[Sigiii-l] Fwd: APC Launches New Gender and ICT Policy Portal

[Michel J. Menou]

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PRESS RELEASE, April 11 2005:
NEW GENDER AND ICT POLICY WEBSITE HELPS WOMEN MAKE ICT POLICY A PRIORITY

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PRAGUE, Czech Republic -- Gender and technology activists, the APC WNSP,
have launched GenderIT.org, a new information and communications
technology (ICT) policy portal for women and policy-makers.

ICT policy is not just about legislation of infrastructure and
operators. Good ICT policy can promote economic empowerment. It can
counter the negative uses of ICTs, such as trafficking of women.
GenderIT.org promotes the need for gender advocacy in ICT policy as well
as the "how to" of pushing for policy change.

With the growth of infrastructure and access, ICTs are beginning to
permeate even the most isolated regions. Access or lack of access to a
medium that in some places has become a principal means of expression,
economic survival, and decision-making is vital for women. Kofi Annan,
Secretary General of the United Nations, has observed that: "There is no
tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women."
However, the gender implications of ICT policy are seldom taken into
consideration.

The Association for Progressive Communications Women's Networking
Support Programme (APC WNSP) developed GenderIT.org to broaden awareness
of gender and ICTs and to offer a practical tool for ICT advocates,
especially women's organisations and movements to ensure that ICT policy
meets their needs and does not infringe on their rights.

"ICTs can assist in bringing food to the table or in promoting a
reproductive rights agenda," says Ruth Ojiambo Ochieng of the ISIS -
Women's International Cross-Cultural Exchange in Uganda and a member of
the APC WNSP's worldwide network.


What does GenderIT.org feature?

The issues: GenderIT.org spell outs technology policy issues and
implications so that women's activists can clearly see the links to
their work in the defence of women's human rights.

Worldwide perspective: GenderIT.org offers special focus on Africa,
Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, and Latin America. Regular news
features come from GenderIT.org's policy-writers living in those regions.

Events and Who's Who in Policy?: GenderIT.org presents the main actors
and arenas for ICT policy from the global level right down to the
national scene.

Resources and articles: GenderIT.org links local to global, to ensure
that activists at home can take advantage of advances in international
policy instruments and processes. It highlights local and regional ICT
policy examples and implications.

Policy-makers' section: GenderIT.org provides orientation for policy
makers too on how to draft gender-sensitive national ICT plans.

Anti-jargon: GenderIT.org demystifies ICT policy and technical language.

As a clearing-house for all resources, papers, and articles on gender
and ICT policy issues, GenderIT.org helps gender and ICT advocates keep
informed on pressing ICT policy issues and frameworks being planned
nationally, regionally and globally.


Who's using GenderIT.org?

GenderIT.org is an open platform for ANY gender and ICT advocate to
publish her/his work. It brings together diverse actors to build
partnerships and alliances.

"The Monitor project is a critical and unique tool to build our
technological literacy so that staff and partners have easy access to
resources that help us to understand the issues related to access,
content and policy," comments Deputy Director Joanne Sandler at the
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM). "This is important
for ongoing work to support women's rights organising and particularly
timely in the lead up to the World Summit on the Information Society,
where we need to secure a clear and unswerving commitment to
incorporating women's interests and perspectives in ICT policy-making."

"Engendering policy is a hard-enough task. The ICT-gender combination
makes advocacy in developing countries that much harder. You need to
address multiple audiences and tailor communication to specific
audiences. The APC WNSP GenderIT site is a wonderful resource that
addresses these needs and provides ammunition to gender advocates like
me," says Anita Gurumurthy, Director of Advocacy at ITforChange.net
based in Bangalore, India.

The creators of GenderIT.org hope that the portal will encourage more
women to become part of the ICT policy processes worldwide. "Our
participation in gender and ICT policy is critical because we need
policies to enable every individual's right to communicate. If we leave
it as it is, it will be very difficult for us to agree that we are
building an information society - as the majority will be left out,"
affirms Ojiambo Ochieng.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
GenderIT.org: http://www.genderit.org.

ABOUT THE APC WNSP
The Association for Progressive Communications Women's Networking
Support Programme (APC WNSP) supports women networking for social change
and women's empowerment through the use of ICTs. The APC WNSP network
comprises over 150 women from 38 countries. Over three-quarters of
members are active in regional WNSP networks in Africa, Asia, Central
and Eastern Europe and Latin America.
APC WNSP: http://www.apcwomen.org

The APC WNSP is a programme of the Association for Progressive
Communications (APC). APC is an international network of civil society
organisations dedicated to empowering and supporting groups and
individuals working for peace, human rights, development and protection
of the environment, through the strategic use of information and
communication technologies (ICTs), including the internet.
APC: http://www.apc.org

CONTACT
Katerina Fialova, GenderIT.org project manager
kaca at apcwomen.org


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Katerina Fialova
Gender and ICT Policy Monitor Project Manager
Association for Progressive Communications
Women's Networking Support Programme, (APC WNSP)
URL: GenderIT.org (http://www.genderit.org), APC WNSP
(http://www.apcwomen.org); APC(http://www.apc.org); GEM
Project(www.apcwomen.org/gem)
kaca at apcwomen.org
Prague, Czech Republic
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