WOUGNET Update Newsletter - February 2003

[Dorothy Okello <dokello@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

WOUGNET Update Newsletter - February 2003
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A monthly electronic newsletter from Women of Uganda Network
(WOUGNET) - http://www.wougnet.org
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This month's contents:
1.    Women Organisations in Uganda
2.    ICT Policy
3.    Links & Resources
4.    News & Events
5.    WOUGNET News
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WOMEN ORGANISATIONS IN UGANDA
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= Uganda Muslim Women Vision (UMWV)
    http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/umwv.html
Established in 1996, UMWV's mission is to raise the status of muslim
women in strong collaboration with other partners.
http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#UMWV


= The Mifumi Project
    http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/mifumi.html
The Mifumi Project has launched a new website at
<http://www.mifumi.org>. The Mifumi Project is a registered NGO whose
objectives are to support the community through development projects
including education, healthcare promotion and income generating
schemes in Mifumi, Tororo District, Eastern Uganda. The Mifumi
Project works in partnership with PROMPT UK, it's sister organisation
that supports fundraising and development.
http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#Mifumi


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ICT POLICY
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= WSIS preparations in Uganda
http://www.wougnet.org/WSIS/ug/ugandawsis.html
On January 27, 2003, a National WSIS Taskforce was created to
coordinate Uganda's input to the WSIS PrepCom II, Geneva. Current
members of the taskforce are representatives of Ministry of Works,
Housing and Communications, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Uganda
Communications Commission (UCC), MTN, Uganda National Council for
Science and Technology (UNCST), and WOUGNET. A public meeting has been
scheduled for Tuesday, February 4, 2003, to consult on Uganda's
national position on WSIS. The output of this meeting will form the
basis of Uganda's input to the second global preparatory committee
meeting.
NOTE: Interested persons/organizations should register at the
address below not later than Monday 3rd February, 2003 by 15:00 hours.
Contact:
Uganda Communications Commission
12th Floor, Communications House
Telephone: 348830/31/35
Fax: 348832
E-mail: ucc@xxxxxxxxx


= WSIS Gender Caucus submission to WSIS PrepCom II
Available online in WORD format is the WSIS Gender Caucus submission
to the Global PrepCom II. PrepCom II will be held in Geneva, February
17-28, 2003.
http://www.wougnet.org/WSIS/wsisgcdocs.html


= WSIS NGO Gender Strategies Working Group
The WSIS NGO Gender Strategies Working Group was formed at the first
WSIS PrepCom Meeting in Geneva in July 2002 as one of the
sub-committees of the Civil Society Coordinating Group (CSCG). The
Working Group is open to all NGOs and individuals interested in gender
issues and the information society.
The WN-GSWG is hosting the NGOwomen@xxxxxxxxxxxx discussion, an
electronic mailing list that is one of the group's efforts in
strategising and organising women's participation in the WSIS
process. NGOwomen@xxxxxxxxxxxx aims to build on the current
initiatives on gender and ICTs and further enrich discussions for the
benefit of all women.
http://www.wougnet.org/WSIS/wsisgc.html#WNGS


= ICT Policy Training and Campaigns in Africa
Organised by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC),
and hosted by the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) with the
support of Article 19, the November 2002 Addis Workshop on ICT Policy
and Civil Society sparked the formation of a network of ICT policy
mobilizers dedicated to building an inclusive information society in
Africa. The APC has received support from the Commonwealth
Telecommunications Organisation to develop a weeklong training course
on ICT policy for civil society. The objective of the course is to
build the capacity of civil society organisations to understand policy
on ICT issues and engage in ICT policy processes.
As a participant at the Addis Workshop, WOUGNET is gathering contact
information for those interested in participating in ICT Policy
training and campaigns in Africa.
http://www.wougnet.org/ICTpolicy/ictpolicy.html


= Open Source Portal for Africa
During the November 2002 Addis Workshop, the need for developing a
framework for Open Source Software solutions emerged strongly.
Consequently, the working group on Information Security, Applications
Development (Open Source) unanimously resolved to create itself into
an interim civil society task force on open source to be called 'Open
Source Task Force for Africa - OSTA'. The Open Source Taskforce is in
the process of building the open source portal for Africa. Visit
<http://osfa.allafrica.com/> to view the portal beginnings.
http://www.wougnet.org/ICTpolicy/opensource.html#OSPA


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LINKS & RESOURCES
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a) Agriculture

= FOODNet
FOODNet is an agricultural research and development network in
Eastern and Central Africa that offers a national marketing
information service (MIS). FOODNet collects data on agricultural
commodities from markets across the country, which is processed and
disseminated by FM radio, newspapers, e-mail and fax. FOODNet has now
established local MIS for small farmers and traders. Information on
prices, traded volumes, market flows and growing conditions is
broadcast in local languages on local FM radio stations, and now via
SMS messages by mobile phone.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/agriculture.html#FNET



b) Development

= Uganda Development Services
Uganda Development Services (UDS) is a Christian non-governmental
organisation whose mission is to contribute to the socio-economic
development of communities in Uganda, through information sharing
and technical empowerment.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/development.html#UDS


