WOUGNET Update Newsletter - June 2007

[Dorothy Okello <dokello@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

WOUGNET Update Newsletter - June 2007
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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

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. TechTip
6. WOUGNET News
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WOMEN ORGANISATIONS IN UGANDA
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= Mama Integrated Development Initiative-Uganda (MIDU)
   http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/midu.html
MIDU whose headquarters are found in Wanale 
Division - Mbale Municipality, Mbale District, 
Uganda, works towards empowering marginalized 
women through economic empowerment and support to 
vulnerable children such as AIDS orphans to meet 
their basic needs. MIDU is a registered Community 
Based Organization established in 2003 operating 
the areas of Reproductive Health, Women's 
education, Women's economic empowerment, and 
child support interventions. The organization?s 
activities include child support in educational 
needs and HIV/AIDS awareness interventions. This 
is done through training women in the management 
of income generating activities, community 
HIV/AIDS awareness programmes, as well as 
vocational training for women and young disadvantaged people.
http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#MIDU



= Kyabuhangwa Women in Development (KWID)
   http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/kwid.html
Kyabuhangwa Women in Development (KWID) has also 
changed their e-mail address to 
kwid2007@xxxxxxxxxx The chairperson Ms. 
Tumuheirwe recently paid a visit to the WOUGNET 
secretariat where she expressed gratitude for 
having her organizations? profile on the WOUGNET 
website. She said that through their profile they 
have been able to get very useful contacts with 
other NGOs. As a result they have embarked on 
forming partnerships with similar organizations in Kabale District of Uganda.
http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#KWID



= Isis-WICCE ­ Celebrations of the International 
Women?s Day for Peace and Disarmament
   http://wougnet.org/Profiles/isis.html
Isis-Women's international Cross-Cultural 
Exchange (Isis-WICCE) joined the rest of the 
world in celebrating the International Women's 
Day for Peace and Disarmament (May 24th), as well 
as the United Nations Decade for a Culture of 
Peace and Non-Violence. The function took place 
at the Isis-WICCE secretariat in Kampala. At the 
same function the Women?s ICT center was officially commissioned.
Women condemn the use of violent means in the 
resolution of conflict, and the debilitating 
effects it has left on the communities.  In 
Africa alone, 127 million people are struggling 
to cope with raging conflicts, repeated and 
continued displacement, drought and disease. 
Long-running crises in Africa have also resulted 
in a huge number of deaths, great suffering and 
hardship, severe devastation, major population 
displacement, widespread criminality and arbitrary violence.
Despite these realities however, women have given 
'A Ray of Hope', by undertaking initiatives to 
sustain communities, promote peace and 
development. Isis-WICCE broadcasted a Video 
Documentary "A Ray of Hope" on Uganda 
Broadcasting Corporation Television on May 24th 
2007. The documentary represents a few of the 
many homegrown women's initiatives to promote 
peace and sustainable development.

= FEMRITE ­ A new Strategic Plan 2007/2011
   http://wougnet.org/Profiles/femrite.html
FEMRITE programmes are especially designed to 
meet the needs of women writers in Uganda. 
Femrite is concluding her current activities that 
include; Publishing, Resource Centre, Promotion 
of Reading Networking and Capacity building. Some 
of these have been integrated into the new 
strategic plan, which has the following 
programmes and activities for 2007/2011.
Programme One: Developing women writers, Exchange programmes for writers
Programme Two: Marketing Lobbying and Advocacy
Programme Three: Resource Centre
Programme Four: Research and evaluation
Programme Five:Capacity Building
For more details on the new FEMRITE strategic 
plan log onto their website: http://www.femriteug.org


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ICT POLICY
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= Launch of first Global Information Society Watch report
   http://www.GlobalISWatch.org

