WOUGNET Update Newsletter - April 2006

[Dorothy Okello <dokello@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

WOUGNET Update Newsletter - April 2006
******************************************************************************************

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

To subscribe/unsubscribe to the WOUGNET Update 
Newsletter, send a message to 
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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. TechTips
6. OKN Uganda
7. WOUGNET News
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WOMEN ORGANISATIONS IN UGANDA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

= POWL (U): Positive Women Leaders of Uganda
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/powlu.html
Based in Wakiso District, POWL (U) is an umbrella 
organization for professional and skilled women 
living with HIV/AIDS in Uganda. With the 
increasing level of awareness and massive 
campaign on HIV/AIDS there is still a big fear, 
stigma and denial among professionals living with 
HIV/AIDS. This is more prominent for women due to 
cultural, social and economic subordination. POWL 
(U) therefore aims at addressing social 
seclusion, stigma, isolation, self-denial, fear 
and anxiety that professional and skilled women living with HIV/AIDS face.
http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#POWLU


=  NABA: New contact information for Namalemba ­ Bugweri Association (NABA)
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/nabaiganga.html
Operating in Iganga District, NABA's mission is 
to work with women and children from Iganga 
District, Eastern Uganda who may be resident in 
the country or abroad, to relieve poverty, 
sickness and distress, advance education,and 
provide and assist in the provision of facilities 
for recreation in the interests of social welfare 
and with the aim of improving conditions of life. 
NABA announces new contact information for the organisation.
http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#NABA


= AMwA: Invitation to the African Women?s 
Leadership Institute (AWLI)  Opening Ceremony, 24 
April 2006, Grand Imperial Hotel, Kampala
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/amwau.html
Akina Mama wa Africa (AMwA) invites the public to 
the Opening Ceremony of the forthcoming 3rd 
Eastern Africa Sub Regional African Women?s 
Leadership Institute (AWLI), due to take place on 
Monday 24th April 2006, at the Grand Imperial 
Hotel, SHELINA hall starting at 2.00pm, followed 
by a reception at 5.30pm. The African Women?s 
Leadership Institute (AWLI) is a regional 
networking, information and training forum, which 
trains women, aged 25-45 in critical thinking on 
gender issues, organisational and resource 
development and strategic planning. The AWLI was 
established as a program of AMwA in 1996, as a 
contribution towards the post-Beijing initiatives 
in the Africa region. The AWLI has two main 
features. First, it serves as a network of young 
African women (25-45) for professional support, 
advice and information, and sharing of expertise. 
Second, the AWLI convenes an intensive two week 
residential leadership-training institute every 
year. This year, AMwA shall be having a total 
number of 23 participants from East and Horn of 
Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi).
For more information about AMwA, visit 
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/amwau.html or send email to: amwa@xxxxxxxxxxx




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

= National EASSy Workshop, April 28, 2006

A national EASSy Workshop is proposed for April 
28, 2006. The workshop will be convened by APC, 
Balancing Act and CIPESA and national network, 
I-Network Uganda. National workshops are also 
planned for Tanzania, Rwanda and Zambia. The aim 
of the workshops is to increase awareness and 
stimulate debate on Open Access vs Closed Access 
but at the same time provide a platform for 
gathering the different perspectives on the EASSy 
project from the different stakeholders (Private 
Sector, Government and Civil Society). By private 
sector we shall be looking at Financial 
Institutions and Manufacturing who ideally use 
the Internet and pay heavily for their bandwidth. 
Ultimately the workshops should be used to shape 
how policy-making processes in light of EASSy can 
be influenced by the different stakeholders with 
affordable access as the main objective.
If you would like to receive further information 
on this workshop, when available, please send email to ictpolicy@xxxxxxxxxxx


= WOUGNET Gender and ICT Policy Advocacy Training Workshops

Under WOUGNET's Gender and ICT Policy Advocacy 
program area, WOUGNET aims to support activities 
in advocating for gender concerns within Uganda's 
ICT policy processes. With support of the 
Association for Progressive Communications (APC), 
WOUGNET held a public forum under the theme 
"Uganda's ICT Policy: Does it address the Gender 
Digital Divide?" that took place on Tuesday 7th 
March 2006. The main objective of the forum was 
to raise awareness on gender issues in the ICT 
policies and programmes, and the need to 
integrate gender into ICT policies and 
programmes. A follow-up workshop is being 
organised for 20 - 21 April 2006 to sensitize 
policy makers, ICT experts, gender experts and 
journalists on gender issues in ICT Policy 
processes/programmes, and the implications of ignoring them.
For more information contact Berna Ngolobe, 
WOUGNET Assistant Advocacy and Support Officer, 
at info@xxxxxxxxxxx or call (041) 532035 or visit 
the secretariat at Plot 53 Kira Road, Kamwokya, Kampala.


