Gender and ICT/Resources

Gender and ICT

List of Abbreviations — Foreword — Preface — Introduction — Taking a Closer Look at Women's Realities — Placing a Women's Empowerment Back Into the Gender Equality Framework — Gender Analysis in Development is a Conscious Choice — Lessons Yet Unlearnt — Implications of Integrating a Gender Perspective at National Level — Final Analysis and Conclusion — Resources — References — About the Authors

American Association of University Women (AAUW) http://www.aauw.org The AAUW has a range of research publications on the topic of girls, computers and science.

Arab Women Connect http://www.arabwomenconnect.org An online forum for exchange of news and information on women’s issues and programmes, particularly for women in the Middle East and North Africa region.

Asia Pacific Gender Equality Network (APGEN) An Asian NGO supported by the UN that implements a range of women’s advocacy and development programmes. APGEN has a Science and Technology programme that supports pilot programmes and advocacy related to increasing women’s access to science and technology education and more effective application of IT to poor women.

Asian Women’s Resource Exchange (AWORC) http://www.aworc.org AWORC is an Internet-based women’s information service and network in Asia. It is an initiative geared towards developing cooperative approaches and partnerships in increasing access and exploring applications of new ICTs for women’s empowerment.

Association for Progressive Communications Women’s Networking Support Program (APC WNSP) http://www.apcwomen.org One of the first international non-governmental initiatives to recognize the importance of ICT to women and girls, APC develops training, participatory research, policy, and advocacy in the area of gender and ICT, information facilitation, and regional programme support.

Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) http://www.fawe.org FAWE is a membership organization that brings together African women leaders and policy makers to support women’s and girls’ access to education, including science and technology education, and training.

GenderIT.org http://www.genderit.org GenderIT.org emerged from APC WNSP’s advocacy work in ICTs. The website provides examples of national policy, gender-sensitive language, tools for lobbying, and an understanding of the impact of poor or positive policy.

Institute for Women in Technology (IWT) http://www.iwt.org IWT holds workshops and conferences, develops research, and does outreach to engage industry, academia, government, and communities to imagine, design, create and deploy technologies that have positive impacts on women around the world.

International Women’s Tribune Centre (IWTC) http://www.iwtc.org The Tribune Centre’s website serves women’s activities internationally, with a focus on gender and development. The website links to major non-profit women’s websites.

IT for Change www.ITforChange.net IT for Change has developed considerable expertise on ICT and gender through its work over the past few years in research, advocacy and project implementation. Their commitment to gender is guided by development critiques that argue people-centred development, and the central place in policy frameworks for social justice and equity, and a rights-based understanding of women’s empowerment.

Society for International Development (SID), Women on the Net Project http://www.sidint.org SID’s Women on the Net Project is supported by UNESCO and develops training materials, conducts training workshops, and develops publications devoted to equipping women with skills in using IT and raising awareness of the importance of IT for women’s empowerment.

Synergy Gender and Development (SYNFEV) http://www.enda.sn/indexuk.htm SYNFEV is an entity of Environmental Development Action (ENDA) Third World, a non-profit international organization based in Dakar, Senegal. ENDA-SYNFEV aims at the dynamization of woman and gender components within ENDA’s activities, in partnership with associations, groups and networks active in the same fields.

UNDP-APDIP Resources on Gender and ICT http://www.apdip.net/projects/gender This webpage provides information on UNDP-APDIP’s initiatives related to Gender and ICT, in the areas of policy and project development, awareness and advocacy, and research and development, and includes a collection of useful online resources from publications and articles to videos.

Women in Global Science and Technology (WIGSAT) http://www.wigsat.org WIGSAT supports global networking on critical issues in science and technology for development. Activities include research and advocacy around critical gender, science and technology issues; and ICT related activities with global or South-based initiatives.

Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) http://www.wougnet.org WOUGNET is an NGO initiated in May 2000 by several women’s organizations in Uganda to develop the use of ICTs among women as tools to share information and address issues collectively. WOUGNET aims to promote and support the use of ICTs by women and women’s organizations in Uganda, so that they can take advantage of the opportunities presented by ICTs in order to effectively address national and local problems of sustainable development.

Women’s Learning Partnership (WLP) http://www.learningpartnership.org WLP is an international NGO that partners with women’s community-based organizations and NGOs in North Africa and Western Asia to use IT for political participation and empowerment. WLP provides technical assistance and training to its partner organizations to create locally relevant materials (online, radio, video) for advocacy related to women’s rights.

Women’s Net (South Africa) http://womensnet.org.za/ict/ict.htm Women’s Net is a South African-based NGO that serves as an online information portal for data and news on women’s issues in Africa and around the world. Women’s NET also supports programmes devoted to gender and IT in South Africa. The Women’s Net website is a good source for many links to African and regional gender and IT initiatives.

World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) http://www.amarc.org An international NGO whose goal is to support and contribute to the development of community and participatory radio, with an emphasis on women’s participation in community radio, through its Women International Network Initiative.

World Links for Development (WorLD) Program http://poverty2.forumone.com/library/view/14821/ The WorLD Program, supported by the World Bank, provides IT access and training through schools and public access programmes in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Documentation on the programme available through the web notes high female participation.

Tools for Understanding the Intersections of Gender and WSIS http://www.apcwomen.org/policy/resources/index.html#toolsgender

Gender in the Information Society: Emerging issues http://www.apdip.net/news/genderis This publication is a collection of 13 papers developed for a pre-WSIS seminar, produced in partnership with IT for Change and UNIFEM. It showcases perspectives that critique the engagement with new technologies in various development sectors such as governance, media and work. An edited video of the seminar was also produced.

The Beijing Platform for Action Meets WSIS http://www.genderit.org/meetingpoint1.shtml In early 2001, women and women’s groups who had worked together during the Beijing Plus 5 review process began mobilizing to engender the policy-making process for WSIS. This information brief, produced by the International Women’s Tribune Centre, supports that initiative by linking discussions in the preparatory processes of WSIS to the 12 ‘critical areas of concern’ in the Beijing Platform for Action. Each page focuses on a critical area of concern, examples of how women are using ICTs in their programmes, and lobbying efforts by women at the WSIS PrepComs.

Putting Gender on the Agenda of WSIS http://www.genderit.org/wsis/wsis-presentation-asw.ppt Presentation by Anne Walker, International Women’s Tribune Centre, February 2003. Walker’s presentation explains the WSIS preparatory process and the different forces working to shape the WSIS agenda, highlighting the role of the two entities specifically focussed on gender: the multistakeholder Gender Caucus and the NGO Gender Strategies Working Group, from the Civil Society Caucus. The key issues identified by civil society in general and particularly key gender issues are outlined.

APC WNSP: Passage of the Document - Gender and ICT Advocacy through the WSIS process http://www.genderit.org/wsis/wsis_process.shtml The table maps the many meetings – both WSIS and other – in which women have participated and provided input to the ‘Draft Declaration and Action Plan’ for WSIS.