The Global Information Society Watch 2007 report 
- the first in a series of annual reports - looks 
at the state of the field of information and 
communication technology (ICT) policy at local 
and global levels and particularly how policy 
impacts on the lives of people living in developing countries.
Studies of the ICT policy situation in twenty-two 
countries from four regions are featured: Africa 
(Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, 
Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and 
Uganda); Asia (Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and 
the Philippines); Latin America (Argentina, 
Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru); and 
Eastern Europe (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, 
Croatia and Romania), with one report from a Western European country (Spain).
The report concludes that when it comes to ICTs 
for development, there are some conspicuous 
similarities between countries. Excluding Spain, 
the other twenty-one countries each show obvious 
evidence of the "digital divide" which impacts on 
the majority of people negatively. According to 
Brazilian authors RITS, the absence of a 
people-orientated policy framework in Brazil runs 
the risk of condemning the vast majority of people to "eternal disconnection".
The report also includes provocative, analytical 
essays on five international institutions 
(including the ITU, ICANN and the World 
Intellectual Property Organisation) questioning 
the extent to which they allow all stakeholders 
to participate in their processes. There is a 
special section on how to measure progress.
The report was edited by the Association for 
Progressive Communications (APC) and Third World 
Institute (ITeM) and was launched on May 22, 2007.


= World Telecommunication and Information Society Day, 17 May 2007

As one of the commitments of United Nations 
General Assembly during the Tunis 2005 World 
Summit of the Information Society (WSIS), May 17 
was designated as WSIS Day by the UN. It is a day 
for countries to take stock of their achievements of WSIS 2005 Action Lines.
The Ministry of Information and Communication 
Technology (ICT), in collaboration with Uganda 
Communications Commission and Civil Society 
Organizations in Uganda, held a public half day 
symposium under the theme: ?Achieving MDGs, the 
contribution of ICTs; Public-Private Partnerships 
between the Civil Society and Government". The 
symposium was held on 17th May 2007 at Hotel 
Africana in Kampala. The symposium was part of 
activities to celebrate the World 
Telecommunication and Information Society day. 
The objectives for this symposium, among others were to:
i.	Raise awareness of the state of 
telecommunications in Uganda and assess the 
problems that stand in the way of achieving the 
MDG set out in the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) Action Plan.
ii.     Raise awareness of the role of stakeholders in meeting the MDG targets.
iii.    Promote awareness of ICTs as a tool for economic and social development.

The public dialogue and exhibition was an 
opportunity to showcase to the public Uganda?s 
achievements since WSIS 2005 and for players in 
the ICT arena to meet and network as they review 
their action lines as part of the awareness 
campaign in Uganda. The function was also an 
occasion for the introduction of the ?ICT 
Caravan? to be launched in Uganda in September 
2007. The ICT Caravan is a mobile unit that will 
be used to create awareness on ICTs nationwide.
A number of speakers made presentations on 
Uganda?s progress in the telecommunications 
sector, including Dr. Godfrey Kibuuka, Director 
of Communications, Ministry of ICT, who said that 
the Ugandan government has started laying a 2,000 
sq. km national communication backbone cable. The 
ICT Minister, Hon. Dr. Ham Mulira said that 
Ugandans will benefit from the backbone by having 
access to affordable voice and data services like 
e-learning, telemedicine, e-commerce, and outsourcing.


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LINKS & RESOURCES
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a) Health

= Community Home-Based Care (CHBC) Training - Pathfinder International
   http://www.wougnet.org/Links/health.html#CHBC
Based in Mbale, Foundation for Development of 
Needy Communities (FDNC)'s mission is to uplift 
the underserved individuals and communities of 
Eastern Uganda and beyond. After having 
volunteered as a consultant for FDNC since August 
of 2006, Justin V. Silbaugh has been appointed 
Executive Director. In addition, FDNC has adopted 
a new operational philosophy: Impact, 
Transformation, Sustainability. The organization 
programs must make an impact at the grassroots 
level in rural Ugandan communities. These 
programs should also bring about transformation 
in the lives of project beneficiaries. 
Sustainability must be at the forefront of all 
program planning and implementation. FDNC 
believes that commitment to this philosophy will 
propel it forward on the path to becoming a model 
organization throughout the East African Community.


