On Thursday, June 1st, I will join more than ten of my colleagues--from Muslim and non-Muslim countries alike--to discuss how the new technology can help strengthen women’s leadership in Muslim societies (see the Womenswire calendar for details).

In this one day, myself and my esteemed colleagues have the unique opportunity of raising consciousness and understanding of a medium that still has truly revolutionary potential.

As I write, the Internet remains the fastest-growing communication tool in the history of humanity. Yet, more than two-thirds of the world’s users are based in North America and Western Europe. And, everywhere, most of those users are men. In the Arab world, this gender gap is even worse. By 2003, there will be approximately 12 million Internet users but only a fraction will be women. Now, more than ever, Arab and non-Arab women must band together to undo these disparities. We must expand Internet resources to reach the poorest of the poor and develop training tools to enhance women’s leadership skills.

I don't think that the technological obstacles for Muslim women are much different from those faced by women in other contexts. Everywhere, the story is the same. There is a lack of education, access to computers, affordability, training and computer literacy for women. For non-Muslim countries from Asia to Africa, the problem of communications access and affordability is center stage. In every corner of this planet, women’s activists do battle with the degrading depiction of women and girls in the explosion of on-line resources for pornography and pedophilia. This is related to a general lack of leadership, governance and democracy in the world rather than to the specific issues facing Muslims.

However, the unique issue before Muslim women is that of fundamentalism. What the Internet promises is the opportunity to use the new technology to project an alternative image of Islam. It is the image of a tolerant religion which has always encouraged men as well as women to ask for education. This could be an empowering statement for Muslim women who, like everyone, are bombarded with images of Islam as a religion of terrorism and of violence against women. The Internet offers Muslim women and men the opportunity to overcome the false propaganda of Islamic fanaticism, which seems to be the version preferred by the Western media.

All of this is not to say that we Muslim women don't have a lot of real problems and unique constraints. Our problems have a lot to do with the aversion to granting us equal rights. Much of this is linked to the culture of machismo in Muslim countries where women are only valued as mothers and caretakers. We are still not valued as clever and accomplished people on our own accord, outside of the influence and tutelage of a father or a husband. This relates to a lack of trust in women and our leadership potential in both civic and political spheres.

It is this work of fighting for our rights that Muslim women are still working on but we’re making progress through the power of our own accomplishments. In the meanwhile, the Internet can help us convince the world and each other that we are not at all doomed to suffer and be silenced and that this is not the message of Islam.

Internet Technology (IT) is a wonderful way to energize an alternative forum for lobbying and activism. In one second, the Internet and new technology can reach the entire world. IT is a powerful instrument for spreading positive information and generating the attention and urgency required for progressive change.

It is very important to depict Muslim women accurately as successful and uncompromising activists, well educated and viable economic and political agents. And, most importantly, the Internet offers the opportunity to show that many Muslim women are living their everyday lives happily and with integrity--making their own choices with respect to their culture and values.

Najat Rochdi is President of Morocco’s Internet Society and is an adviser to her country’s Minister in charge of Internet Technology (IT). She will be a panelist at the symposium organized by the "Women’s Learning Partnership." Rochdi has also been appointed by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to advise governments on IT for economic and social development.