WOUGNET Update Newsletter - November 2007

[Dorothy Okello <dokello@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

WOUGNET Update Newsletter - November 2007
***********************************************************************

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 
wougnet-update-request@xxxxxxxxxxx with the 
following command in the subject or body of your message: subscribe/unsubscribe
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-

This month's contents:
1. Women Organisations in Uganda
2. ICT Policy
3. SMS Campaign: Speak out! Stand out! Commit to 
preventing Violence against Women
4. Project News and Events
5. TechTip
6. WOUGNET News

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-


Speak out! Stand out! Commit to preventing Violence against Women
************************************************************************

Consequences of Violence Against Women affect 
every member of society and yet Violence Against 
Women continues with impunity despite the coming 
into force of the African protocol on Rights of 
Women, which was adopted by the African Heads of 
State and Government on July 11th 2003. The 2007 
regional theme for the 16 Days of Activism 
Against Gender Violence, November 25 - December 
10, is "I commit to preventing violence against 
women! What about You? Speak out, reach out, stand out!".
Every individual is urged to add your voice and 
efforts and commit to preventing Violence Against 
Women in your personal relationships, extended 
families, communities and nations as a whole. 
Confront Violence Against Women and treat it as a 
violation of women's rights that fuels the spread 
of HIV and has dire economic consequences on 
families, communities and nations. What about 
your? What will you do? Speak out! Stand out! 
Commit to preventing Violence against Women.
With your participation, WOUGNET in collaboration 
with Womensnet - South Africa and APC Africa 
Women, is conducting an SMS-based campaign where 
the idea is to send out SMS on each of the 16 
Days of Activism that will allow individuals and 
organisations to Speak Out, Stand Out, and Commit 
to preventing Violence against Women. Details of 
the campaign and how you can participate are provided below (SMS Campaign).
In addition, WOUGNET in partnership with 
Overcoming Gender Based Violence (Overcoming GBV) 
- Oxfam GB,  is making a number of materials 
available to WOUGNET members and partners to mark 
the 16 Days of Activism. Stop by the WOUGNET 
Office, Plot 53 Kira Road Kamwokya, to collect 
purple ribbons that you can wear to Stand Out! 
and posters to pin-up. E-cards and e-posters are 
also available online at: http://www.preventgbvafrica.org/.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-



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

= CEDOVIP: Kawempe Division makes a historic 
achievement with first-ever Domestic Violence By-Law in Uganda
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/cdvp.html
The first ever Domestic Violence By-Law in Uganda 
was passed on Friday 5th October, 2007 by Kawempe 
Division Council. Kawempe Division Domestic 
Violence By-Law is the first of the kind to be 
passed by Local Government Council in Uganda. The 
Local Government Act CAP. 243 of the Laws of 
Uganda confers upon Local Government Councils 
powers to make By-Laws that apply to all areas 
with in the jurisdiction of their Councils.
Current studies by Government bodies (Uganda Law 
Reform Commission, 2006 and Uganda Demographic 
Health Survey, 2006); media and police reports 
indicate a very high occurrence of domestic 
violence through out Uganda. Despite domestic 
violence being a critical human rights and public 
health problem there is no specific law to 
address it hence it continues to happen with impunity.
Kawempe Division community and councillors in 
collaboration with Centre for Domestic Violence 
Prevention (CEDOVIP) and Raising Voices have 
spearheaded efforts to prevent as well as 
formally outlaw domestic violence in their 
community by passing a domestic violence By- Law.
The Coordinator of CEDOVIP, Tina Musuya after the 
passing of the By- Law, said that, this is a big 
break through in the legal regime of Uganda. ?It 
shows that society is willing to address domestic 
violence in Uganda. It also indicates that the 
communities are seeing the need and are demanding 
for specific legislation on domestic violence in 
Uganda. We are hopeful that policy makers will 
pass into law the draft Domestic Violence Bill which is in offing.


