WOUGNET Update Newsletter - December 2005

[Dorothy Okello <dokello@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

WOUGNET Update Newsletter - December 2005
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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. WOUGNET News
2. Launch of the CTA/Dimitra Electronic Discussion "Strengthening rural women's
networks with regards to information and communication, and combating HIV/AIDS
in rural areas"
3. Africa Source II, January 8-15, 2006, Kalangala - Press Release

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We take this opportunity to wish you all a happy holiday season and a happy and
prosperous 2006. Kindly note that the WOUGNET office will be closed from
December 19, 2005 and reopen on January 2, 2006.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our members and
partners for the active year that 2005 has been. In 2005, with the generous
support of Hivos, WOUGNET launched a three year program (2005-2007) with the
following program areas:

a) Information sharing and networking -- This program aims at providing relevant
information to women and sharing of experiences for purposes of improving
quality of lives.

b) Technical support -- This program aims at supporting women organisations to
access, utilise and apply ICTs in addressing their development problems.

c) Gender and ICT Policy Advocacy --  This program aims at building capacity of
network members to effectively influence the formulation and implementation of
gender sensitive ICT policies and programs.

d) Rural access -- This program aims at improving rural women’s access to
ICTs, and strengthening and building their capacity in ICT use and application.

We say thank you to the many individuals and partners that collaborated with
WOUGNET in support of this program including Association for Progressive
Communications (APC), Bellanet Africa, Dimitra Project/FAO, Hivos, I-Network,
Kabissa, Linux Solutions, Ministry of Works, Housing and Communications
(MoWHC), National Planning Authority (NPA), OneWorld Africa, Radio Apac,
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP EU (CTA), and
Uganda Communications Commission (UCC).

The next issue of the WOUGNET Update Newsletter will be in February 2006.

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WOUGNET News
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= Annual WOUGNET January Meeting, January 23, 2006

The Annual WOUGNET January Meeting will be held on January 23, 2006 in Kampala.
The overall objective is to review the WOUGNET Action Plan 2006 and to get
members' input for the way forward. Further details will be communicated in due
course.


= Reminder - Call for expressions of interest: Refurbished Computers

As a result of the WOUGNET-ComputerAid Partnership, a shipment of refurbished
Pentium II and III computers is in Kampala and available for sale to NGOs,
non-profit and faith-based organisations, and educational institutions. The
computers are priced at 100 Pounds Sterling each (Pentium II's are on sale for
60 Pounds each) and come with a 1-year warranty. All interested please contact
the WOUGNET program officer, Milton Aineruhanga, by email at info@xxxxxxxxxxx
or call 041-532025 for more details and to make a booking.



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Launch of the CTA/Dimitra electronic discussion
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= Launch of the CTA/Dimitra electronic discussion "Strengthening rural women's
networks with regards to information and communication, and combating HIV/AIDS
in rural areas"

Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) in collaboration with ENDA Pronat, Senegal,
and the Pacific Islands Energy Gender Network will host a one-year discussion:
"Strengthening rural women's networks with regards to information and
communication, and combating HIV/AIDS in rural areas". This discussion is a
follow-up to the Dimitra-FAO and CTA joint work meeting in June 2005, in
Brussels, Belgium, held with a goal to strengthen and energize networks working
for rural women in the South. The electronic discussion will be hosted in
English and French. It brings together the Dimitra/CTA networks involved in the
June 2005 meeting as well as other networks interested and involved in
supporting rural women's networks.

The electronic discussion is conducted with financial support from the Technical
Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP EU (CTA) and from the Dimitra
Project, Gender and Development Service, FAO.