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PROJECT NEWS AND EVENTS
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May 2007

= Raising Voices at the Amakula Film Festival

The Amakula Kampala International Film Festival 
is Uganda's thriving annual film event that takes 
place in the first week of May annually. This 
year Raising Voices in collaboration with The 
Peoples Picture Company showcased the Premier of 
SASA! A Film about Women, Violence and HIV/AIDS 
at the Festival that took place at the National Theatre in Kampala.
SASA! is a Kiswahili word that means now. Now is 
the time to prevent violence against women and 
HIV infection. This 30 minute documentary film 
tells the personal stories of two women, Mama 
Joyce in Tanzania and Josephine in Kampala, and 
their experiences of domestic violence, how it 
led to their HIV/AIDS and how their status led to 
even more violence. Now they and others in East 
Africa are using their power to become activists 
in their own communities to prevent these dual pandemics.
The film is an inspiring look at two women?s 
lives and a call to action for everyone to begin 
working to prevent violence against women and HIV infection now,  ?SASA!?
Various activists and leaders from both countries 
also explore the causal factors, the cultural 
dynamics, and the politics of preventing the dual pandemics.
Raising Voices is an organization working to 
prevent violence against women and children in 
East and Southern Africa. This film was one 
component of Sasa! An Activist Kit for Preventing 
Violence and HIV/AIDS. For more information log on to www.raisingvoices.org


= CSCBP Event: A Critical Look at the Role of 
NGOs and CSOs in Uganda, 8 May 2007
As part of its programme, the Civil Society 
Capacity Building Programme (CSCBP) in Uganda 
regularly organises reflection meetings during 
which topical issues of the day are discussed. A 
reflection dinner was held on Tuesday 8th May 
2007, during which Mr. Nobert Mao, the 
Chairperson of Gulu District, addressed the 
topic: ?The Role of NGOs in transforming 
societies?. He however paraphrased the topic to: 
?The Inconvenient Truth: A Critical Look at the 
Role of NGOs and CSOs in Uganda?. The theme is 
one of those that will be considered by the wider 
civil society participants in the Common Wealth 
People's Forum (to be hosted before the official 
CHOGM meeting from 18 - 22 November 2007). 
Questions asked were: What do transformed 
societies look like? What role can or do NGOs 
play in transforming society? Are NGOs in Uganda 
'really' transforming society? The meeting was 
chaired by Warren Nyamugasira, Chairperson 
Steering Committee, Civil Society Steering Committee (CSSC).
For more information about the CSCBP, contact: 
Jackie Asiimwe, Deputy Programme Manager, Civil 
Society Capacity Building Programme (CSCBP), P.O. 
Box 28739, Kampala. Tel: 041-269022/3 or 
077-2774435. Email: info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

July 2007

= EAC RICTSP Incubator Project: Open Call for Proposals, Deadline 9 July 2007
   http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews07.html#RICTSP
The overall objective of the Regional ICT Support 
Programme (RICTSP) is to contribute to the 
Eastern and Southern Africa regional integration 
agenda through an effective and efficient 
Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) 
environment. The primary purpose of the RICTSP is 
to achieve a reduction in the ?digital divide? by 
removing some of the constraints to the efficient use of ICT.
The EAC RICTSP Incubators Project is established 
to support small and medium sized enterprises 
(SMEs) and private entrepreneurs in initiatives 
where ICTs are used to boost business or which 
are regarded as ICT service businesses. The aim 
of the Incubators Project is that the 
entrepreneurs integrate ICT tools in their daily 
business, create new business opportunities using 
modern ICT solution or create new type of 
business or services using ICT as vehicle for the 
business and for cross-sectoral solutions or 
having impact in the development of the society. 
Special attention, although not exclusive, will 
be given to enterprises run by women.

