Founding Director of the Access to Knowledge for Development Center (A2K4D) and the MENA Observatory on Responsible AI, as well as Rebecca Ryakitimbo, Co-founder and Director of Core23Lab. The discussion highlighted urgent challenges, including gender bias in AI development, digital exclusion, and the need for more inclusive governance frameworks.

Kicking off the webinar, Dr. Adams noted that the Global Index, which was started in 2021, aimed to establish a benchmark for what responsible AI is and how to measure it around the world. Encompassing 130 countries, this inclusive index clustered factors that impact the implementation of responsible AI into 3 dimensions - responsible AI capacities, human rights and AI, and responsible AI in governance. It also included exploration of advocacy through civil society and universities filling the gaps that governments left. One key finding of the report was that gender equality remains a critical gap in efforts to advance responsible AI. 

In response, Dr. Howson stressed the urgency of addressing systemic gender bias in AI, stating, “There is a critical need for responsive governance to protect marginalized communities from the harms of AI, and one marginalized community is certainly women, girls, and gender and sexual minorities.” She pointed to the digital divide as a growing barrier to civic and economic participation and noted the underrepresentation of women in AI research and development. “These gender imbalances have far-reaching implications for how AI-based technologies evolve, the purpose they are designed to serve, and the underlying norms and assumptions shaping them,” she explained.

Add a quantitative outlook, Dr. Rizk highlighted data invisibility as a major obstacle to gender equity in AI, stating, “There are whole communities to which data is oblivious. This is why data needs to be disaggregated, granular, and localized from the ground up.” Dr. Adams echoed this, emphasizing the importance of building more inclusive datasets to prevent the reinforcement of gender biases in AI models. Taking a practical approach, Ryakitimbo argued that capacity building is essential to ensuring marginalized communities are not only “builders” in AI development but also decision-makers at every stage of the process. She underscored the critical role of civil society, stating that grassroots organizations have the expertise and lived experience to advocate for inclusive AI policies.

The webinar served as a call to action for policymakers, researchers, and AI practitioners to prioritize gender-inclusive governance in AI development. The discussion also underscored the pressing need for further research to better understand how AI systems impact different gendered experiences.

Watch the full webinar here.