WOUGNET Update Newsletter - September 2007

[Dorothy Okello <dokello@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

WOUGNET Update Newsletter - September 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

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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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= Commonwealth Women's Network (CWN): Call for Input for Communiqué
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/cwnuganda.html
The Commonwealth People's Forum (CPF) has started 
the process of drafting a communiqué. The office 
of the Director General has informed the CWN of 
the opportunity to prepare statements to be 
forwarded since not every body will participate 
in this process. This is a call for input with a 
focus on the CPF and CHOGM themes "Realising 
People?s Potential" and "Transforming the 
Commonwealth Societies to achieve Political, 
Economic and Human development" respectively. 
Prepare your issues and forward them to Mark 
Collins <m.collins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> and David 
Kalete CF on email address <d.kalete@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>.
In Uganda the CWN is currently hosted by the 
Eastern African sub Regional Support Initiative 
for Advancement of Women (EASSI - 
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/eassi.html) based 
in Kampala . EASSI was selected by the women NGOs 
in Uganda because of its regional focus (it 
covers eight countries in the Eastern African sub 
region, three of which are Commonwealth 
countries), as well as its focus on policy 
monitoring, analysis and advocacy on 
implementation by governments on gender specific policies.
For more information, contact: Florence 
Kebirungi, Coordinator, CWN, <cwn@xxxxxxxxx>

= Linux Chix Uganda: Software Freedom Day (SFD) 
celebrations in Uganda, 15 September 2007
Software Freedom Day is a worldwide celebration 
of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). The goal 
in this celebration is to educate the worldwide 
public about of the benefits of using high 
quality FOSS in education, in government, at 
home, and in business -- in short, everywhere! 
This year, Linux Chix Uganda linked up with 
Kampala International University (KIU) to 
celebrate the day. KIU offered a computer lab to 
be used to mark the event on 15th September 2007.
For more information, contact: Evelyn Namara at <enamara@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>


= EASSI: The Woman's Lexis
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/eassi.html#Dissemination
In August 2007, EASSI introduced its first 
e-monthly newsletter, The Woman's Lexis. Lexis is 
another name for word. In this issue, we have 
news on our General Assembly and election of new 
board, the revamped website launch, Young Women 
Development Program, networking visits to Burundi 
and Rwanda, Training with Somalia women, regional 
peace and anti FGM campaigns, internal capacity 
building, Stop Aids Now Project and our monthly quote.
http://www.wougnet.org/wo_dir.html#EASSI



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

= "Empowering Women Through ICT?
    http://www.egovmonitor.com/womenict

Working with the International Taskforce on Women 
and ICTs through the secretariat, the
Center for Women and ICTs at the University of 
Maryland Baltimore County (CWIT) ­ Policy
Dialogue International is launching a microsite 
and campaign focused on Empowering Women
Through ICT with a global focus.

While the gender gap in ICT usage has vanished in 
many countries such as US and Canada, there
are still many countries in Europe including the 
UK, Italy, and Spain where the gender gap in
ICT usage is still wide. In developing countries, 
including IT superpower India, women continue
to experience low Internet access rates due to 
disparities in education, economic opportunities,
and gender bias. This challenge is compounded 
when one considers the low enrolment rates of
women in science and technology courses and 
programs around the world. A report of the OECD
highlighted that while women?s labour market 
participation is increasing in most countries,
their participation in engineering remains low 
and in computer science even lower.
Unfortunately, women?s disproportionate lack of 
access to education and skills training, as well
as socio-economic factors, has led to an 
isolation of those most likely to benefit from ICT
access and use. As women represent approximately 
two-thirds of the illiterate population in
the world, excluding women from the information 
society will negatively impact economic
development efforts for building and sustaining communities.

While there remain social, political, and 
economic barriers to women?s progress with ICTs,
some progress has been made by select groups 
demonstrating ICTs positive benefits for
empowering women and improving the quality of 
life in communities around the globe.
Understanding these benefits may create interest 
in women?s full participation in ICTs in
nations and regions where priorities have left 
women out of the decision-making and funding
considerations. These inspirational narratives 
from far-flung corners of the globe have been
spurred by innovative ideas and should be shared 
and highlighted as examples of what benefits
ICT can bring to communities with active participation from women.

The goal of this project is to highlight these 
achievements and share them with a large
audience by disseminating our work through a 
network of individuals and organisations globally.
This showcase of projects would be supported with 
stakeholder perspectives, analysis of the
contextual issues, and highlights of challenges 
and opportunities to resolve them.
The project is seeking perspectives and case 
studies from researchers, development
organizations, governments on the various elements of women's progress in
ICT as well as individual projects that have improved lives.  These
projects could be about access, infrastructure, capacity building, content
or any other topic related to using ICTs.