= Uganda Communications Commission: Internet Development Workshop - A Report

In recognition of the development opportunities 
available through use of the Internet, Uganda 
Communications Commission (UCC) hosted a workshop 
for Uganda?s Internet Community (industry, users 
and Government) to identify strategies for 
fostering Internet development in Uganda. This 
half-day workshop was open to all interested 
stakeholders, and took place at the Fairway Hotel 
on Friday 24 March 2006.  Issues presented during the workshop include:
- Results of an Internet survey carried out by 
UCC, in which it was observed that awareness, 
availability and content of Internet in Uganda 
need to be addressed. A report on the Internet 
survey is available on the UCC website, http://www.ucc.co.ug
- The management of country code top-level domain 
name - .ug. This was presented by Charles Musisi 
of Computer Frontiers International (CFI). 
Computer Frontiers (CFI) manages the domain name 
registry for Uganda. For more information, visit 
http://www.registry.co.ug. For more information 
on CFI, visit http://www.cfi.co.ug. A document 
that presents the basics on domain names and 
their management is available on the UCC website, http://www.ucc.co.ug
- Mr. Patrick Mwesigwa, UCC Technical Manager, 
addressed the proposed National Internet 
Governance Forum (NIGF). Among other activities, 
the NIGF will need to articulate the issues 
Uganda would like to take forward during the 
first IGF meeting to be held in Athens, Greece, 
later this year. The first meeting of the NIGF is 
tentatively scheduled for June 2006.
(This report was prepared by Brenda Muyanja, 
WOUGNET Information Officer, info@xxxxxxxxxxx)


= Contributions to the preparations and the 
issues for the Internet Governance Forum (IGF)
A website has been set up to support the process 
started by the United Nations Secretary-General 
with a view to convening a new forum for 
multi-stakeholder policy dialogue - the Internet 
Governance Forum (IGF). The website also aims at 
providing an interactive collaborative space 
where all stakeholders can air their views and 
exchange ideas. As stated in the Tunis Agenda from WSIS II:
"The Tunis Agenda for the Information Society 
invites the Secretary-General to convene a new 
forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue (para 
67). The Forum is to be convened by the second 
quarter of 2006 in an open and inclusive process 
(para 72). The IGF's structure, function and its 
working are addressed in paras 73 - 79 of the Tunis Agenda."
As noted on the website, consultations on the 
convening of the IGF were held in Geneva on 16 - 
17 February 2006. About 300 participants 
representing all stakeholder groups attended the 
meeting. While there was an emerging convergence 
of views on some aspects related to the IGF, 
there were some open questions that needed 
further discussion. Mr. Nitin Desai, the 
Secretary-General's Special Adviser for the World 
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) who 
chaired the meeting, invited participants to 
reflect on the following questions:
- Whether there is a need for a multistakeholder 
group to prepare for the meeting.
- Which public policy issues the first meeting of the IGF should address.

All stakeholders were invited to submit their views on the following questions:

a) The need for a multistakeholder group to 
assist the the Secretary-General in convening the 
IGF, what the mandate of this group should be and how it should be formed.
[Comments were due by 28 February 2006]

b) Public policy issues to be discussed at the first meeting of the IGF.
[Stakeholders were invited to send their top 
three choices giving a short explanation on the 
reasons for their choices to igf@xxxxxxx by 31 March 2006]
The contributions made by various groups, 
including the Africa Civil Society forum, are available at:
http://www.intgovforum.org/contributions.htm

The inaugural meeting of the IGF will be held in 
Athens, Greece from 30 October - 2 November 2006. 
The website for the event is available at:
http://www.igfgreece2006.gr/



