Do 48% of women in the Arab world not own a mobile phone? In this 2016 Emirate News article, Kailash Satyarthi is quoted as saying: > Today, women are rising, but this is happening only where they have access to education. Young girls in the MENA region are demanding their rights. They are demanding access to quality education and freedom. **Forty-eight per cent of women in the Arab world do not own a mobile phone** and the gender gap in internet usage across the region is 34 per cent. Let us not leave them behind. " Techcrunch made a similar claim in February 2016, attributing it to the World Bank. Is it true that 48% of women in the Arab world do not own a mobile phone?

The claim is largely supported by a 2015 report by GSMA (an international consortium of mobile operators). The report does not appear to be peer-reviewed.

* Bridging the gender gap: Mobile access and usage in low and middle-income countries



The report is based on interviews, focus groups, market research and usage data from 11-35 countries.

In Figure 4.2, it shows 48% of women are unconnected in low and middle-income countries in the **Middle East & North Africa**. That is not the exactly the same as "the Arab world", but presumably is the source of the claim.

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