Contributions are being featured on the eGov 
monitor at http://www.egovmonitor.com/womenict
For further information, please contact Shamit 
Ghosh at eGov monitor via email: shamit.ghosh@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


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

a) Development

= Integrated Care and Development Initiative (ICDI)
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/development.html#ICDI
With its base in Wakiso District, ICDI's mission 
is to foster the creation of a conducive 
environment for child development within the home 
for social and economic transformation towards 
development in Uganda and the whole world. ICDI 
came into existence as a result of voluntary 
service rendered to some few vulnerable children 
with education and youths especially girls with 
adolescent reproductive health, and HIV/AIDS 
information and counseling since 2000.
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/icdi.html



b) Environment

= Agency for Environment and Wetlands (AEW)
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/environment.html#AEW
AEW's mission is to promote sustainable use of 
natural resources through research and 
publication, training, networking and information 
sharing, and lobbying and advocacy in order to 
achieve sustainable economic and social 
development. AEW has recently launched its 
official website at http://www.aew-ug.org
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/aew.html



c) Health

= The Hope Clinic Lukuli: Public Private 
Partnerships in Health Service Provision ­ Examples in Makindye, Uganda
http://www.wougnet.org/Links/health.html#HCLU
The Hope Clinic Lukuli continues to increase its 
linkages to the community level health providers 
and to be recognised by the city council and 
Ministry of Health as an important participant in 
health services provision. Having completed seven 
years since its foundation, and two years in the 
new premises, the clinic has a broad range of 
collaborations. The following are examples of 
public private partnerships in Makindye Division, 
part of the capital city, Kampala: Malaria 
treatment, Malaria prevention, HIV counselling 
and testing, HIV Care and Support, Maternal and 
reproductive health, HIV and STI medications, and 
Local partnerships. Read about this initiatives 
in the report Public Private Partnerships in 
Health Service Provision ­ Examples in Makindye, Uganda.
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/hcluganda.html#AddInfo



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
PROJECT NEWS AND EVENTS
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June 2007

= The Civil Society Capacity Building Programme: 
Summary Report Of A Meeting Between Key Leaders 
In Parliament And Civil Society Leaders, 28 - 30 June 2007
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews07.html#CSCBP-PCSO
The Civil Society Steering Committee (CSSC) of 
the Civil Society Capacity Building Programme 
(CSCBP) in conjunction with the Planning and 
Development Co-ordination Office of Parliament 
convened a three-day meeting between key leaders 
in Parliament and civil society to discuss the 
nature of the relationship between the 
legislature and civil society in the new 
dispensation of multiparty governance. The three 
day meeting which took place at Hotel Triangle 
Annex in Jinja, from 28th June ­ 30th June 2007, 
was attended by 46 participants who comprised of 
Chairpersons of Sessional and Standing Committees 
of Parliament, Chief Whips in Parliament, 
Chairpersons of Parliamentary Forums, and key 
leaders of various civil society organisations. 
The meeting convened under the theme ?Building 
Bridges, exploring possibilities: The Parliament/CSOs partnership in Uganda?.
One of the recommendations included in the joint 
communiqué followed a request from Parliament to 
CSOs to make use of the Parliamentary library by 
depositing publications there. This, needless to 
emphasise, is an invaluable opportunity for CSOs 
to provide up to date reference information that 
can greatly inform members? decision making, as 
well as provide exposure for CSOs in their 
various areas of expertise. Kindly note that the 
material can be submitted in soft and hard copy, 
but preferably hard copies. A copy of the joint 
communiqué is available online.


September 2007

= E-Network of National Gender Equality 
Machineries in Africa - Thematic online 
discussion:"Women, political participation and 
decision making in Africa", 4 September - 14 October 2007
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews07.html#WPPDMA
You are invited to participate in the online 
discussion on the theme "Women, political 
participation and decision-making in Africa", 
which is being organized by the United Nations 
Division for the Advancement of Women/Department 
of Economic and Social Affairs and the Economic 
Commission for Africa in cooperation with the 
E-Network of National Gender Equality Machineries in Africa.
The discussion will run for six weeks from 4 
September to 14 October 2007. The purpose of the 
online discussion is to contribute to a better 
understanding of women's political participation 
in Africa; collect measures taken at national and 
subregional levels to promote women's 
participation; identify good practices and 
lessons learned and highlight gaps and challenges requiring further action.
To register, please click on the following link 
to fill out an online form: 
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/forum/forum-daw-politicalparticipation2007.htm 