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

a) Development

= United Nations of Uganda (UNAU) Lake Victoria Project
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/development.html#UNAU
As a result of a preparatory study conducted 
during the second half of 2004, a three-year 
joint programme for the United Nations 
Associations (UNAs) of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania 
and Sweden, was conceived. The programme consists 
of capacity building and organizational 
development of the three East African UNAs, and 
monitoring and campaigning for the implementation 
of the Millennium Development Goals with focus on 
HIV/AIDS, for sustainable development of the Lake 
Victoria Region. The Lake Victoria Project is to 
run from 2005-2008. In Uganda, like the other 
East African UNAs, the programme operational 
areas are the districts that make up the Lake 
Victoria Basin. This area is mainly populated by 
fishing and farming communities.

= Centre for Development and Population Activities (CEDPA)
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/development.html#CEDPA
Founded in 1975, the Centre for Development and 
Population Activities (CEDPA) is an 
internationally recognized non-profit 
organization that improves the lives of women and 
girls in developing countries. CEDPA's approach 
is to work hand-in-hand with women leaders, local 
partners, and national and international 
organizations to give women the tools they need 
to improve their lives, families and communities. 
CEDPA's programs are aimed at increasing 
educational opportunities for girls and youth; 
ensuring access to lifesaving reproductive health 
and HIV/AIDS information and services; and 
strengthening women?s ability to become leaders 
in their communities and nations. Through 
sub-grants and technical assistance to local 
partners, CEDPA strengthens community organizations for lasting change.


b) Environment

= New Website: Who's Who of Female Environmentalists Launched by UNEP
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/environmeht.html#WWFE
This website introduces a database of influential 
women in the field of the environment who UNEP 
believes should be honored and whose work should 
be recognized. UNEP invites individuals and 
organizations to add to this list by nominating 
women who they feel have made a significant and 
recognized contribution, nationally, regionally 
or globally, to the field of the environment. 
Eventually, UNEP would like to produce a 
comprehensive Who's Who of Women and the Environment.


c) HIV/AIDS

= The AIDS-controversies in Uganda further analysed
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/hivaids.html#ACUG
In December 2005, Share-Net carried out a mission 
to Uganda. The initial reason for this assignment 
was linked to the current debate in Uganda around 
the issues of abstinence and faithfulness. The 
debate seemed to coincide with an influx of 
American support, mainly channelled through 
religious organizations. In addition, in 2005 a 
severe scarcity of condoms was felt in the 
country. Is there a shift in approach to fight 
HIV/AIDS in a country once known for its 
effective strategies to decrease the HIV 
prevalence? If so, what will be its impact? It 
sounded as if Uganda was becoming a case where 
Share-Net?s principles were increasingly coming 
under pressure. In order to contribute to current 
discussions within Share-net, it was proposed the 
Share-net AIDS-coordinator undertake a mission to 
Uganda to get a better insight in the following aspects:
1. To better understand the controversies surrounding HIV/AIDS in Uganda;
2. To identify influential actors and factors in 
the current HIV and AIDS policy and implementation;
3. To get more insight into the approaches used 
in the (integrated) civil society response to HIV/AIDS and SRH;
4. To gain insight into the manner in which 
vertical financial mechanisms influence health systems support.
Given the short nature of the visit, the author 
advises that the findings reflected in this 
report should be considered with some modesty. 
However, it is hoped that the feedback of the 
mission will contribute to meaningful debates and 
further actions, based on evidence and ratio 
rather than being ideologically driven, in order 
to fight effectively against HIV/AIDS and the 
improvement of the sexual and reproductive health 
status of people, not only in Uganda, but also in 
other high HIV/AIDS prevalence countries.