Les femmes du Réseau de l'Ouganda (WOUGNET) en collaboration avec l'ENDA-Pronat,
du Sénégal, et "Le réseau de l'énergie du genre dans les iles du Pacifique"
("Pacific Islands Energy Gender Network") vont démarrer une discussion en ligne
pendant une période d'un an. Sur le thème suivant: "Le renforcement des réseaux
de femmes rurales en matière d'information et de communication, et le combat
contre le VIH-SIDA en milieu rural". Cette discussion est l'une des activités
de suivi de l'Atelier conjoint FAO-Dimitra/CTA de Juin 2005 a Bruxelles,
Belgique. Cet Atelier avait pour objectif de renforcer et de dynamiser les
réseaux qui travaillent avec les femmes rurales dans le Sud. La discussion
électronique sera tenue en anglais et français. Elle rassemblera les réseaux de
Dimitra et du CTA qui étaient impliqués dans la conférence de Juin 2005 ainsi
que les autres réseaux intéressés et impliqués dans le soutien aux réseaux de
femmes rurales.

La discussion électronique est conduite avec l'aide financière du Centre
Technique de Coopération Agricole et Rurale ACP UE (CTA) et  du Projet
Dimitra, du Service parité hommes-femmes de la FAO.



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Africa Source II, January 8-15, 2006, Kalangala - Press Release
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Africa Source II, January 8-15, 2006, Kalangala, Uganda

Africa Source II is Africa's premier Free and Open Source Software (FOSS)
specialised hands on skills development event focused on the Non
Governmental Organisation (NGO) sector. Bringing together over 120 NGO
support professionals, staff and software experts, the participants will
examine how information technologies and FOSS can strategically impact and
build civil society organisations on the continent.

Participants will learn how FOSS can help to increase access to vital
information for their communities, along with providing inexpensive and
efficient ICT infrastructure in non-profit organizations. They will also
have a perfect opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of FOSS,
explore the challenges and future potential of its applications.

Sessions will focus on:
-- How to help NGO's plan and implement FOSS applications in order to
increase their capacity
-- How to use FOSS applications to handle information, publish content
using citizen's media tools and engage supporters
-- How FOSS can increase accessibility through localisation, translation
into local language and dialects

The workshop is to run from January 8th - 15th 2006 at Pearl Gardens Beach
<http://www.pearlgardensbeach.com> located on one of the world's best kept
secrets, Kalangala Island in Lake Victoria, Uganda.

It shall be graced by the presence of Mr. Mark Shuttleworth, from South Africa,
the first African to go to space and a leading entrepreneur. He is the brain
behind many ICT initiatives in South Africa and is a respected philanthropist.

Collaboration to organise the content of the workshop is between an
unprecedented group of organisations focused on technology use in the NGO
sector that work internationally, regionally and locally; The Association
for Progressive Communication APC (regional network), Fantsuam Foundation
(Nigeria), Schoolnet Africa (regional network), Translate.org.za, Women of
Uganda Network - WOUGNET (Uganda), Linux Solutions (Uganda), Creative Commons
South Africa, Aspiration (US) and The Tactical Technology Collective (the
Netherlands). The project partners are committed to examining the challenges of
implementing FOSS in the African context, stretching its potential to fit
the needs on the ground, and building local capacities to realise this.
Local implementation partners are Linux Solutions, WOUGNET and East
African Center for Open Source (EACOSS).

Africa Source II is possible thanks to the support from: the Open Society
Institute Information Program, the International Development Research
Centre (IDRC), OSISA - Open Society Initiative for South Africa, Hivos,
and InWent.

Previous Source events took place in Croatia - September 2003, Namibia -
March 2004 and India - February 2005. Future source events are planned for
Central Asia and Middle East. These events have been an integral part of a
growing global movement on integrating FOSS with civil society
organisations in the developing world.

For more information about Africa Source II, visit
http://www.tacticaltech.org/africasource2



Local Contacts:

Lunghabo Wire James
Tel: 256 71 726609
Email: lunghabo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Daphine Kakonge
Office: Plot 53 Kira Road
Tel: +256-41-532035
Fax: +256-41-530474
Email: info@xxxxxxxxxxx



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