WOUGNET Update Newsletter ­ September 2006

[Dorothy Okello <dokello@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

WOUGNET Update Newsletter ­ September 2006
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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 Organizations in Uganda
2. ICT Policy
3. Links & Resources
4. Project News and Events
5. TechTip
6. WOUGNET News
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WOMEN ORGANISATIONS IN UGANDA
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= Women?s Shelter Uganda (WOSU)
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/wosu.html
Women?s Shelter Uganda was established in 2005 to 
promote and nurture an enabling environment 
within which a family unit can prosper. Based in 
Kampala the organization tackles domestic 
violence against women by providing temporary 
refuge and basic necessities for women victims of 
domestic violence, providing psychological 
counseling and emergency medical care to the 
women victims of domestic violence.
http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#WOSU



= FIDA ­ UGANDA Hosts the 2006 FIDA Africa Regional Congress
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/fidau.html
The theme for this year?s congress was ?Breaking 
Barriers, Bridging the Gaps: 25 years of Women?s 
Rights under CEDAW?. FIDA Uganda hosted the 2006 
FIDA Africa Regional Congress from August 1st-3rd 
2006, at Imperial Resort Beach Hotel Entebbe. 
This is one of the mechanisms through which FIDA 
International mobilizes its membership to focus 
on some of the global issues that affect the 
enjoyment and enforcement of the rights of women 
and children, who make up the bigger percentage 
of the poorest people in the world.
The congress coincided with the biennial FIDA 
Uganda Week celebrations, which were launched on 
3rd and went on till 9th August 2006.
The International Convention on the Elimination 
of all forms of Discrimination against Women 
(CEDAW) is one of the international human rights 
instruments adopted to facilitate and accelerate 
the breaking of barriers that hindered the 
achievement of equality among all peoples and the 
promotion of global peace and development. 
Fifty-one countries in Africa have ratified 
CEDAW, some with reservations on the fundamental 
Article 2 of the Convention. The Convention 
embodies international standards on the rights of 
women and girl child applicable to all 
irrespective of their marital, socio-economic and political status.
http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#FIDAU



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ICT POLICY
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= Seminar: Community-driven ICT networks for local development in rural areas

ICT access and ICT networks increasingly underpin 
not just communications but service delivery, 
empowerment and local development. However, many 
in rural areas remain under-served as networking 
them is usually challenging, expensive and 
difficult. Held on 17th August 2006, the seminar 
was called to consider emerging options to 
address rural development through the use of 
community ICT enabled networks. The seminar was 
part of a project supported by UNDP?s 'making ICT 
work for the poor' service line that aims to 
contribute to enlarging the policy options for 
enhancing pro-poor access to communication tools, 
development information and services and 
exploring the potential for strengthening 
community and local development through the use 
of ICT. Uganda is one of the four countries 
(including Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda) selected for the UNDP research.
The Chief Guest at the seminar was Hon. Dr. Ham 
Mulira, Minister of Information and Communication 
Technology (ICT). The half-day seminar had two panels:
a) The case for community-driven ICT networks in 
Uganda -- presenting the results of a UNDP-funded study
b) Implementing community-driven ICT networks in 
Uganda -- getting various perspectives on the way forward.
For the country study, a participatory 
gender-sensitive approach was used to assess the 
case for and the potential of community-driven 
local ICT networks and services. Questionnaires 
were developed and a features workshop conducted. 
These targeted people playing community 
leadership roles that focused on social and 
development issues as well as people who were 
either access centre staff or technical 
stakeholders and were focused on technical and 
business model issues. The study selected three 
study areas in the districts of Nakaseke, Apac 
and Mbale. With its strong history 
and  experience of a healthy cooperative 
movement, relatively rich communication 
infrastructure and opportunities to link to the 
national backbone, as well as greater dynamic 
range within the economy, Mbale was selected as 
the site for further investigation and 
consideration as the pilot site for a 
community-owned and networked telecentre model for pro-poor access to ICTD.
For a copy of the briefing note with more 
information about the genesis of the project and 
an overview of the Uganda study as well as 
presentations from the seminar, visit:
http://www.wougnet.org/ICTpolicy/ug/docs/cinug.html
or send email to ictpolicy@xxxxxxxxxxxx A copy of 
the seminar proceedings will also be made available online.