d) ICT-related resources

= Launch of ITU portal "ICT Success Stories"
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/ictresources.html#ITUICS
The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) 
has launched a new portal, "ICT Success Stories", 
with a "hands-on" demonstration at its 
Headquarters in Geneva, as part of its 
post-Summit work. The portal serves to exchange 
fresh ideas and learning experiences about 
creative uses of ICTs in different cultural 
contexts to improve health, education, governance 
and incomes, while empowering communities and 
promoting peace and human values and freedoms. 
The key message is that there is no "one size 
fits all" approach to using new technologies to 
promote people-centred development; rather, in 
the trial-and-error process of learning to use 
ICTs effectively, the insights of projects and 
development activities gained from experience can 
be extremely valuable. The portal allows users to 
search ITU's extensive database of ICT success 
stories and experiences by theme, criteria, 
country or stakeholder to exchange ideas, 
insights and contact information. This should 
enrich the work being undertaken to integrate 
ICTs into development approaches, overcoming some 
of the difficulties project leaders face in 
implementation, and helping to catalyze fresh thinking and new projects.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PROJECT NEWS AND EVENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April 2006

= Environmental Public Dialogue: "Eviction of 
People from Wetlands: Is it the best alternative 
to save Uganda's Wetlands?", 28 April 2006, 
Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews06.html#EPD06
AEW/MUEMA announce the resumption of the 
Environmental Public Dialogues with yet another 
topical and interesting subject on wetlands. 
AEW/MUEMA will continue to commemorate World 
Wetlands Day 2006 and the recent International 
Convention on Wetlands [COP9] that was held here 
in Kampala Uganda last year November 2005.
Under the theme "Managing Wetlands in a time of 
change", issues to do with Eviction of people 
from Wetland areas shall be discussed under the 
day's topic "Eviction of People from Wetlands: Is 
it the best alternative to save Uganda's 
Wetlands?". Panelists are expected to come from 
GreenWatch [Environmental advocates], WID and 
NEMA. Contributors are highly welcome.


June 2006

= iCommons Summit, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 23-25 June 2006
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews06.html#iCommons
The annual iCommons Summit will this year take 
place in the heart of free culture, in Rio de 
Janeiro, Brazil, from the 23rd to the 25th of 
June. With participation by commons communities 
from Creative Commons, Wikipedia, Science 
Commons, Ubuntu, A2K and others, this year's 
Summit is set to be one of the most exciting 
events for creative and knowledge commons 
pioneers from around the world. The Summit is 
structured around three major themes:
1. Tools. Developing effective, relevant tools to 
assist other creators, authors, scientists and 
researchers to develop and showcase their creativity and innovation.
2. Policy. Strategies to ensure international, 
regional and local policy fora that are conducive 
to the development and nurturing of the commons.
3. Practice. Learning from the experience of 
others to develop effective models for the 
development of open content in societies around the world.
The goals of iCommons are to build the Summit 
into a launch-pad for global cooperation around 
commons projects and to provide an open, creative 
space for practitioners to learn from best case 
practices and to showcase new ideas. With 
iCommons' strong institutional partnerships, 
iCommons will continue to nurture these alliances 
throughout the year, providing the tools and 
spaces for commoners to build on the friendships 
and shared experience of the event, and building 
a united global commons community. With keynote 
speakers including Larry Lessig, Joi Ito, James 
Boyle and Jimmy Wales who will inspire 
participants with a vision of a living, thriving 
commons, to members of the expanding iCommons 
community showcasing their ideas and inviting 
participation in key projects, this year's Summit 
is proving to be a must-attend for anyone engaged 
in the growth and development of the digital commons of the future.


= Young Women Leadership and Knowledge 
Institute  (YOWLI), Dakar, Senegal, June 2006 
(Deadline for applications: 15 April 2006)
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews06.html#YOWLI
The African Women Millennium Initiative on 
Poverty and Human Rights (AWOMI) was established 
and launched in May 2005 respectively in Senegal 
and Kenya. The setting up of AWOMI came out of 
the need to create the conditions that enable 
women to monitor and ensure that resources 
earmarked to fight poverty gets in the hands of 
those who need it most. AWOMI's goal is to 
empower impoverished women and youth and enhance 
their leadership and rights in national and 
global initiatives to end poverty. From June to 
July 2006, AWOMI will host the Young Women 
Leadership and Knowledge Institute (YOWLI) in Dakar, Senegal.
YOWLI is a program for empowerment and training 
for transformation that will accept participants 
of different backgrounds from all over Africa and 
the Diaspora (activists, community leaders, 
researchers, artists, etc). Participants will 
each stay with a Senegalese pier and live with 
Senegalese host families during their four-week 
stay. Skills building activities on leadership, 
action oriented research and advocacy for human 
rights will be organized. In addition the 
institute will facilitate outreach and networking 
between young women and women community leaders 
building on the AWOMI research findings of 
"Positive Women and Girls are the first 
caregivers". Participants will also have a lot of 
fun during their four-week stay with Senegalese 
host families. The program will end with an 
international Conference on Accountability for 
Gender Justice in Fighting HIV/AIDs where YOWLI 
participants will engage with their Governments 
and international community and demand 
accountability for investing in a substantial and 
measurable way, in the population more at risk 
and those caring for HIV sufferers such as 
positive women, women living in poverty and girls.