= SaferAfrica
Based in South Africa, SaferAfrica is a non-profit association whose
mission is to serve the long-term security and development needs of
Africa and its peoples in accordance with the vision of the African
Renewal and the values of Pan-Africanism.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/development.html#SAFRICA



c) Education

= 2002-2003 Selected List of Fellowship, Scholarship, Grants and
   other Training Opportunities

The Institute for Education of Women in Africa and the Diaspora
(IEWAD) has produced the third edition of "A Selected List of
Fellowship, Scholarship, Grant, and other Training Opportunities
Available to African Women Students and Scholars". IEWAD is a
non-governmental organization with an international focus for the
promotion of the education of girls and women in Africa and the
Diaspora with its secretariat based in Abidjan. IEWAD has as its
overall objective to contribute to the well-being of girls and women
in Africa and the Diaspora via educational means.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/education.html#GRANTS



d) Women & Gender

= Dimitra Project: Rural Women and Development
Dimitra is an information and communication project which aims to
highlight rural women's contribution to their community and their
country. It is implemented by the Gender and Development Service
(SDWW), of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations - (FAO). The project is coordinated in Brussels, with support
from Rome and Accra, and relies on the active cooperation of a large
network of local partners in Africa and the Near East.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/aboutwomen.html#DIMITRA


= Femsud Consult
FemSud Consult was established to contribute to the fight against
acute poverty, illiteracy, ignorance, and apathy on gender, politics
and a general lack of development among the rural people especially
women in Africa. The organisation facilitate training women, girls
and men in agriculture, health care, SME (Small/Medium Enterprises),
and management skills so that they can actively participate in
developing their society. Femsud Consult is a private company
registered early in 1999 in the Netherlands.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/aboutwomen.html#Femsud


=  United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Gender
     Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI)
OSAGI's website includes a section on gender mainstreaming, providing
links to concepts and definitions, tools to support gender
mainstreaming and good practice examples. Website contents include:
Concepts and definitions; Intergovernmental mandates; Roles and
responsibilities; Competence development; Tools to support gender
mainstreaming; Monitoring and evaluation; Good practice examples;
Regional symposia; Milestones; Statements and papers; and Interagency
collaboration.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/aboutwomen.html#OSAGI


= Novib: Combating violence against women
This website presents the final results of the Novib/Oxfam project
"Sharing Knowledge to Combat Violence Against Women (VAW)".
Experiences from different countries, policy guidelines and
definitions are among the highlights of the report, which will assist
everyone involved or interested in combating VAW. The website is used
by Novib, Oxfam and their partners to learn how they can most
effectively contribute to the elimination of violence against women.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/aboutwomen.html#CVAW


= Raising Voices: Gender Based Violence Field Review
Raising Voices and UN-Habitat are undertaking a field review of
organizations and institutions working to prevent gender-based
violence (GBV) in East and Southern Africa. The aim is to
create networks and alliances between those working to prevent GBV
through conferences and partnerships and to produce a publication
that highlights successful approaches to preventing GBV in the
region. All NGOs, government agencies, local authorities and other
groups working on the prevention of gender-based violence are warmly
invited to share their experiences. For further information contact
lori.michau@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx or follow this link
<http://www.raisingvoices.org/FieldReview.doc> to complete the simple
questionnaire.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/aboutwomen.html#GBV


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEWS & EVENTS
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March 2003

= Call for Nominations: Prize for Women's Creativity in Rural Life - 2003
The Women's World Summit Foundation (WWSF) cordially invites
nominations for the tenth annual 'Prize for Women's Creativity in
Rural Life' Award, honoring creative and courageous women and women's
organizations working to improve the quality of life in rural
communities around the world. Since inception of the prize program in
1994, 247 Laureates have been honored with a cash donation of US$ 500
each. Deadline for nominations is 1 March 2003. For additional
information, including nomination forms, contact Nadège Tissot at
<prize@xxxxxxxxx>.
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews03.html#WWSF2003


June 2003

= 2003 Global Summit of Women, June 26-28, 2003
The Global Summit of Women announces the 2003 Global Summit of Women
which will focus on women's economic development with a special
emphasis on cross-border entrepreneurship. Informally called the
"Davos for Women" by past participants, the Summit has developed a
reputation as an exciting, fact-filled, hands-on gathering of high
caliber participants. The Global Summit of Women has celebrated
women's leadership worldwide by bringing together women business,
professional, and governmental leaders from around the world for
three days of stimulating sessions led by opinion leaders and
influencers who happen to be women.
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews03.html#GSW



To list your event/news on the WOUGNET website, send details about
the event/news including contact information to: news@xxxxxxxxxxx


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WOUGNET News
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= WOUGNET selected for 2003 TEN support program
WOUGNET is among eight projects selected for the 2003 TEN support
program. Now an independent organisation, the Technology Empowerment
Network (TEN) was established in 2000 as a global initiative of the
Technology Pioneers - a community of the World Economic Forum. TEN's
purpose is to identify, support and empower projects that contribute
to improving the state of the world, where information technology
plays a central role in achieving the project's objectives.
For more information about TEN, visit:
http://www.techempower.net/0/
For WOUGNET's profile on the TEN website, visit:
http://www.techempower.net/0/Editorial.asp?aff_id=0&this_cat=Projects&action=page&obj_id=884 

(Note: url above must appear on a single line in your web browser in
order to work.)


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