WOUGNET Update Newsletter - August 2004

[Dorothy Okello <dokello@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

WOUGNET Update Newsletter - August 2004
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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. ICT Policy
3. Links & Resources
4. Project News and Events
5. WOUGNET News

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Introducing WOUGNET Information Officer: Zamzam Nassazi

Zamzam Nassazi joins WOUGNET as the new Information Officer. As Information 
Officer, Zamzam will continue to strengthen and broaden WOUGNET?s capacity 
to support networking and information sharing among WOUGNET members and 
partners. Prior to joining WOUGNET, Zamzam worked with UgaBytes Initiative, 
an organisation whose mission is to introduce and apply information and 
communication technologies (ICTs) in Uganda's development process. We 
believe Zamzam will make a welcome addition to WOUGNET, and she can be 
contacted by email at znassazi@xxxxxxxxxxx or by phone at (041) 256832.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WOMEN ORGANISATIONS IN UGANDA
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= Masanafu Women in Development Agency (MWODEA)
   http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/mwodea.html
Operating in Kampala (Lubya Parish), MWODEA's mission is to see that fellow 
women live to achieve their full potential by getting rid of all 
impediments, which block their development, and also to ensure that their 
vulnerability more especially to HIV/AIDS is reduced.
http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#MWODEA


= AMwA-U: The African Women?s Development Fund (AWDF)
   http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/amwau.html#AWDF
On May 15, 2004, Akina Mama wa Africa - Uganda (AMwA-U) hosted a reception 
for the AWDF. The AWDF is the first Africa-wide grant-making organisation 
which has been set up to provide grants to African women?s organisations. 
The vision of the AWDF is for African women to live in a world in which 
there is social justice, equality and respect for women?s human rights. 
Visit the AMwA-U offices for information on the AWDF.

= Kabale Women's Guidance and Counseling Services Conference, September 1, 2004
   http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/kwgcs.html#Sept04
K.W.G.C.S  has been holding an annual general conference with the aim of 
bringing together women for a variety of activities. This year, there will 
be a talk with the theme "The Benefit of Guidance and Counseling to an 
Individual". In addition, there will be games and sports, competitions 
related to the theme of the day, and exhibitions of women's activities 
(such as handicraft and agricultural products).
The major aim of the conference is to empower women and girls through 
education,skill training, farming advice, guidance and counseling on 
different issues pertaining to life such as human rights, decision making 
and personal hygiene.
The targeted audience are women and girls. In attendance will be some 
District officials including the R.D.C, the C.B.O. official, and the Gender 
officer.
K.W.G.C.S  welcomes contributions and support towards the success of this 
conference.

= Karamoja Women's Development Initiative (KAWODI)
   http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/kawodi.html
Operating in Kotido District, KAWODI's mission is to ensure the 
transformation of women for the development of their communities. KAWODI's 
activities include training of women in environmental issues, provison of 
text books to schools, research on human rights issues in the district, 
mentoring of girls in schools, and lobbying the district for women to 
participate in social, economic and political positions in the district.
http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#KAWODI


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ICT POLICY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

= Apac District ICT Steering Committee

The first Information and Communication Technologies - ICT - steering 
committee for Apac District was nominated at a multi-stakeholder meeting 
held in Apac municipality at the Red Cross Centre on 22nd July 2004. The 
six-member committee (3 Women and 3 Men) was nominated at the second public 
meeting on the theme, ?ICT for Poverty Reduction: A Multistakeholder 
Approach?. The meeting was organized by WOUGNET in partnership with Radio 
Apac, supported by the United Nations Development Programme ­ UNDP ­ in the 
context of designing and presenting a methodological approach for the 
implementation of national priorities for ICT which will give support to 
the World Summit on the Information Society ­ WSIS - Action Plan linking 
grassroots to policy level entities and bringing together government, civil 
society and private sector. It also seeks to put forward new partnership 
models (involving national and international partners) to strengthen the 
implementation.
This year?s meeting was organized, among others, to present the outcomes of 
the first phase of focus group discussion and public meetings held in 
November 2003 and to lay strategies for going forward with ICT for 
Development in Apac. As a strategy, the committee was born primarily to 
link the various stakeholders in regard to the information and 
communication needs of the people of Apac and developments in the ICT 
sector in the country and internationally, with WOUGNET providing technical 
support to the committee as required. As an initial point of entry, it was 
suggested that the committee would work with stakeholders to generate local 
content and ensure the regular update of the Apac district portal. The 
individual committee members would also look to develop specific project 
ideas in their area of specialisation as showcases of the development 
possibilities presented by ICT.
For more information, contact Milton Aineruhanga, WOUGNET Program Officer, 
at info@xxxxxxxxxxxx A report of the Apac public meeting will be made 
available.