September 2006

= Software Freedom Day, 16 September 2006
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews06.html#SFD06
The Software Freedom Day (SFD) for 2006 has been 
set for September 16th. Software Freedom 
International has also established the third 
Saturday of each September as Software Freedom 
Day. In addition, LinuxChix Africa chapters 
regularly have activities to mark this day.


November 2006

= 16 Days Campaign, November 25 - December 10, 2006
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews06.html#16days06
The Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL) 
at Rutgers University announces the theme for the 
2006 16 Days Campaign. The theme this year is 
"Advance Human Rights ­ End Violence against 
Women". Information on how to organise local 
campaigns, bibliography and various resources are 
available at the Center's website: 
http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/home.html or via email to cwgl@xxxxxxxx
In addition, the Center for Women's Global 
Leadership welcomes the vote by the UN General 
Assembly (GA) on March 15, 2006 adopting an 
historic resolution that creates new Human Rights 
Council within the UN system.  The Council will 
replace the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the 
body that currently sets and advances human 
rights standards in the UN.  The 47-member Human 
Rights Council raises the level of human rights 
within the UN as it will function as a subsidiary 
body of the General Assembly. The GA will elect 
the 47 countries who will be members of the 
Council on May 9th of this year. The Council is 
expected to begin its work on June 19th in 
Geneva, where it will be based. The resolution 
was adopted by a vote of 170 countries in favor; 
4 against: US, Israel, Marshall Islands and 
Palau; and 3 abstentions: Venezuela, Belarus and Iran.
The text of the resolution that creates the 
Council (A/RES/60/251) can be found at 
http://www.reformtheun.org/index.php/articles/1954
Detailed information about the Council, including 
country statements based on the March 15 vote, 
can be found at http://www.reformtheun.org
The Center for Women's Global Leadership will 
continue to monitor and report on these 
developments, especially as they pertain to 
women's human rights, http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TechTips
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TechTip: How to get the most out of your computer

Many individuals purchase computers to perform 
only a handful of tasks. Some may need a word 
processor, while others want a connection to the 
Internet or an advanced gaming system. Learning 
how to use a computer for maximum benefit can 
take a few months of trial-and-error and this 
period of experimentation is sometimes followed 
by another period of frustration. There are 
several ways to learn how to get the most out of 
your computer. A few tips include:
1) Make use of the owner?s manual, which usually 
comes with a new computer. The owners? manual 
provides a quick overview of the most 
consumer-friendly features of the computer.
2) It is always wise to invest in reference books 
like computers for dummies, an idiot?s guide to 
using computers or linux for beginners. The 
advantage of these books is that they give a 
step- by step guide on how to use a particular computer program.
3) For those who learn best through hands-on 
instruction, many continuing education programs 
and computer schools offer specific classes on computer usage.
4) Another way to learn how to get the most out 
of your computer is to work with a local computer 
expert. It's not unusual for beginners to fear 
making permanent errors, so having an experienced 
computer user nearby can be a calming influence.
For more information, visit http://www.wisegeek.com and http://www.tek-tips.com

**
TechTips is a program to answer computer or 
IT-related queries of concern to WOUGNET members 
and website guests. We welcome contributions of 
tips and websites that have helped your 
organisation - please submit any tips or URLs to 
techsupport@xxxxxxxxxxx . You can also submit a query.
**


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
OKN Uganda
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

= OKN Presents at the I-Network Monthly Seminar, 15th March 2006.