= UWONET: Celebration of the UN Security Council 
Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/uwonet.html

On 25th October 2007, the Uganda Women's 
Coalition for Peace held a number of activities 
in celebration of the UN Security Council 
Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security. The 
Uganda Women's Coalition for Peace is a loose 
coalition of women and human rights non 
governmental organizations making contributions 
through lobbying and advocating for the inclusion 
of women and women concerns in the ongoing peace 
talks. The coalition was formed in August 2006 
coordinated by Uganda Women's Network (UWONET) 
and is technically and financially supported by 
UNIFEM and other donor partners namely: SIDA, Norway, UNDP and DFID.
The Coalition appreciates the Government of 
Uganda for supporting women's empowerment and 
promoting women's human rights in national 
development processes. This to us is a gesture of 
statesmanship and commitment in enhancing affirmative action.


= EASSI Resource Centre
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/eassi.html

The Eastern African Sub-Regional Support 
Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI) 
opens her resource centre to the public starting 
November 2nd 2007. EASSI?s resource center covers 
material on every topic under health, HIV/AIDS, 
economy, socio-politics, international relations, 
fiction, leadership and management and much more. 
Opening hours are every weekday apart from 
Thursdays from 9:00am to 4:00pm. You are allowed 
to read, research and watch DVDs at your leisure 
from the center. There are DVDs to watch on the 
relationship between science, religion and human 
development in Uganda, a documentary on the 
mental health situation in Uganda and the 
apparent apathy of Ugandans towards this. EASSI 
is located in Kampala, Bukoto-Ntinda Road. You 
may also call 0414 285163 and ask for Beverley.
EASSI has also began her Sabbatical programme 
where experienced women will document their 
experiences to enrich others. Salome Anyoti, who 
has been actively engaged with activities in FAWE 
Tanzania, is the pioneer of the programme. She 
will conduct her documentation and research form 
Tanzania and at the end of November, give a brief 
unpacking for members of the region.


= NAWOU: Invitation to share experiences on 
Executive Directors/Board Relations, 22nd November 2007
http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/nawou.html

Kampala will be a centre of many people and 
vibrant activity in the next few weeks because of 
Commonwealth People's Forum (CPF) and the 
Commonwealth Head of Governments Meeting 
(CHOGM).  The week will end and we will be left 
in peace to continue with our daily 
struggle.  There are important people who will 
come to Uganda whom we can take advantage to meet and learn from.
It is for this reason that the National 
Association of Women Organisations in Uganda 
(NAWOU) is organising a talk on "The Role of 
Executive Directors and Board Relations" on 
Thursday, November 22, 2007 at 2.00 p.m. at 
Regency Hotel, Bakuli.  The main speaker will be 
Mr. Denys Correll, the Executive Director, 
International Council on Social Welfare, in the Netherlands.
Please confirm your attendance by 14th November 
2007 with Gorretti on tel. 041 4 258463 to enable proper planning.


= AMwA: The African Women's Leadership Institute (AWLI)

http://www.wougnet.org/Profiles/amwa.html
Akina Mama wa Afrika will be holding the Eastern 
Africa Sub Regional African Women?s Leadership 
Institute (AWLI) from 3rd to 17th February 2008, 
in Mombasa, Kenya. The AWLI aims to strengthen 
the personal and organisational capacities of 
young African women to influence policy and 
decision-making through training and networking. 
It serves as a networking, training and 
information dissemination forum for young women 
aged between 25-45 working on women and gender 
issues. Since it was established in 1997, the 
AWLI and its related programmes, has a network of 
over 3000 Alumni from all over Africa, UK and Europe.
The countries from which young women will be 
selected to participate in the 2008 Eastern 
Africa AWLI are: Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, 
Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan, Uganda 
and Tanzania. The deadline for the receipt of 
applications for this unique and exciting 
training programme is Thursday 20th December 
2007. To obtain a copy of the AWLI Brochure and 
the AWLI application, please visit:
http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews08.html#AWLI08


= New Appointments

*** UWONET: Introducing New Coordinator - Ms. Jolly K. Mugisha
On behalf of the Executive Committee and on my 
own behalf I would like to take this opportunity 
to introduce Ms Jolly K. Mugisha as UWONET?s new 
Coordinator effective 1st November 2007 to 2010. 
We are therefore confident that the Network will 
not have interruptions for the next three years 
and that we shall with her leadership be able to 
achieve UWONET?s vision, mission, strategic 
objectives and ultimately the commonly held 
goals, objectives too towards the realization of 
an alternative world where women and men in 
society are considered and treated as equals
Lorna Juliet Amutojo, AG CHAIRPERSON, VICE CHAIRPERSON, UWONET
Email: info@xxxxxxxxxx




