WOUGNET Update Newsletter - February 2005

[Dorothy Okello <dokello@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

WOUGNET Update Newsletter - February 2005
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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. Links & Resources
4. Project News and Events
5. WOUGNET News
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WOMEN ORGANISATIONS IN UGANDA
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= Munkunyu Women's Development Association (MUWODA)
   http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/muwoda.html
Based in Kasese District, MUWODA's mission is to uplift the status of 
women. MUWODA was founded in 1998 as a communty based organisation by a 
group of three women concerned with promoting the quality of life of the 
women and girl child by enhancing locally available resources. It operates 
in a rural area where the majority of the people live below the poverty line.
http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#MUWODA


= Namasuba Kikajjo Women's Development Association (NAKIWDA)
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/nakiwda.html
Operating in Namasuba Kikajjo zone, NAKIWDA's mission is to promote the 
economic empowerment of women in the development process
http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#NAKIWDA



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DOCUMENTS ON WOMEN'S ISSUES IN UGANDA
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= The Implementation of Quotas: African Experiences
   (International IDEA, Editor: Julie Ballington)

This report examines women's political representation on the African 
continent, and shows how quotas have contributed to increasing women's 
access to political power. Gender quotas are now increasingly viewed as an 
important policy measure for boosting women's access to decision-making 
bodies throughout the world. Experience from Africa is very encouraging: 
over 20 countries on the continent either have legislated quotas or 
political parties that have adopted them voluntarily. This report 
illustrates the different quota types that are being implemented in 
different political contexts, including the situation in Uganda.
http://www.wougnet.org/documents.html#IQAE



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

= Engabu Za Tooro - Tooro Youth Platform for Action (EZT)
Operating in Kabarole, Kyenjojo and Kamwenge districts, EZT's mission is to 
promote organizational discipline, and initiate group effort 
entreprenuership and community mobilization for competitive, integrated and 
sustainable development. While the original target was youth out of school, 
today EZT is creating activities that cater for the needs of all members of 
the community. EZT activities include conferences for youth in 
institutions, cultural research and education emphasised by elders in the 
community, functional adult literacy and vocational training for women.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/development.html#EZT



b) ICT-related organisations and resources

= Rural Information Services Association (RISA)
Based in Kayunga District, RISA's mission is the innovative use of 
information technologies for development of the rural poor. RISA's 
activities include training seminars on the use of ICTs for rural 
development; providing information on best practices to women and youth 
groups affected by HIV/AIDS; and creating training materials on audio/video 
cassettes and CDs to record local content (music/drama) for purposes of 
sharing experiences and best practices.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/ictresources.html#RISA


= ITAfrica
ITAfrica is a simple vision: provide a database of expertise for growing 
African IT communities. With the dramatic growth of services in the last 
five years, and the fragmented nature of this sector, this resource is 
provided as a community-driven database of IT experts, businesses, events 
and projects. Highlighting local services, local companies, and local 
solutions to specifically African opportunities is key. Too often 
governments and CEOs have looked 'outside', where in fact, help and 
expertise is either on their doorstep, or can quickly be developed. 
ITAfrica is designed to kill that 'excuse' of not knowing who does what. To 
be listed, one's primary business must be as an IT services provider in a 
town/country of Africa.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/ictresources.html#ITA


c) Human Rights

= Sexual Violence Research Initiative (SVRI)
The SVRI aims to build an experienced and committed network of researchers, 
policy makers, activists and donors to ensure that the many aspects of 
sexual violence are addressed from the perspective of different disciplines 
and cultures. The SVRI website provides information about the SVRI and 
contains links to documents and other resources on sexual violence and 
sexual violence research.
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/rights.html#SVRI



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PROJECT NEWS AND EVENTS
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February 2005

= Gender and Agriculture/Rural Development in the Information Society - 
Announcing Round 2 of GenARDIS (Application deadline: February 25, 2005)
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), 
the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the International 
Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) and the Humanist 
Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (Hivos) are inviting 
applications for the second round of the GenARDIS small grants programme. 
GenARDIS is a small grants fund to address gender issues in Information and 
Communication Technologies for Agricultural and Rural Development in 
Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP Countries). Application forms 
are available online or via email to <GENARDIS@xxxxxxx>.
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews05.html#GenARDIS2



March 2005

= Prix Ars Electronica: Digital Communities Award  (Application deadline: 
March 11, 2005)
For the second time, Prix Ars Electronica will honor important achievements 
by digital communities. This category focuses attention on the wide-ranging 
social impact of the Internet as well as on the latest developments in the 
fields of social software, mobile communications and wireless networks.
The "Digital Communities" category is open to political, social, and 
cultural projects, initiatives, groups, and scenes from all over the world 
utilizing digital technology to better society and assume social 
responsibility. It is meant to recognize the initiators and propagators of 
these communities as well as the developers of the relevant technologies, 
and to honor those whose work contributes to the establishment and 
proliferation of Digital Communities as well as provide understanding and 
research into them.
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews05.html#PAE05



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WOUGNET News
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= WOUGNET receives support from CTA for "Enhancing Access to Agricultural 
Information using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)" project
WOUGNET is embarking on a three-year program, 2005-2007, whose main 
objective is to strengthen and support the use of ICTs among women and 
women organisations, build capacities, and expand WOUGNET activities to 
reach out to women in the rural areas.
Under the rural access component of the three-year program, WOUGNET has 
developed a project entitled "Enhancing Access to Agricultural Information 
using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)" that is supported 
by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation ACP-EU 
(CTA) and is being piloted in Apac District, Northern Uganda. The main 
objective of the project is to provide access to agricultural information 
to women farmers. The main activities include:  identify information needs 
and prioritize agricultural information for rural farmers, package the 
required information into formats to suit the farmers/local users using 
appropriate delivery mechanisms and disseminate the information, establish 
linkages with CTA Question and Answer Service (QAS) based at the National 
Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) to provide answers to farmers' 
questions, and establish the Kubere Information Centre with linkages to 
agricultural-focused organisations.
For further information about the project, contact <info@xxxxxxxxxxx>. For 
information about CTA, visit <http://www.cta.int>.

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