Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET): Using ICTs for economic and social development among women in Uganda

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Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) Using ICTs
for economic and social development among women
in Uganda

• Gender ICT
• Gender and the Digital Divide Seminar Series
• November 5, 2002

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Brief on WOUGNET

• NGO established in May 2000 by women
  organisations in Uganda. WOUGNET website and
  mailing lists are hosted by Kabissa.
• Goal Develop and promote use of ICTs among women
  as tools to share information and address issues
  collectively.
• ICTs Primarily email and the web, with interest
  in integration with traditional means such as
  radio, video, print for wider outreach.

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WOUGNET Activities

• Administer electronic mailing lists for
• - discussion e.g. WOUGNET mailing list
• - networking e.g. WSIS Gender Caucus
• Maintain a website to profile members and their
  activities as well as links to resources of
  interest to members and general public.
• Produce a monthly e-newsletter with information
  on members activities, upcoming events, funding
  opportunities, etc.
• Technical support programs to address
  computer/IT-related queries and to develop
  websites for members.

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WOUGNET Challenges

• Limited outreach due to primarily online
  operation.
• Availability of relevant information (content)
  for members economic and social development
  needs.
• Creating awareness about the viable potential of
  ICTs for information exchange and dissemination.
• Providing training and hands-on demos on the
  usage and application of ICTs.
• The need by members to have more face-to-face
  collaboration in addition to the online
  networking.
• Staffing and institutional capacity to support
  WOUGNET programs

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WOUGNET Way Forward

• Key issue from WOUGNET conference Information
  Access for Rural Women WHICH information - For
  WHICH purpose - To serve WHICH needs?
• Key consideration bulk of Ugandas communication
  infrastructure based in urban areas.
• WOUGNET seeks to strengthen and broaden
  organisational capacity to support networking and
  information sharing nationwide.

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WOUGNET Way Forward (cont.)

• Member feedback indicates website and mailing
  list serve useful purpose as vital link for
  information and networking.
• WOUGNET developing information hub to provide
  internet access to members without own access.
  Members could also have linkages with the hub via
  telephone, fax, postal mail, etc.
• WOUGNET has initiated WorldSpace Satellite Radio
  Program (WSRP) to make WorldSpace radio equipment
  available to members lacking ready internet
  access.

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How to conduct a virtual conference

• IARW online (email) conference hosted with
  support from ENDA (Senegal) and several
  volunteers
• Objective facilitate exchange of ideas and
  experiences on information access for rural women
• 264 participants - about 80 female
• 53 countries - from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin
  America, North America
• Languages English, French, Spanish. (Final
  report also available in Swahili)

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IARW Conference Themes

• Specific themes chosen to guide weekly
  discussions
• Week 1 information needs and role of ICTs for
  rural women
• Week 2 challenges/difficulties in making ICTs
  available and accessible to rural women
• Week 3 lessons learned, best practices and
  recommendations
• Summary prepared at end of each week to
  synthesize contributions and facilitate following
  week discussions
• http//www.wougnet.org/Events/iarw.html

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IARW Conclusions

• ICTs can be empowering tools for women in rural
  areas, with the right approach (appropriate,
  accessible, participatory) and attention to
  gender issues.
• The online conference was itself an example of
  the role of ICTs in supporting information access
  for rural women.
• we took these ideas and challenges brought in
  this conference as a reference in our efforts
  for rural information centres
• Participants noted
• Conference was effective and economical means of
  getting a good variety of participants and
  contributions.
• More needs to be done to get more input from
  rural women themselves.

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IARW Lessons Learned

• Plan, plan, plan.
• Have a reference group - review discussion
  material, motivate discussion.
• Make discussion material and conference
  participation guidelines available in advance.
• Have a contact address for participants to report
  difficulties.

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WOUGNET References

• WOUGNET website
• http//www.wougnet.org
• WOUGNET online conference - Information Access
  for Rural Women
• http//www.wougnet.org/Events/iarw.html
• WOUGNET WorldSpace Satellite Radio Program
  (WSRP)
• http//www.wougnet.org/Support/WSprogram.html
• WOUGNET Coordinator
• Dorothy Okello, dokello_at_wougnet.org