***  UNIFEM: New appointment - Ms. Christine Nankubuge Ndawula
Ms. Christine Nankubuge Ndawula, Programme 
Specialist - Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation 
has with effect from 21 September 2007 been 
appointed  the Officer-In-charge of UNIFEM Uganda 
Country Office, pending the recruitment of the Head of Office.
Uganda Office:
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
Uganda Country Office
15B Clement Hill road (UNDP House)
P.O. 7184 Kampala, Uganda
Tel: +256 (0)41-233440/1/2/5 - Ext. 211
Website: www.unifem-easternAfrica.org; www.unifem.org


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


= Connect Africa Summit: Five Goals of Connect Africa

The Connect Africa Summit held 28 - 30 October in 
Kigali, Rwanda, concluded with the following five major goals:
Goal 1. Interconnect all African capitals with 
ICT Broadband infrastructure and strengthen 
connectivity to the rest of the world by 2012 as 
well as interconnect major African cities by 2015.
Goal 2. Connect all African villages to broadband 
ICT services by 2012 and implement shared access 
initiatives such as community tele-centres and village phones.
Goal 3. Adopt key regulatory measures that 
promote affordable, widespread access to a full 
range of broadband ICT services, including 
technology and service neutral 
licensing/authorisation practises, allocating 
spectrum for multiple, competitive broadband 
wireless service providers, creating national 
internet exchange points (IXPs) and implementing 
competition in the provision of international internet connectivity.
Goal 4. Support the development of a critical 
mass of ICT Skills required by the knowledge 
economy, notably through the establishment of ICT 
Centres of Excellence network in each sub-region 
of Africa and ICT capacity-building and training 
centres in each country, with the aim of 
achieving a broad network of inter-linked 
physical and virtual centres, whiles ensuring 
coordination between academia and industry by 2015.
Goal 5. Adopt a national e-strategy, including a 
cyber-security framework, and deploy at least one 
flagship e-government service as well as 
e-education, e-commerce and e-health services 
using accessible technologies in each country in 
Africa by 2012, with the aim of making multiple 
e-government and other e-services widely available by 2015.
The African ICT Ministers have also shortlisted 
some projects under ARAPKE which would be 
implemented through Connect Africa. For more information, visit:
http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/connect/africa/2007/bgdmaterial/flagship-11.html



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SMS Campaign: Speak out! Stand out! Commit to preventing Violence against Women
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Join us to Speak Out, Stand Out, and Commit to 
preventing Violence against Women during the 16 
Days of Activism Against Gender Violence
http://www.wougnet.org/Alerts/speakoutgenderviolence.html

With your participation, WOUGNET in collaboration 
with Womensnet, South Africa and 
APC-Africa-Women, will be conducting an SMS-based 
campaign. The idea is to send out an SMS on each 
of the 16 Days of Activism that will allow 
individuals and organisations to Speak Out, Stand 
Out, and Commit to preventing Violence against Women.
We would like you to send your slogan/message 
which highlights your resistance to violence against women.
You can participate in any or all of the following ways:

1. Contribute a short message or slogan on the 
theme of the campaign. If your slogan is chosen, 
it will be sent out via SMS with you/your 
organisation credited as the source of the 
message. It will also feature on the Take Back the Tech campaign website at:
http://www.takebackthetech.net/index.php

2. Send us news on your activities and events for the 16 Days of Activism

3. Register your mobile number to receive the 
SMSs that will be sent out during the 16 Days of Activism
For more information and/or to participate, 
please send a note to info@xxxxxxxxxxx by 19th November 2007.