= Public meeting to review draft National Broadcasting Policy, August 5, 2004
The Broadcasting Council is holding a public meeting to discuss the draft 
National Broadcasting Policy. Following a nation-wide survey to gauge 
Ugandan's views on the performance of the broadcast media, a broadcasting 
policy was drafted to guide operations such as content, ownership, 
broadcaster obligations, advertising, human resource development, the media 
and good governance, and signal distribution.
The public meeting will be held on August 5, 2004, at Conference Hall, 
Senate House, Makerere University beginning at 8:30am. To register your 
participation, contact:
Broadcasting Council Secretariat
6th Floor, Workers House
Tel. (041) 251452
Fax. (041) 250612
Email. info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
For a copy of the draft policy, visit:
http://www.wougnet.org/ICTpolicy/ug/ugictpolicy.html#DNBP


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
LINKS & RESOURCES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a) Health

= Engendering the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) on Health
In September 2000, 189 nations ratified the United Nations Millennium 
Declaration, an ambitious document affirming the right of every human being 
to development and laying out a path toward freedom from want for every 
woman, man, and child. This site presents a publication of the World Health 
Organization focusing on health issues that women in the developing world 
face today: poverty and hunger, child and maternal mortality, HIV/AIDS, low 
access to drinking water and pharmaceuticals. The site includes links to 
other documents related to women's health.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/health.html#EMDG


b) HIV/AIDS

= Women, HIV & AIDS and Abject Poverty
   Nyaradzai Gumbonzvanda, Regional Program Director, UNIFEM East and Horn 
of Africa. July 11, 2004
It was not an easy feat for Mrs. Nane Annan and all of us to negotiate our 
way in Kiambiu slums of Kenya while visiting an outreach initiative of 
women living with HIV & AIDS supported by Kenya Network of Women Living 
with AIDS (KENWA). We had to almost walk in almost single file as there was 
no road, and now and again jumped over running dirty water flowing easily 
between the muddy huts. We were visiting a family infected and affected by 
HIV & AIDS.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/hivaids.html#WAP


c) Human Rights

= Empower Children and Communities Against Abuse (ECCA)
Operating in Kampala and Rakai districts, ECCA's mission is to empower 
children and communities to work together against all forms of gender-based 
violence. ECCA's primary aim is to promote the proactive participation of 
men in the design and implementation of gender-based violence prevention 
interventions.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/rights.html#ECCA


d) ICT-related Organisations and Resources

= NABUUR
NABUUR is an organistion trying to matchmake the needs of local communities 
with the surplus resources available. Your community is probably solving 
many of its problems by itself, with enormous creativity and perseverance. 
At the same time, there may be issues that you can?t deal with, because you 
don?t have the time, because they are too complicated or too costly. The 
resources (knowledge, experience, skills, contacts, manpower, goods and 
finances) to deal with these issues probably exist elsewhere in the world. 
The question is how to get hold of these resources when you are already 
stretched to the limit. Thanks to the Internet it now has become possible 
for local communities to access their virtual neighbors for support. NABUUR 
is creating such a platform.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/ictresources.html#NABUUR


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Project News and Events
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August 2004

= Call for Computer Refurbishment Volunteers, August 2-14, 2004

At the end of July, Self Management IT and ICT4Africa (both based in 
Sweden) in partnership with WOUGNET imported a container of computers to be 
distribution to various schools and civil society organisations.
The shipment of 400 pieces will need to be refurbished before distribution. 
This process will involve checks that the hardware is functional, repair 
and/or replace components damaged in transit, installation of software 
(preferably FOSS) and other such activities to ensure the computers are in 
proper working order. This process is expected to run from 2nd to 14th 
August 2004.
This is a call for individuals that would like to join the team of Swedish 
volunteers in offering their skills and time to refurbish the computers.
Interested persons should contact Milton Aineruhanga ­ WOUGNET Program 
Officer by email at info@xxxxxxxxxxx (Subject: Refurb Volunteer). Please 
remember to indicate your skills set and experience as well as your 
availability (as this will help us develop a work plan that will suit your 
schedule). The Refurb Workshop is in Rubaga, Kampala.
For more information, contact: info@xxxxxxxxxxx


= REMINDER: Catalyzing the Creation and Exchange of Local Content:
   CCELC Uganda Small Grants Fund - Call for Applications
   http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews04.html#CCELC

