WOUGNET Update Newsletter - May 2003

[Dorothy Okello <dokello@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

WOUGNET Update Newsletter - May 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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= Action Alert: Include the Family Land Rights Clause in the Land Act
   (Amendment) Bill
On October 25, 2002, President Museveni wrote to Hon. Janet Mukwaya,
Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, a 10-page statement
expressing his views on the reform of the Domestic Relations Bill
(DRB). For the first time Museveni who has all along publicly
articulated his views verbally committed himself on paper. He took
personal responsibility for delaying the enactment of the family law
when he caused the Ministry of Gender Affairs to withdraw the DRB
under his administration, 1996  2001. He argues that the bill is
rather shallow and cannot address the issues of the Ugandan society.
Available online is the rest of a response to President Museveni's
views on the reform of the Domestic Relations Bill by Hon. Sheila
Kawamara Mishambi, Member, East African Legislative Assembly:
http://www.wougnet.org/Alerts/domesticrelations.html


= African women meet to discuss the need to document women's peace
   initiatives in Africa
Isis-Women's International Cross-Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE) will
be holding a consultative workshop on "Documenting women's peace
initiatives in Africa" from 23rd to 25th April 2003. The meeting
which will involve selected participants from Burundi, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Kenya, Liberia, Mozambique, Sierra Leonne,
S.Africa, Sudan and Uganda, is in preparation of the documentation of
unique women's peace initiatives in Africa that Isis-WICCE is
coordinating for the year 2003-2004.
http://www.wougnet.org/Documents/IsisWICCE/women_peace.html


= Coalition for Political Accountability to Women (COPAW)
    http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#COPAW
To promote participation and influence of women in building a gender
responsive political leadership and create an enabling environment
that meets the social political needs of the people of Uganda. This
is achieved through capacity building, lobbying and advocacy, agenda
setting, monitoring of political accountability and providing space
for women leaders.
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/copaw.html


= Ntulume Village Women's Development Association (NVIWODA)
   http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#NVIWODA
NVIWODA's mission is to increase the income of women members, through
provision of entrepreneurship, technological skills training, and
development, and by providing micro-Credit support and information
sharing, so that they are able to play, an effective role for
sustainable development.
Among its activities is the NVIWODA Development Fund Partnership
whose aims include building the capacity, supporting and encouraging
indigenous women groups working in communities to grow. The
partnership provides resources to smaller groups, who have limited
knowledge and access to grant support opportunities. NVIWODA receives
support from the Global Fund for Women. NVIWODA appeals to other
actors to come in to support and strengthen the NVIWODA Grant
Development Fund for the benefit of grassroots women.
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/nviwoda.html



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ICT POLICY
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FOSSFA Proposed Action Plan 2003-2005
The Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) was
launched on 21st February 2003 in Geneva during the WSIS PrepCom2
meeting. The FOSSFA secretariat has been working on the structure and
action plan for the FOSSFA, and invites comments to the proposed
Action Plan 2003-2005. A copy of the proposed action plan (RTF
format) is available online at:
http://www.wougnet.org/ICTpolicy/opensource.html#FOSSFA



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LINKS & RESOURCES
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a) Development

= ELDIS: The gateway to development information
ELDIS is a gateway to information on development issues, providing
free and easy access to wide range of high quality online resources.
ELDIS provides summaries and links to online documents and
organisations in international development. ELDIS resources are
searchable by resource guide, which include those on gender and a new
dossier resource on gender and HIV/AIDS. Eldis is core funded by
Danida, NORAD and SIDA, and hosted by the Institute of Development
Studies (IDS).
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/development.html#ELDIS


= Global Website on Electoral Quotas for Women
International IDEA and Stockholm University's Department of Political
Science have launched a new global database website on Electoral
Quotas for Women. This website is the first overview of the use of
electoral quotas for women worldwide. It is a collaborative research
project leading to the production of comparative knowledge and
resources on electoral quotas for women and provides information on
the various types of quotas in existence today, detailing the
percentages and targets in countries where they are applicable.
Comments and further information on quotas are encouraged in the
'comment' section of the website.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/development.html#QUOTA


= Uganda Community Based Association for Child Welfare (UCOBAC)
UCOBAC was formed in 1990 in response to estimates of 1 million
orphans in Uganda caused by the effects of the war, AIDS and other
related factors. Working in 25 districts, UCOBAC activities include
the promotion of information exchange in order to increa awareness of
the public, NGOs, communities, and individuals about the plight,
needs and rights of vulnerable children through production of
advocacy materials and networking.
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/ucobac.html


= Foundation for Development of Needy Communities (FDNC)
    http://www.wougnet.org/Links/development.html#FDNC
Established in 1996 and operating in Mbale and Sironko districts,
FDNC's mission is to enhance development through effective community
participation towards self reliance and better livelihoods. FDNC
pursues this mission by working together with grassroot communities
for sustainable development.
FDNC is seeking partners to collaborate in the project 'Empowering
the Communities through Enhanced Information and Communication
Access'.The objective is to stimulate rural development by
facilitating access to Information, learning resources and
communication technologies in Mbale district's underserved
Communities and support improved social services through Information.
In this, communities will combine efforts in learning and promoting
the use and application of integrated ICT systems. The overall goal
is to improve the quality of life of the rural people.
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/fdncug.html



b) Education

= International Education and Resource Network Trinidad and Tobago
Established in 1998, IEARNTNT's mission is to use ICT to enable young
people and women to use the internet and other technologies to engage
in collaborative educational projects, that both enhance learning and
address issues of global importance.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/education.html#IEARNTNT



c) Human rights

= Concerned Parents' Association (CPA)
Established in 1996, CPA's mission is to advocate for the release of
all children held captive by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and for
peace in Uganda. CPA's activities include advocacy, psychosocial
support and reintegration, Education, Health, Peace building, and
Economic empowerment.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/rights.html#CPA