In addition, WOUGNET in partnership with 
Overcoming Gender Based Violence (Overcoming GBV) 
- Oxfam GB,  is making a number of materials 
available to WOUGNET members and partners to mark 
the 16 Days of Activism. Stop by the WOUGNET 
Office, Plot 53 Kira Road Kamwokya, to collect 
purple ribbons that you can wear to Stand Out! 
and posters to pin-up. E-cards and e-posters are 
also available online at: http://www.preventgbvafrica.org/.
The 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence 
is an international campaign. For 2007, the 
global theme for the 16 Days of Activism is 
"Demanding Implementation, Challenging Obstacles: End Violence Against Women".
The 16 Days Campaign has been used as an 
organizing strategy by individuals and groups 
around the world to call for the elimination of 
all forms of violence against women. For more information, please visit:
http://www.wougnet.org/Alerts/speakoutgenderviolence.html



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

November 2007


= Portuguese Platform for Women?s Rights: Call 
for input on women's rights and the integration of gender equality
   http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews07.html#PPWR07

The Portuguese Platform for Women?s Rights is a 
nongovernmental organisation whose members are 
associations active in promoting women?s rights 
and gender equality. The Portuguese Platform for 
Women?s Rights is independent from political 
parties, religious institutions or governmental 
structures. It represents Portugal in the 
European Women?s Lobby (an NGO that brings 
together over 4000 women?s organisations from all 
over Europe) and in the Association des Femmes de 
l?Europe Méridionale (an NGO whose members are 
women?s rights organisations from France, Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain).
Next month (8-9 December 2007), Lisbon will host 
the EU-Africa Summit hold under the Portuguese 
Presidency of the European Union (Find more about 
this event here: 
http://www.eu2007.pt/UE/vEN/Reunioes_Eventos/ChefesEstado/EUAfrica.htm 
and here: http://europafrica.org/lisbon-summit/).
The Portuguese Platform for Women?s Rights is 
disposed to lobby for women?s rights and the 
integration of a gender equality perspective in 
this Summit. Therefore, we kindly ask you to let 
us know your priorities as African women?s NGO in 
order to agree on a joint declaration on this 
crucial issue to be realised and widely disseminated on this occasion.
Please distribute widely among your members and 
give us feedback until 26 November 2007 to: 
plataforma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


February 2008

= Eastern Africa Sub Regional African Women?s 
Leadership Institute (AWLI), 3 - 17 February 2008, Mombasa, Kenya
   http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews08.html#AWLI08

Akina Mama wa Afrika will be holding the Eastern 
Africa Sub Regional African Women?s Leadership 
Institute (AWLI) aims to strengthen the personal 
and organisational capacities of young African 
women to influence policy and decision-making 
through training and networking. It serves as a 
networking, training and information 
dissemination forum for young women aged between 
25-45 working on women and gender issues. Since 
it was established in 1997, the AWLI and its 
related programmes, has a network of over 3000 
Alumni from all over Africa, UK and Europe.
The countries from which young women will be 
selected to participate in the 2008 Eastern 
Africa AWLI are: Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, 
Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Somaliland, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania.


= Rothamsted International: The African Fellows Programme 2008
   http://www.wougnet.org/Events/projectnews08.html#AFP08

The aim of the African Fellows Programme (AFP) is 
to support sustainable agriculture in sub-Saharan 
Africa by catalysing innovative solutions needed 
to achieve food security. Projects should aim to 
develop lasting partnerships and strategic 
alliances that will help in developing local 
scientific capacity relevant to sustainable 
agricultural production. The potential impact of 
the project will be taken into account during 
proposal assessment.  African scientists will 
carry out research projects in a partner European 
research institute,  or university,  for 
periods  normally of  6  to  8  months. 
Fellowships are awarded on a competitive basis in 
a two stage assessment process.
Research projects  must
- focus on solving an agricultural problem or constraint
- demonstrate a clear path from research to application
- be of benefit to small-holder African farmers and the rural economy.
Examples of potential project areas include crop 
nutrition, soil fertility, post-harvest 
technology, alternative crops, livestock 
management and plant protection.  Please note 
that all projects must be focused on topics relevant to small farmers.
The programme CANNOT support field work in Africa 
and projects on food processing will NOT be 
funded. MSc and PhD studies are also outside the remit of the programme.