It is widely accepted that there is need to build capacity in developing 
countries to enable people to generate and disseminate content. Content 
about, and relevant for, local communities to facilitate the local 
expression and local application of information (see for example: 
?Collecting and Propagating Local Development Content?, Peter Ballantyne, 
International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), May 2002).
The process of production, storage and dissemination of local knowledge can 
be facilitated by the application of information and communication 
technologies (ICTs). The goal of CCELC is to strengthen the abilities of 
local communities and organizations in developing countries to create, 
synthesis, adapt, and exchange valuable, and potentially wealth-generating 
local content, including appropriate knowledge from elsewhere. CCELC is 
funded by DFID and the Canadian Government. In Uganda, the CCELC program is 
managed by I-Network Uganda.
Under the CCELC program, I-Network and IICD announce a small grants fund 
(CCELC-SGF) to address issues in the creation and exchange of local content 
in Uganda. The CCELC-SGF is an amount of 40,000 Euros that will be 
distributed among 5 projects as non-renewable grants of 8,000 Euros each. 
At the end of the year (12 month period), a dissemination workshop will be 
held at which results from the 5 projects will be showcased.
The aim of the CCELC small grants fund (CCELC-SGF) is to support innovative 
activity that contributes to the understanding and application of ICTs in 
the creation and exchange of local content in Uganda. This competitive fund 
provides an opportunity for local communities to strengthen work on ICTs in 
local content creation and exchange for sustainable development.
The CCELC-SGF application process involves completion of an application 
form that is available from (a) the I-Network website 
<http://www.i-network.or.ug>, (b) the WOUGNET website 
<http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews04.html#CCELC>, (c) the AITEC 
office, Old tower, 3rd floor, Colline house, Pilkington Rd, OR (d) the 
WOUGNET office at Room 13, Plot 59 Nkrumah Road.
Completed applications should be submitted to:
CCELC-SGF Program Coordinator
I-Network Uganda
P.O. Box 26970
Kampala, Uganda
Fax: (041) 343005
Email: aitec.uganda@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

The deadline for submitting applications is August 11, 2004 and grant 
winners will be announced on September 10, 2004.
For more information about the CCELC Uganda program, contact: 041-251632 / 
041-256832 or send email to aitec.uganda@xxxxxxxxxxxxx / info@xxxxxxxxxxx


October 2004

= Women and ICT: Challenges and Opportunities on the Road to Tunis 2005, 
Arusha International
    Conference Centre, Arusha, Tanzania, 20-22 2004 -- NEW DATES
One of today's most pressing global challenges is to reduce by half the 
number of people living in absolute poverty by 2015 as stated in the UN 
Millennium Development Goals. New ICTs are seen by many as appropriate 
tools to combat poverty and achieve sustainable development in Africa. 
However, this requires political commitment as well as effective actions on 
the ground - actions that provide opportunities for poor people, actions 
that will achieve the goal of digital inclusion, enabling universal, 
sustainable, ubiquitous and affordable access of ICT by all. As stated in 
the theme, the overall objective of the conference is to draw a roadmap for 
the caucus that will enable effective Women participation at WSIS-Tunis 2005.
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews04.html#WICT04


= Seventh African Regional Conference on Women, UNECA/The African Center 
for Gender and Development, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 6 - 14 October 2004
The Seventh African Regional Conference on Women will focus on the decade 
review of the implementation of Beijing Platform for Action in Africa 
(Beijing+10). Within the framework of the global evaluation of progress 
achieved over the past ten years in implementing the Beijing Platform for 
Action on Women (Beijing + 10), Africa will join the rest of the world to 
assess its performance and identify the way forward.
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews04.html#ARCW04



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WOUGNET News
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

= WOUGNET receives Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) Award
WOUGNET has received the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) Award in 
recognition of "invaluable contribution to the development of the 
communication sector in Uganda" in the ICT Advocacy category. The award 
giving ceremony took place at the Nile Hotel Gardens on July 15, 2004. The 
UCC Awards were part of the activities to mark UCC's 5th anniversary that 
was reached on 8th August 2003. The Guest of Honor at the award ceremony 
was Hon. Werikhe, Minister of State (Communications), Ministry of Works, 
Housing and Communications. Also present were members of parliament on the 
parliamentary committee for Works, Housing and Communications.


= WOUGNET Workshop: Women's Health - The role of ICTs
Access to timely and relevant information is widely acknowledged as one of 
the challenges faced by many health care workers and organisations. How can 
information and communication technologies (ICTs) help?  On August 19, 
2004, WOUGNET will host a workshop 'Women's Health - The role of ICTs' at 
Hotel Africana. It is expected that participants will emerge with a good 
understanding of how ICTs can be used to address women's health related 
issues.
For more information, contact Zamzam Nassazi, WOUGNET Information Officer, 
at info@xxxxxxxxxxx or by phone at (041)256832.

= Quarterly report on WOUGNET website evaluation
Evaluation of the WOUGNET website is important in that it helps provide 
information required to improve the website, for example, by developing new 
web activities and improving on those that already exist. The evaluation 
process also enables identification of the kind of information users want, 
the challenges they face in accessing the information, and relevancy of the 
information. A report of the WOUGNET website evaluation is available for 
download in WORD and PDF formats at:
http://www.wougnet.org/eval/wevaluation.html#QRWWE



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