WOUGNET Update Newsletter - March 2003

[Dorothy Okello <dokello@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

WOUGNET Update Newsletter - March 2003
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A monthly electronic newsletter from Women of Uganda Network
(WOUGNET) - http://www.wougnet.org
For comments or queries, contact info@xxxxxxxxxxx

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This month's contents:
1.    Women Organisations in Uganda
2.    Documents on Women's Issues in Uganda
3.    ICT Policy
4.    Links & Resources
5.    News & Events
6.    WOUGNET News
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WOMEN ORGANISATIONS IN UGANDA
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= WOUGNET Meeting: Information sharing on the application of ICTs,
    January 15, 2003, Fairway Hotel, Kampala.
The meeting was organised by WOUGNET and co-sponsored by I-Network.
The major purpose of the workshop was to share information on the
application of information and communication technologies (ICTs).
Members made presentations on the benefits and challenges they face
as being WOUGNET members. The meeting concluded with participants
identifying issues and recommending a way forward in the application
of ICTs in general as well as specific recommendations for WOUGNET.
A copy of the meeting report is available online in PDF and WORD
formats at:
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/wougnetmeeting1.html
For more information or to request a copy of the report via email,
contact: Hadijah Namumbya, WOUGNET Information Officer at
info@xxxxxxxxxxx or by phone (041)234924 or (077) 910500.


= Isis WICCE: 2003 Information Technology Training
The Isis-WICCE IT training for women and girls is scheduled to begin
on 7th March 2003. The training, which is basic, targets first time
users or those who have an interest in acquiring skills on how to use
information technology. It is carried in a conducive atmosphere and
participants are given an opportunity to explore. The training will
be conducted at the Isis WICCE Internet Cafe every Friday and
Saturday.
Units to be covered are: Introduction to Computers, Introduction to
MS Word, and Internet /E-mail messaging.
Activists and girls on vacation are encouraged to enroll. For
detailed information, contact isis@xxxxxxxxxxxxx or call (041)
543953.
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews03.html#IsisIT


= UWEAL: Breakfast Meeting, March 8, 2003
Uganda Women Entrepreneurs Association (UWEAL) is hosting a Breakfast
Meeting on March 8, 2003
Time: 7:30 - 9:30am
Venue: UWEAL, Plot 38 Lumumba Avenue
Cost: 5,000/=
UWEAL's mission is to build a cohesive organization of sensitized
businesswomen that work to bring about economic change in Uganda.
UWEAL membership is open to women entrepreneurs, aspiring
businesswomen, women professionals, non-governmental organisations
(NGOs), and partners in women development organizations.
For further information, contact: Sarah Kitakule, Executive Director,
Tel: (041) 343952, Email: uweal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


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DOCUMENTS ON WOMEN'S ISSUES IN UGANDA
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= Tears of Hope. Edited by Ayeta Anne Wangusa and Violet Barungi.
Tears of Hope is a collection of short stories by Ugandan rural
women. It records the experiences that reflect the pain and courage
of Ugandan Rural Women. They talk about domestic violence,
disinheritance and deprivation of widows and orphans, child custody,
rape and defilement. These stories reflect the predicament of the
African rural woman in a male dominated society. Some women have
suffered silently, while others have tried by all means to find
justice, even when the legal framework in place is not favourable to
them. The book can be purchased from Femrite Publications Limited,
Kampala.    Tel: +256-(0)41-543943 or +256-(0)77-743943. Email:
femrite@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.wougnet.org/documents.html#TOH


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ICT POLICY
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= Uganda's input to the Principles and Plan of Action for WSIS,
    PrepCom 2, February 17-28, Geneva
Uganda's input was evolved by the WSIS National Task Force and
further improved by the Public Consultative Meeting held on 4
February 2003 in the Nile International Conference Centre. The Public
Consultative meeting was organised and sponsored by the Uganda
Communications Commission and was attended by over 70 participants
from a wide cross-section of representation which included the
Government, private sector, civil society, media, and NGOs. The
meeting was opened by the Minister of State for Communications,
Ministry of Works, Housing and Communications (MoWHC), Hon. Werikhe
and presided over by the Executive Director, Uganda Communications
Commission, Mr. Patrick Masambu. Currently available online are:
a) the amended Working Document for Uganda's input
b) WOUGNET's submission to the Public Consultative meeting
http://www.wougnet.org/WSIS/ug/ugandawsis.html#PCM1


= Open Source Software - the Alternative for Africa
On February 15, 2003, the monthly I-Network seminar series was
hosted at the Uganda Martyrs University (UMU). The seminar was one of
the activities jointly organised by UMU and the I-Network for a day
dedicated to Open Source Software (OSS). The general public,
university students and people from government and industry were
invited to participate in information sessions and demonstrations of
OSS. Available online is the presentation: "Open
Source Software - the Alternative for Africa".
http://www.wougnet.org/ICTpolicy/ug/fosiug.html#UMU


= Linux Users in Uganda (LUG)
The Linux Users in Uganda mailing list is for those working in the IT
field in Uganda and are interested in and use Open Source Software.
The list is administered by Lunghabo Wire James of Linux Solutions
and Kiggundu Mukasa of Kym Net. Plans are also underway to conduct
regular meetings of Linux Users in Uganda. To join the mailing list,
send email to <majordomo@xxxxxxx> with the following command in the
body of the email message: subscribe lug
http://www.wougnet.org/ICTpolicy/ug/fosiug.html#LUG


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LINKS & RESOURCES
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a) African & International Women Organisations