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TechTip
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= Five Steps to Extend Your Computer?s Life: A 
maintenance schedule for your hardware
1.   Verify Your Physical Setup

It's difficult to keep a computer functioning 
well if it's in a poor environment. There are 
three factors to consider: temperature, air 
quality, and electricity. For most computers, 
room temperature should be between 15.5 to 29.5 degrees Celsius.
Air quality is important because computers 
require air circulation to prevent overheating. 
There are two rules: The vents on the monitor, 
case, and printer need a good three to four 
inches of space (roughly the width of your hand 
from thumb to small finger) to get good air flow. 
Move them away from any cables or cubicle walls blocking them.
Electricity is a key factor in determining the 
longevity of your computer. So-called "dirty" 
electricity (blackouts and fluctuations etc) will 
damage your computer, and your files, far more 
effectively than any virus. A good protection for 
this is using a stabilizer and an uninterruptible power supply or UPS.

2.   Verify Your Electronic Setup

Automation is the name of the game when it comes 
to preventive computer maintenance for a busy 
organisation. There are three items that you must 
automate: virus protection, critical software 
updates, and computer firewalls that are either 
part of the operating systems (such as Windows 
XP's firewall) or part of your antivirus software.

3.   Monthly Preventative Maintenance

Once a month, perform two tasks: Clean your 
temporary files and empty your trash or recycle 
bin (you can do this with the "Disk Cleanup" 
utility in Windows XP) and defragment your 
computer (you can do this by running the Disk 
Defragmenter utility in Windows XP).

4.    Annual Computer Maintenance

There are two aspects to this process: electronic and physical.

The electronic tune-up consists of the regular 
monthly maintenance plus a disk scan of your hard 
drives and a manual check of all software for 
updates. In Windows XP, utilize the Check Disk 
utility ­ check both boxes to fix file-system errors and scan for bad sectors.
The physical tune-up, while short (it takes five 
to ten minutes from start to finish), might seem 
intimidating at first. Don't let it scare you, 
though. There are only five simple steps: unplug, 
unplug, look, lift, and dust. However, I 
recommend that this be done by someone with at least basic technical skills.
First, turn off and unplug your computer and your 
monitor. Next, unplug the rest of the cables from 
the computer case, including the network cable, 
the printer cable, and so on. Inspect the cabling 
for any broken or frayed bits. If you have a 
laptop, take out the battery. For desktop 
computers, unscrew the case (generally in the 
back) and lift it off (some computers, like Dell 
and HP, have flip cases that you open by pressing 
a plastic button). Now, with the hose and 
bristle-sweep attachment of your vacuum, clean 
off the air vents on the outside of the computer 
case, the monitor, and the keyboard (and the 
docking station if you have a laptop). Then, 
gently vacuum out the dust from inside the case. 
This is not a detailed spring cleaning; go 
lightly and quickly (it should take you less than 30 seconds).

5.    Independent "Health Check"

At least once every 18 months, if not yearly, ask 
someone you trust, or who comes recommended, to 
do a "health check" of your systems and 
processes. You want this done by an IT 
professional who is a generalist, skilled in both 
software and hardware issues . You want 
personalized advice focused on your technology, organisation and environment.

Final Thoughts

If your organisation has more than 30 computers, 
you may find it challenging to consistently take 
time away from your mission to devote to this 
maintenance routine. If this is the case, 
consider asking for help from a local technology 
service provider or an independent IT contractor. 
Likewise, if you are uncomfortable handling this 
maintenance, seek help from a professional.