= Report:  National ICT Master Plan and 
e-Government Network Feasibility Study in Uganda
The impetus for this Feasibility Study grew out 
of an E-Readiness Assessment sponsored by the 
Ministry of Works, Housing, and Communication 
that was completed in early 2004. The study 
concluded that despite the government will and 
mandate, the growth of Information and 
Communications Technologies (ICT) in the country 
is hampered by funding, investments, and 
affordability. The study  recommended that an 
adequate ICT infrastructure is needed within the 
government and in the country in general to 
accelerate the growth of ICT that, in turn, would contribute toward economic
development.

To ensure that any recommended network 
architecture and implementation plan builds on 
the achievements to date, and addresses the 
defined requirements of the affected Ministries, 
the Feasibility Study included several 
preliminary tasks in order to establish a current 
baseline on the state of ICT programs within the 
government. The primary objective in this study 
was to chart a technically feasible, coordinated 
and financially responsible course of ICT 
development within the country through the ICT 
Master Plan and then focus more narrowly on the 
Government sector as a subset within the overall 
ICT development plan. The study was funded by the 
U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), a 
foreign assistance agency of the U.S. Government.
On 31 August 2006, the Ministry of ICT hosted a 
seminar to present the report and discuss its 
findings with stakeholders from government, civil 
society (including WOUGNET and I-Network), and 
the private sector. The report was presented by 
representatives from Mega-Tech, the US company 
that conducted the study, and its partners on the 
project. Copies of the report and the 
presentation by the study consultants are available online at:
http://www.wougnet.org/ICTpolicy/ug/ugictpolicy.html#NICTMP




= Civil Society Organizations in ICT sector meet Ugandan Parliamentarians.

On 8 August 2008, civil society organizations in 
the ICT sector held an Open Dialogue with the 
Sessional Committee on ICTs of the 8th Parliament 
at the Parliamentary Buildings in Kampala.
The meeting was chaired by Hon. Edward Baliddawa 
and the Civil society organizations were led by 
Mr. Vincent K. Musubire who is also the Chairman 
of Information Society Foundation (ISF). Other 
members of CSOs present were Dr. Dorothy Okello ­ 
WOUGNET, Eng. Elisha Wasukira ­ I-Network, and 
Mr. Vincent B. Waiswa ­ CIPESA among others.
The meeting was aimed at establishing close 
working relations with the policy makers in the 
Parliament and to brief the ICT Committee Members 
on the status of Uganda?s ICT industry and some 
of the key pertinent issues that have grossly 
affected the faster growth and development of the ICT industry in Uganda.
Dorothy Okello in her presentation emphasized a 
number of issues that included, the importance of 
gender considerations in the policy development 
process through affordable and equitable access 
to ICT services, localizing software to meet 
local needs and development challenges through 
capacity building sessions.  She also informed 
the parliamentarians that ICT human resource 
development through academia needs to be given 
urgent attention, as there is high demand for 
Telecommunications engineers in the country due 
to the current boom in the Telecommunications 
sector.  She advised that this may be done 
through better staff welfare and retention 
programmes like in the higher institutions of 
learning, introduction of E-Learning programmes 
and E-Labs, and improving unrestricted access to 
on-line academic journals to enhance information 
sharing and learning processes.
The Honorable Members of Parliament raised the 
issue of setting up cheap technology in the 
up-country districts.  The MPs wanted to be 
informed on which particular technologies may be 
installed in rural areas without incurring high 
costs. The MPs also requested to know on how 
parliamentarians may help in influencing pro-poor 
policies in the ICT sector, which may also impact 
on socio-economic development in Uganda.
Other issues of concern to the MPs included, the 
impact of research studies on ICT value addition 
particularly in the rural areas, how ICTs may be 
closely linked to gender, what criteria 
government needs to put in place in establish an 
enabling environment for ICT development in 
Uganda, how women may incorporate ICTs in the Agricultural sector among others.
The Chairperson and the Honorable Members of 
Parliament on the sessional committee on ICTs 
requested for more time to seriously internalize 
the submissions from the civil society 
organizations as regards the pertinent issues in 
Uganda?s ICT sector. They therefore resolved to 
have a retreat where intensive discussions and 
practical resolutions should be reached to 
facilitate the initiation of Bills and Acts on 
ICTs through highly participatory and all-inclusive processes in Uganda.
For a full report, send email to info@xxxxxxxxxxx



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

= Elimination of Hard Core Poverty - ELOHACOPO Foundation
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/development.html#EHCP
Founded in 2004, ELOHACOPO Foundation is a local 
Ugandan foundation and a non profit making 
organization which was formed to help homes and 
communities that are in total poverty to come up 
through voluntary work. ELOHACOPO Foundation?s 
mission is to minimize suffering among the poor. 
Areas of operation include income generation, 
housing, health, education and micro finance 
covering both urban and rural areas countrywide. 
The main focus of the foundation is sensitization 
of the masses on the tremendous effects of hard 
core poverty, mobilization of the masses for a 
goal-oriented program with education approaches.