= Justice, Development and Peace Movement (J.D.P.M)
   http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/jdpm.html
Based in Nigeria, J.D.P.M was established in 1994 with a mission to
empower the rural dwellers to improve their livelihood.  The
programme organizes trainings and workshops for the people in the
rural areas especially women and youth. It is being sponsored by a
group from Germany.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/africa_int.html#JDPM



b) ICT-related organisations/resources

= AISI ICT Radio Series: Dialogue on Digital Dividends in Africa
The African Information Society Initiative (AISI) Radio Series is
based on the Harnessing ICTs for Development programme of the
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). The Radio Series is aimed at
creating greater awareness on the information society, serving as a
tool for media practitioners, especially radio broadcasters to engage
various groups in debating the role of ICTs in the development
process. The series examine people's understanding of the role and
impact of ICTs and raises questions on the issues of access and
disparities in the African information society. Whilst one of the
programmes provides an overview of the information society in Africa,
the other three are based on the state of ICTs in Ghana, Mali and
Uganda.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/ictresources.html#ICTRS



c) Human rights

= Kituo Cha Katiba: East African Centre for Constitutional
   Development
Kituo Cha Katiba: East African Centre for Constitutional
Development's mission is to promote multi and inter-disciplinary
communication and dialogue on constitutional making and democratic
governance in the East African region. Kituo Cha Katiba's programme
areas are: Gender, Youth, Training, Fact Finding Mission,
Publications, and Resource Centre and Website.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/rights.html#KCK




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NEWS & EVENTS
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March 2003

= Ashoka's Social Entrepreneurs investing in social impact:
    Invitations for applications for an Ashoka Fellowship
Ashoka is a global non-profit organization that was founded in 1980.
Ashoka's primary task is to help launch "new ideas" (unique and
innovative interventions) spearheaded by social entrepreneurs. The
Ashoka fellowship of social entrepreneurs creates global
collaborations for leading social entrepreneurs working on problems
in 44 countries around the world. Such problems are identified in
fields such as health care, human rights, education, environment, and
civic participation.
Ashoka's East African Program was launched in 2001 and is currently
encouraging women and men from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania who possess
the qualities above, to supply us with a description of their
innovative work. Applications for an Ashoka Fellowship via regular
mail, fax or e-mail are welcome throughout the year. However,
applicants who are interested in being considered this year must
contact us by mid-March 2003.
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews03.html#ASHOKA2003


April 2003

= Website Assistance Project
WOUGNET, InterConnection and the Byte to Byte Technology 4H Club have
teamed up to provide websites for WOUGNET members. InterConnection is
a non profit organization in the U.S. that provides websites and
Internet services as no cost. Byte to Byte is a youth club that
teaches students computer, Internet and leadership skills. As a group
project, the Byte to Byte club has agreed to design websites for
WOUGNET members that are in need of websites. InterConnection will
provide the Internet hosting services for the websites and project
management support. Byte to Byte's criteria for providing support to
organizations is they must be community oriented and non-political or
religious in nature. If your organization meets these criteria the
next step is to complete the online application. The application is
available at <http://www.wougnet.org/Support/webdesign.html>. You can
also email InterConnection at <info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> to receive
an application. ALL MATERIALS NEED TO BE PROVIDED PRIOR TO
APRIL 1, 2003.
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews03.html#WAP


May 2003

= Empowering women through information and knowledge: from oral
    traditions to ICT,  May 30 - June 2, 2003,  India
SNDT Women's University (Mumbai) and Centre for Women's Development
Studies (New Delhi) are hosting an international conference on
Empowering Women through Information and Knowledge: From Oral
Traditions to ICT. The Conference will be a meeting ground for
scholars, researchers, information professionals, activists and
policy makers to exchange experiences, knowledge and insights.
Further, it will help to facilitate interaction and create networks
to encourage collaborative research and development activities. The
conference will seek to include discussions on various issues and
processes related to information and knowledge required for
consciousness raising, advocacy, training, education and research,
decision and policy making.
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews03.html#SNDT


June 2003

= Conference: "Digital Opportunities for Africa - Community
    Multimedia Centres", June 12-17, 2003, Dakar, Senegal
UNESCO in collaboration with AMARC Africa is organizing a pan-African
symposium on Community Multimedia Centres from 12-17 June 2003 in
Dakar, Senegal. The aim of this meeting is to find out more about how
community radio stations across Africa are using ICTs in order to
forge a strategy for larger-scale CMC development in Africa. The
first part of this meeting will be a workshop from 12-15 June,
bringing together representatives of a selection of community radio
stations that are successfully offering some form of public access to
ICTs or planning to do so and also ICT-based projects such as
community telecentres planning to start community radio as part of
their operations. The second part of this meeting, on 16-17 June,
will bring together international partners including national
development agencies and international governmental and
non-governmental organizations in a roundtable on CMC project support
in Africa.
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews03.html#UCMC


September 2003

= Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) 2003 Gender Festival,
    September 3-6, 2003
On behalf of the Feminist Activist Coalition (FemAct), TGNP announces
the 2003 Gender Festival (GF), formerly popularly known as the Annual
Gender Studies Conference (AGSC). The theme of this year's  Gender
Festival will be focused on: "Gender, Democracy and Development: An
Alternative World is Possible".  This event, which now takes place
once every two years, is an open space for bringing together gender
and civil society members of organizations, institutions and all
development actors at various  levels.
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews03.html#TGF


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


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WOUGNET News
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= WOUGNET awarded grant by The Global Fund for Women
The Global Fund for Women has awarded a one-year grant to WOUGNET.
The grant is to strengthen and broaden WOUGNET's capacity to support
networking and information sharing among Ugandan women and women
organisations. For information about The Global Fund for Women,
visit:
http://www.globalfundforwomen.org


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