Open Knowledge Network (OKN) is an initiation to 
support the creation and exchange of local 
content in local languages across countries, done 
with the support of information and communication 
technologies. In other words it is a human 
network for sharing information across cultures 
in different countries, in order to improve the 
standard of living of communities.
Benefits realized from this venture includes:
-	An expanded network: with more participants, 
more valued knowledge would be available for sharing.
-       Capacity building in content generation.
-       Increased visibility

The topics under which information is shared 
include: Questions and Answers; Job Adverts; 
Market Prices; Suggestions; Health Matters; 
Weather, etc. In order to successfully address 
these needs, software was developed called ?Open 
Enrich?. Its special features include the ability 
to support local languages, can be used in areas 
with poor connectivity, is user friendly, can be 
tailored to the needs of a community, facilitates 
exchange of content, is highly reliable, is built 
with open source tools and common metadata.
As is the custom I-Network Uganda, one of 
WOUGNET?s partners, held a monthly meeting on 
15th March 2006 at Hotel Africana, Kampala. This 
time the theme was "Knowledge Documentation and 
Dissemination by and for local communities using 
ICTs". Daniel Kakinda of Schoolnet Uganda and 
Ayub Kalema-Golooba, Coordinator for OKN Uganda, 
made a presentation on OKN activities and how 
they contribute to the theme of the meeting. Mr. 
Kakinda observed that in order to effectively 
improve the standard of living in a community, 
parents need to be involved. He also observed 
that most parents live in the rural areas and so 
the questions that were considered necessary to 
be answered were: ?What type of information do 
such people need?? ?How can one use ICT in such areas??
Answering those questions was deemed crucial in 
reducing poverty, increase levels of education 
and to increase standards of health, sanitation, 
nutrition, etc., so as to ensure immediate 
survival, healthy children and to practice 
improved methods of growing and storing food. In 
a typical rural community, information is often 
shared by word of mouth and is often about issues 
on ownership of land and announcements of missing 
animals as well as missing and dead relatives. 
These concerns gave birth to a project called 
OKN, that was set up to address the 
above-mentioned issues as well as others that 
were regarded as vital to the well being of a community.
WOUGNET is one of the OKN Access Points in 
Uganda. For more information about OKN, visit http://www.openknowledge.net
(This report was prepared by Brenda Muyanja, 
WOUGNET Information Officer, info@xxxxxxxxxxx)


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

= WOUGNET website ranked among Top 25 websites in Uganda

As Internet use increases in Africa, an 
increasing number of people are spending more 
time on the web seeking news, information and 
entertainment. In an analysis of websites in East 
Africa, the WOUGNET website was ranked among the 
Top 25 websites in Uganda. Read more in the 
article by Timothy Kalyegira in which he ranks 
websites in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and finds 
telling differences in the preferences of people from the three countries:
http://allafrica.com/stories/200603240164.html



= Kubere Information Center (KIC) trains Women?s Group Leaders

Under the WOUGNET's Rural Access program, a 
project on enhancing access to agricultural 
information through use of information and 
communication technologies was developed and is 
implemented in Apac District, Northern Uganda, 
targeting rural women farmers. The project is 
supported by the Technical Center for 
Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP EU (CTA). 
As part of the project, the Kubere Information 
Centre (KIC) was established to facilitate 
information sharing and support the project's activities.
In February 2006, the KIC held a radio training 
workshop, including live-on-air sessions, for 
women groups associated with the project. The 
training targeted 24 women from 12 parishes 
within the subcounties of Apac, Akokoro, Akalo 
and Bala in which the project operates. The four 
day training which was facilitated by Radio Apac, 
a community radio, was aimed at building the 
capacity of the women to enable them and their 
respective groups participate actively in the KIC 
agricultural radio shows. The subjects addressed 
by the radio shows are identified from the 
information needs expressed by the women groups.
For more information about the KIC and its 
activities, contact Janet Achora, WOUGNET Program 
Officer - Rural Access, at kicinfo@xxxxxxxxxxx or 
call (041) 532035 or visit the secretariat at 
Plot 53 Kira Road, Kamwokya, Kampala.


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The Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) website and 
mailing lists are hosted by Kabissa - Space for Change in Africa
WOUGNET is supported by APC, CTA, Dimitra/FAO and Hivos

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