b) Health

= Hope Clinic Lukuli (HCL Uganda)
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/health.html#HCLU
Operating in Makindye Division, Hope Clinic 
Lukuli (HCL Uganda) is an integrated health 
facility (HC III) offering in-patients and 
out-patient services. The clinic targets the 
lower income households in the community and 
based on patient records 60% of the clients are 
female and 40% are children under 5 years.
Referrals from fellow members of WOUGNET are 
welcome and HCL staff are very keen to share 
their experiences of working with health and 
information programmes in Uganda and overseas.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PROJECT NEWS AND EVENTS
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= Software Freedom Day, 16 September 2006
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews06.html#SFD06

Software Freedom Day (SFD) is a worldwide 
celebration of Free and Open Source Software 
(FOSS). Advocates of free and open-source 
software have designated the third Saturday of 
each September as Software Freedom Day and plan 
events around the world to educate the public 
about the benefits of using high quality FOSS in 
education, in government, at home, and in 
business. The non-profit company Software Freedom 
International provides guidance in organizing 
SFD, but volunteer teams around the world 
organize their own SFD events to impact their own communities.
This year?s Software Freedom Day (SFD) for 2006 
has been set for September 16th. Volunteer teams 
in Uganda who will have activities to mark this 
day include LinuxChix Uganda Chapter and WOUGNET.
The rural women from Mpigi Women?s Network, 
Uganda, have also prepared several activities to 
mark this day as well. According to the 
chairperson Juliet Sekimpi, on that day they 
shall launch a Girl Child Education campaign, 
Agriculture, as well HIV/AIDS awareness. 
Activities shall include tours of various 
projects such as Gogonya Convent Farm and sports. 
The function is expected to take place at the 
Mpigi district headquarters, to be presided over 
by government officials, members of parliament, 
local leaders, development partners such as 
USAID, Uganda German Corporation and others.
For more information about SFD activities in 
Uganda and on how to participate, send email to info@xxxxxxxxxxx

= UNIFEM - "30 Years of Challenge, 30 Years of Change."
http://www.unifem.org
Following a call by a group of dedicated women 
and men at the First World Conference on Women in 
1975, the UN General Assembly established the 
United Nations Development Fund for Women 
(UNIFEM) in 1976 through resolution 31/133. Since 
then, UNIFEM has provided financial and technical 
assistance to thousands of innovative approaches 
throughout the world aimed at fostering women's 
empowerment and gender equality.
UNIFEM is the women's fund at the United Nations. 
It provides financial and technical assistance to 
innovative programmes and strategies to foster 
women's empowerment and gender equality. Placing 
the advancement of women's human rights at the 
centre of all of its efforts, UNIFEM focuses its 
activities on four strategic areas: (1) reducing 
feminized poverty, (2) ending violence against 
women, (3) reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS among 
women and girls, and (4) achieving gender 
equality in democratic governance in times of peace as well as war.
Today, the organization's work touches the lives 
of women and girls in more than 100 countries. 
UNIFEM also helps make the voices of women heard 
at the United Nations ? to highlight critical 
issues and advocate for the implementation of 
commitments made to women by the world's nations. 
On her 30th anniversary, UNIFEM celebrates the 
partnerships, leadership and vision of scores of 
individuals, groups and governments that have 
made UNIFEM a strong and effective women's fund.
Quote: ?On our 30th Anniversary, my wish is for a 
strong UNIFEM to reach more people with the power 
to change the conditions under which women work 
and live, making the world a more just and 
equitable and a happier place for all?. ? Noeleen 
Heyzer, Executive Director, UNIFEM
UNIFEM has an office in Uganda. It was officially 
opened in February 2006, during a meeting of 
national partners from government institutions, 
civil society, academia, the UN system and donor partners.