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
NEWS & EVENTS
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April 2003

= Opportunity for OneWorld Editor in Uganda
OneWorld seeks an online volunteer Editor for a new Country Guide for
Uganda. This is a fascinating opportunity to share and expand
knowledge in Ugandan affairs from the OneWorld perspective, and to
contribute to one of the internet's best known sites covering human
rights and sustainable development. The OneWorld Volunteer Editors
Project aims to provide opportunities to people living and working in
the developing world to bring their knowledge and enthusiasm to the
online global audience of http://www.oneworld.net.
Applications should be submitted by May 13, 2003, via the NetAid
volunteering service at:
http://www.netaid.org/ov/view_assignment.pt?assignment_id=5512
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews03.html#OWed



May 2003

= Africa Launch of the Digital Diaspora Initiative
   May 5-6, 2003, Kampala
ICT are becoming widely accepted as integral means for transforming
the path of development. As envisaged in the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs), the importance of harnessing information and
communication technologies for poverty eradication cannot be
overemphasized. Yet, as statistics describing the growing digital
divide demonstrate, women and girls are at particular risk for
exclusion from opportunities presented by ICT to secure better
livelihoods and other rights.
UNIFEM and its partners recognize that there is a wealth of untapped
expertise among Africans in the Diaspora, particularly in the private
sector, who could make a significant difference in closing the
digital divide. In January 2002 in New York, UNIFEM launched its
Digital Diaspora initiative to build strategic partnerships between
African IT entrepreneurs in the Diaspora and women's organizations
and business associations in Africa.
The main objective of the Kampala meeting is to launch the programme
of action of the Digital Diaspora Initiative in Africa. For more
information about the Digital Diaspora Initiative, see:
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/UNIFEM/ddi_ug.html
H.E. Yoweri Museveni, President of the Republic of Uganda will
officially launch the initiative. To view the two-day
programme, see:
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/UNIFEM/ddiprogramme.html



June 2003

= Africa SMME Awards: Call for nominations
The Africa Centre for Investment Analysis (ACIA), together with a
number of national and international organisations, is hosting its
fifth Annual Development Finance Conference in October 2003 in
Johannesburg. Together with the SMME Awards, the best SMMEs of the
year will also be announced. The Africa SMME Awards are presented to
businesses that strive for excellence in order to be competitive in
regional, national and international markets. Deadline for
nominations is extended to June 30, 2003
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews03.html#AfricaSMME



= SCECSAL XVI Conference, Kampala, Uganda -
   First Announcement & Call for Papers
The SCECSAL XVI Organizing Committee has the pleasure of inviting
Library and Information Professionals to the sixteenth Standing
Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern African Library and
Information Professionals (SCECSAL XVI) to be hosted by the Uganda
Library Association in Kampala (ULA). The conference theme is
'Towards a Knowledge Society for African Development'. Abstracts are
invited for papers, deadline for submission of abstracts is 21 June
2003.
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews03.html#SCECSAL04



October  2003

= 5th Annual Development Finance Conference, October 8-9, 2003
The Africa Centre for Investment Analysis (ACIA), together with
African Project Development Facility (APDF) and a number of national
and international organisations, is this year hosting its 5th Annual
African Development Finance Conference in Johannesburg from 8 to 9
October 2003. The Theme of the conference is Financing Development in
Africa. The conference aims to examine issues of development finance
relevant to promoting sustainable development in Africa.
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews03.html#ADFC2003



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WOUGNET NEWS
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= WOUGNET marks 3 years!
This month WOUGNET marks three years since its initiation in May
2000. WOUGNET emerged to fill the needs for information sharing and
dissemination among women and women organisations in Uganda by
capitalising on the opportunities available with email and the
Internet. Since then, WOUGNET has grown to include membership of 40
women organisations in Uganda, over 200 subscribers to the WOUGNET
mailing list, and over 300 individual  subscribers to the WOUGNET
Update Newsletter. Further, since October 2002, the WOUGNET website
has received over 4,000 unique visitors per month. For the first
time, in April 2003, the number of unique visitors exceed 5,000. Your
input, support and contributions over the years are greatly
appreciated!

Over the coming months, WOUGNET will conduct an evaluation of the
website and mailing lists. The evaluation will conducted with the
support of GEM Africa. Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM) is an
evaluation tool that integrates gender analysis into the evaluation
of ICT initiatives for social change:
http://www.apcwomen.org/gem



= Online Forum: An Information Society for Uganda (ISUG)
Over the period April 14 - 30, WOUGNET conducted an online forum to
facilitate contributions to the WSIS working documents and Uganda's
input to the WSIS. Contributions received will be channeled to the
WSIS Secretariat via the WSIS Africa Civil Society Caucus:
http://mailman.greennet.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/africa
For information about the ISUG forum, visit:
http://www.wougnet.org/WSIS/ug/isug.html




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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