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TechTip
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


= Use 'Paste Special' to Clean-Up Text

Moving text with the cut and paste commands, 
either from one application to another, or within 
the same application, is one of the most powerful 
features of Windows. It can also be one of the 
most frustrating features, especially when the 
pasted text does not appear as you had expected 
or wanted. To avoid this, you can control how 
Windows pastes data with the Paste Special command.
First, highlight the text that you want to copy, 
click Edit, then Copy (or Ctrl+C if you prefer 
using this keyboard shortcut). Next, click on the 
location you want to paste the text you are 
copying. Then, click on the Edit menu, and select 
Paste Special (not Paste, which would be your 
usual selection). This opens the Paste Special 
dialog box. It gives you several different 
options for the format of text you are pasting. 
The ?Unformatted text? option is the one that 
will clean up your pasted text. Select it, and then click OK to paste the data.
The Unformatted text option will paste bare, 
unformatted text only. All other formatting 
information will be stripped out, including bold, 
underlining, italics, indents, bullets etc. If 
the text you are pasting had various fonts or 
complex formatting, you will have to manually 
change fonts and recreate all this formatting. 
Although doing this can be time-consuming, it 
will sometimes be easier than trying to fix a 
document that has problems due to formats that did not convert properly.
Many Windows programs have a Paste Special 
command, and some have other format options that 
will help you. Excel for example, has about a 
dozen different options for reformatting pasted 
text under the Paste Special command.
- -
Complied by the WOUGNET Techsupport team from the 
article 'Technology Tip: Use Paste Special to 
Clean-Up Text ' by Dan Pinnington of the Lawyers' 
Professional Indemnity Company, Canada, 
http://www.abanet.org/lpm/lpt/articles/tch07051.html.
For more information or for assistance in 
managing your computer and in using the Internet, 
contact techsupport@xxxxxxxxxxx


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

= WOUGNET featured in eGov monitor: Empowering Women with ICT
   http://www.egovmonitor.com/womenict

It is given that ICT can make a huge difference 
in the quality of life of women and thus 
communities in all parts of the world. Yet, many 
cant participate due to various socio-economic, 
cultural and other barriers. Our goal is to 
highlight the success stories and ideas from 
around the world that have made a difference. In 
the case of WOUGNET, the focus is on helping 
women with knowledge and economic empowerment but 
also enabling them to fully participate in 
Ugandan civil society. Read more at: 
http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/14194. This is 
the first of a three-part series featuring 
WOUGNET's activities in empowering women with ICT.
The feature also includes stories from India 
described as an information superpower with one 
of the fastest growing economies in the world. 
Yet many, especially women in rural areas are 
left behind. eGov monitor present three success 
stories from Southern India where projects at the 
grassroots level have empowered and improved lives of women through ICT.


= Presentation by Psitek on their email/internet system

On 5th September, WOUGNET hosted a delegation 
from Psitek, Capetown, who were in Uganda to 
demonstrate a system they are developing that is 
designed to offer basic email and internet access 
via the mobile telephone networks.
Psitek is South Africa's leading developer of 
telecommunications equipment for emerging 
markets. The company's focus is on developing 
innovative, appropriate, sustainable technology 
solutions to meet the specific ICT needs of Africa's under serviced majority.
To this end, Psitek are currently developing a 
new system which will offer simple email and 
internet content at the fraction of the upfront 
costs of a full PC-based system. Their system is 
also designed to operate over GSM mobile networks 
using only small amounts of bandwidth, and 
operates off a 12v battery with very low power 
consumption. For further information, please 
contact Mike Geyer and Chris Williamson 
<Chris.Williamson@xxxxxxxxxx> who conducted the 
visit in Uganda in order to investigate the 
potential markets for this system and their specific requirements.


= Call for expressions of interest: Refurbished Computers

Ten years ago, Tony Roberts and two colleagues 
came up with the idea of assisting communities in 
less developed countries with computers. They 
started Computer Aid, a UK based charity that 
refurbishes computers and ships them to various 
communities in the world. This year, the charity 
celebrates a decade with an aim of surpassing the 
100,000 computers' mark. To date, Computer Aid 
has provided about 90,000 computers to various 
organizations, 75 per cent of them in Africa, and 
the numbers are rising by the day.
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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