= Call for Entries into the 4th Uganda ICT Journalism Awards ­ December 2006

The Media Node of I-Network Uganda announces this 
year?s second Uganda ICT Journalism Awards. The 
awards are intended to stimulate interest among 
the media to insightfully write about ICT issues.
The awards are each worth USD 200 or the 
equivalent in ICT gadgets. They cover Print, 
Web/Photo, Broadcasting (Radio) and Television.
Submitted works should be stories or features 
relating to the question of how ICTs contribute 
to development. The story should go beyond merely 
reporting an event to analyzing its significance 
in the light of the context of information society.
The competition is open to both full-time and 
freelance journalists interested in publishing 
news, opinions, commentaries and analyses ICT 
issues in the media. Articles to be submitted for 
this competition must either be published in any 
newspaper, magazine, recognized media website or 
broadcast in the electronic media. Content on weblogs is not eligible.
Entries must have been published between May 20th 
2006 and November 15th 2006. All journalists 
interested in entering the competition should 
send their entries to medianode@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
or deliver them to I-Network offices on Plot 53, 
Kira Road, Kamwokya. The submissions can be made 
either by directly sending the article or 
providing the link (URL) to the 
newspaper/magazine where it has been published, 
if it is available on line. For application 
forms, contact Natalie Kimbugwe, I-Network 
Program Manager, at kimbugwe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A highly distinguished panel of judges comprising 
experts in the media and ICT researchers and 
policy analysts will review all submissions and select the winning entries.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tech Tip
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TechTip: Addressing the power constraints

Rural NGO: We are constrained by the unreliable 
power.  This has hampered the campaign for 
ICTs.  The phones need charging, the generators 
are expensive to run the computers. The rural 
people are caught up in a dilemma.  Are there solutions or a way out?
Tech Support: Access to and affordability of 
power is a major constraint in rolling out ICT 
for development especially in rural areas. It is 
very unlikely that the national power grid will 
be extended to rural areas when even the urban 
areas have insufficient supply (hence the load 
shedding), but then again, even if the power got 
there, would the people be able to afford it?
Generators are seen as an alternative, but then 
again, they have limitations for rural 
deployment. They don't last long, when run 
constantly, which would be the case in rural 
areas without access to the national grid, fuel 
costs in rural areas are high than in Kampala, so 
the low-income people in the villages are paying 
more to run the same generator than the middle to 
high-income earners in the city and finally, 
there is limited support in rural areas when the generator breaks down.
Therefore, the best alternative for power in 
rural areas is the use of renewable power 
sources, i.e. gifts of nature such as the sun, 
wind or biogas from plant and animal waste which 
is a readily available resource in farming 
communities. The problem here is that the initial 
equipment costs are high, for example the solar 
panels, wind mills, inverters and batteries, but 
the day-to-day running costs are almost zero. 
Therefore, if a community can mobilise the funds 
for the equipment, either internally (local 
fundraising or community self help) or external 
(e.g a donor), these alternative power sources 
would be my recommendation to support ICT for development in rural areas.
(Extract from interaction between NAWOU and WOUGNET Tech Support).


This Tech Tip was compiled by the WOUGNET Technical Support Team.
For more information contact techsupport@xxxxxxxxxxx

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
WOUGNET News
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= WOUGNET Members and Partners build capacity in ICTs and Networking

Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) organized a 
three day workshop for its members and Hivos 
partners to sensitize them on the use of ICTs in 
development, promote information sharing among 
participants and raise awareness on what WOUGNET 
does. The workshop took place 8 -10 August 2006 
at East African Centre for Open Source Software (EACOSS), in Kampala.
Among topics covered were ICT in various fields 
such as entrepreneurship, agriculture, health and 
education. Susan Bakesha of Development 
Alternatives Consult made a presentation that 
covered gender issues in the above-mentioned areas.
Participants received hands on training in 
various computer packagers. This in particular 
motivated some members who had never used a 
computer before to learn the 
skills.  Participants also split into groups 
where they set up project proposals on ICT for 
development. Many of these ideas are to be 
adopted in various existing projects and even new ones.
The last day of the workshop was graced by the 
presence of the Minister of State for ICT, Hon. 
Alintuma Nsambu. The minister in his speech said 
the use of ICTs in economic growth should 
be  emphasized even though owning a computer does 
not necessarily put food on the table but is a 
tool to do so. In his opinion at least 30% of the 
girl children should get access to computers. He 
was happy with the fact the women were receiving 
hand on skills at the workshop.
The workshop was conducted as one of the 
activities under the Harambee project intended to 
support the development of capacity among African 
networks and communities to make collaboration 
efforts more effective, and in so doing, 
reinforce African voices in the creation and 
implementation of their own development agenda. 
The project supported by Bellanet, Association 
for Progressive Communications (APC), Economic 
Commission for Africa (ECA), Hivos and 
Connectivity Africa, seeks to work with a number 
of networks across Africa. WOUGNET has identified 
as one of the focal networks for the Harambee project.
For a full report, send email to info@xxxxxxxxxxx



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WOUGNET is supported by APC, CTA, Dimitra/FAO and Hivos

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