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


= Tips for Conducting Online Surveys

Online surveys have emerged as an efficient way 
for NGOs to gather data from their constituents, 
donors, and even their peers, but success depends 
on what you?re seeking, how you relate to your 
target audience, and how well you execute the details.
Plan Your Survey:
----------------------

Be as clear and specific as possible about what 
it is that you?re looking for. Write it down. Run 
it by coworkers. If you don?t, you risk creating 
vague questions and meandering surveys that generate useless data.
Be prepared to offer an incentive for completion 
of the survey, e.g., a white paper download, or a 
raffle entry for a larger prize to ensure that 
you hear from as wide a spectrum of your audience as possible.
Be conscious of length: if you go beyond three 
pages, you?ll get fewer responses, many of which will be incomplete.
To be sure the questions you ask will give you 
the data you want, you need to ask them in the 
right format. The goal is 1) to get your 
respondents to answer on topic, and 2) to collect 
answers in a way that allows as much summarization and analysis as possible.
A closed question type is one where the 
respondent clicks an answer visible on their 
screen. Because it?s quicker and easier both for 
the respondents to answer these questions, and 
for the preparer to graph, total, and manipulate 
the results, closed questions get used more often 
than open-ended questions. For multiple-choice 
questions, be sure to include options like "don't 
know," "N/A," and/or "other" as appropriate.
On the other hand, open-ended questions generally 
allow richer detail in areas that you couldn?t 
have anticipated, and can convey to the 
respondent that their true opinions are being 
recorded and heard. They?re more difficult to process, however.
Pulling It All Together:
--------------------------

Write your survey on paper first. Do not design 
your survey within the web interface of your 
survey software. Revisions and reordering will be 
frustratingly slow and awkward.
Test the email message. This includes the subject 
line, text, and links. Make sure that a link to 
the survey itself shows in the first screen of email text.
Be careful about sending reminder emails. If your 
survey software has an option to send reminder 
emails only to people who haven?t responded yet, 
use it. In any case, don?t send more than two 
reminders, or you?ll alienate your constituents.
On the final page, next to any demographic 
questions, give respondents the opportunity to 
get more involved in your organization, for 
example, with a checkbox allowing them to subscribe to an e-newsletter.

- -
Summarized by the WOUGNET TechSupport team from an article by:
Arthur Prokosch, Online Services Manager at Third Sector New Sector
http://www.massnonprofit.org/expert.php?artid=815&catid=67

For more information or for assistance in 
managing your computer and in using the Internet, 
contact techsupport@xxxxxxxxxxx


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

= Commonwealth People's Space: Realising People?s 
Potential, 19 - 23 November 2007, Hotel Africana, Kampala
WOUGNET will be among the presenters at the 
Commonwealth People's Space which is designed to 
be a vehicle for learning, entertainment, and 
sharing experiences. WOUGNET's session will 
include two short DVDs on efforts and preliminary 
results from the ?Enhancing Access to 
Agricultural Information (EAAI)? project 
targeting rural women farmers in Apac District, 
Northern Uganda. Access to accurate and timely 
information by rural women can result in enhanced 
economic and social development. Under this 
project, initiated in 2005 with support of the 
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural 
Cooperation ACP EU (CTA), women have been trained 
and have also gained access to a variety of ICTs 
which they have not only used to access 
information but also to provide feedback and 
share their own experiences. The ICTs used 
include radio, mobile phones, audio/video tapes, and the Internet.
The Commonwealth People's Space has been built 
adjacent to the Commonwealth People's Forum which 
will bring together civil society representatives 
from all over the world, and will be held in the 
week preceding the Commonwealth Heads of 
Government meeting (CHOGM). It is designed to 
feed into and enrich CHOGM. The Space content 
will be thematically scheduled as follows:
1) Environment and natural resources - The Green Space
2) Governance participation and human rights - The Power Space
3) Economic development - The Prosperity Space
4) Education for transformation - The Education Space
5) Health - The Health Space
6) Culture, creativity and identity - My Roots Space

The People's Space is located at Hotel Africana, 
Plot 2 ­ 4 Wampewo Avenue. WOUGNET's presentation 
will begin at 3:00pm on Thursday 22 November 2007 
in the Power Space under the theme of Governance 
participation and human rights.
For more information about WOUGNET's 
participation and the People's Space, please send email to info@xxxxxxxxxxxx


***********************************************************************

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

***********************************************************************