This Tech Tip was compiled by the WOUGNET 
Technical Support Team. Extracted from an article 
by John Avellanet 
<http://www.techsoup.org/learningcenter/hardware/page6006.cfm>
For more information or for assistance in 
managing your computer, contact techsupport@xxxxxxxxxxx


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WOUGNET News
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= Enhancing collaboration between rural 
information centres and community based organisations
The UgaBYTES Initiative, with support from Hivos, 
is leading an initiative to enhance collaboration 
between rural information centres and community 
based organisations. The Kubere Information 
Centre (KIC), established under WOUGNET's Rural 
Access Program, is one of UgaBYTES partners on 
this project. In turn, the KIC will be 
collaborating with Apac Hospital which will be 
focusing on sharing information on women, 
children and HIV/AIDS as well as with Women and 
Child Advocacy Network (WACANE) which is a CBO 
that focuses on gender, orphaned and vulnerable 
children (OVC) and HIV/AIDS. Information 
generated and disseminated by Apac Hospital and 
WACANE will also be shared with the KIC for 
dissemination to a wider audience. In order to 
facilitate the information collection and 
dissemination activities of the hospital and 
WACANE, each have been provided with a radio 
cassette player and a recorder by UgaBYTES 
Initiative. The primary target at Apac Hospital 
will be the antenatal ward to educate women who 
go for antenatal and post natal care.

= Launch of Harambee Online Discussion Forum

As a follow-up to the Harambee workshops for 
capacity building in ICTs, WOUGNET has initiated 
a monthly online discussion forum where questions 
on different thematic areas will be posed to 
WOUGNET members. At the end of each month, the 
responses and all discussions will be summarised 
and posted back to the mailing list. At the end 
of the year, the best practices identified from 
the contributions to the list shall be compiled 
into a booklet that can be widely shared among 
the discussion participants and other networks.
The Harambee project was implemented by Bellanet 
Africa whose intention was to support the 
development of capacity among African networks 
and communities to make collaboration efforts 
more effective for reinforcing African voices in 
the creation and implementation of their own 
agenda. WOUGNET was one of the focal networks 
under the Harambee project and organized two 
workshops for its members and Hivos partners. The 
WOUGNET Harambee workshops were held on 8-10 
August 2006 and 4-6 December 2006 at the East 
African Centre for Open Source Software (EACOSS), 
Nakawa, and the Faculty of Technology, Makerere 
University Kampala respectively.
The overall goal of the WOUGNET workshops was to 
strengthen the existing network and 
collaborations thus enhance information sharing 
and networking. Its purpose was therefore to 
build capacity of WOUGNET members and Hivos 
partners in the ICT, to see how WOUGNET can 
increase information and knowledge sharing among 
its members and partners, and to raise awareness 
about ICTs for Development in the thematic areas 
of Health, Agriculture and Entrepreneurship.
The WOUGNET Harambee workshops were divided into 
two sessions. The morning sessions included 
presentations and discussions on ICT4D such as 
the application of ICTs in entrepreneurship, 
integrating ICTs in teaching and learning, ICTs 
in agriculture, ICTs in rural health care 
delivery, and gender and ICT issues. The sessions 
also included presentationson collaborative tools 
such as blogs and wikis. The afternoon sessions 
were used to equip participants with hands-on 
computer skills. Participants were introduced to 
different parts of a computer, what and where a 
computer can be used. They were also taught how 
use applications such as MS Word, MS Excel, and 
they were taught how to access the Internet and 
email. Email accounts were setup for participants 
that did not have email addresses.
It is against this background that the follow up 
activities of the Harambee will focus on 
strengthening of capacity built during the 
trainings from the workshop to see whether the 
participants have benefited and are utilizing the 
skills attained but also to enhance networking 
among WOUGNET members. The online discussion 
forum shall address the following themes: Health, 
Entrepreneurship, Education and Agriculture. For 
more information, send email to info@xxxxxxxxxxxx


= Call for expressions of interest: Refurbished Computers

As a result of the WOUGNET - Computer Aid 
Partnership, a shipment of refurbished Pentium 
III and IV computers is in Kampala and available 
for sale to NGOs, non-profit and faith based 
organizations, as well as educational 
institutions. The computers are priced at 100 
pounds Sterling each. All interested please 
contact Milton Aineruhanga, Technical Support, by 
email: techsupport@xxxxxxxxxxx or call 
077-2411556 or 041-4532035 for more details and to make a booking.


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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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