Women using ICTs to advance gender equality in Africa

The newsletter of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
Africa Internet Rights ICT Policy Monitor to mobilise African Civil
Society for ICT policy for development and social justice (http://africa.rights.apc.org) has created an annotated list of a selection of women's
organisations using information and communication technologies (ICTs) as
tools to
network and share information to advance gender equality in Africa:

Africa: APC-Africa-Women

APC-Africa-Women is a network of organisations and individuals that
work to empower African women's organisations to access and use ICTs for
equality and development. APC-Africa-Women is the Africa regional
programme of APC's Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP).
URL: http://www.apcafricawomen.org/

Africa: African Women's Development and Communications Network
(FEMNET)

The objectives of FEMNET are (1) to strengthen the role and
contribution of African non governmental organisations (NGOs) concerned with
women's development; (2) to create a channel through which these NGOs can
reach each other and share ideas, knowledge and experiences geared towards
improving the condition of African women; (3) to maintain close
working relationships and foster partnership directly or indirectly with
governments, United Nations agencies, the African Union and other
bodies with objectives similar to those of the network; and (4) to publicise
the network's activities and services through publications, awards,
exhibitions and the mass media.
URL: http://www.africaonline.co.ke/femnet

East Africa: East African Media Women Association (EAMWA)

In the past, women's media associations from Ethiopia, Tanzania,
Uganda, Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles, Somalia, Kenya, Comoros, Eritrea,
Rwanda, Burundi and Malawi have used seminars, advocacy and lobbying
to raise awareness on issues that affect women in the region such as
poverty, peace, education and HIV/AIDS. The East Africa Media Women
Association helps members' associations to network and explore the
potential of ICTs, particularly the Internet, by creating linkages
between the mass media and gender activists in a variety of fields.
URL: http://www.eamwa.org/

Africa: Flame/Flamme

Although this discussion list is not active at the moment, the Flamme
site is a good resource on United Nations activities in Africa
related to the struggle for women's empowerment, and includes comprehensive
resources on the Five-Year Review of the 1995 Fourth World Conference
on Women in Beijing (Beijing+5) process (1999-2000) in Africa.
URL: http://www.flamme.org

South Africa: Women'sNet

Women'sNet is a vibrant and innovative networking support program
designed to enable South African women to use the Internet to find
the people, issues, resources and tools needed for women's social
activism.
URL: http://www.womensnet.org.za

Nigeria: Fantsuam Foundation

Fantsuam Foundation is a non-profit organisation and APC member
organisation, located in Nigeria, about 600 miles from Lagos. The
Foundation was formed in 1996 by a group of Nigerian professionals to
facilitate the empowerment of women in rural communities and enhance
community development.
URL: http://www.fantsuam.com/

Senegal: Environmental Development Action in the Third World -
Synergy Gender and Development (ENDA-SYNFEV)

The ENDA-SYNFEV team's mission is to bring women's rights and gender
issues to the heart of ENDA's activities - working in partnership
with networks, groups and associations who share similar goals. ENDA is
APC's member in Senegal.
URL: http://www.enda.sn/synfev/synfev.htm

Tanzania: The Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA)

The Tanzania Media Women Association is a professional activist
organisation established in 1987 with a vision "to use media to
sensitise society on gender issues, and to advocate and lobby for
policy and legal changes which favour the promotion of the human rights of
women and children". Apart from the general role of contributing to
the development of the country through media advocacy, the main objective
of the association is to educate women and children on their rights.
URL: http://www.sn.apc.org/sangonet/class99/famw/tamwa.htm

Uganda: Mama FM and the Uganda Media Women's Association (UMWA)

101.7 Mama FM is a community radio station set up by the Uganda Media
Women's Association (UMWA) to address the plight of the under-
privileged and minority groups. It covers a radius of 400km and targets
particularly women between the ages of 15and 45 and the general
public. Mama FM seeks to promote interactive developmental communication. It
aims at broadcasting gender sensitive educational programmes and
offering training and practical experience for female journalists.
URL: http://www.wougnet.org/Documents/UMWA/mamafm.html

Uganda: Women of Uganda Network

Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) is a non-governmental organisation
initiated in May 2000 by several women's organisations in Uganda to
develop the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs)
among women as tools to share information and address issues
collectively.
URL: http://www.wougnet.org/

Uganda: Isis-Women's International Cross-Cultural Exchange

The organisation, named after the ancient Egyptian goddess Isis who
symbolises wisdom, creativity and knowledge, has as its objective the
sharing of African women's ideas, views and problems with women at
the international level. Since the move to Kampala, Isis-WICCE started
national and regional level programmes to facilitate the flow of
information from Uganda to other parts of Africa and the rest of the
world, and to contribute towards the strengthening of the Ugandan and
African women's movement. One of the projects that the organisation
runs is an action-oriented resource centre comprising of a library, an
Internet café and publication centre.
URL: http://www.isis.or.ug

Zimbabwe: Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre and Network

Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre and Network is a non-governmental
organisation working in the gender and development field. Its core
business is gathering, interpreting, publishing and disseminating
rare and life-changing information in order to allow women to make
informed choices about their lives and influence government to implement
gender-sensitive policies.
URL: http://www.zwrcn.org.zw

Zimbabwe: Federation of African Media Women - Southern African
Development Community (FAMW-SADC)

FAMW-SADC aims to develop a critical mass of women in the media
through training, research into critical areas which are of concern to women,
and to lobby for the democratisation of the media so that all
sections of society - especially women and marginalised people - have access
to and participate in the media.
URL: http://www.kubatana.net/html/sectors/fed003.asp

International: The Association for Progressive Communication's
Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP)

The website for the APC WNSP supports women's networking for social
change. Programme work areas include training, participatory
research, policy and advocacy in gender and information technology, information
facilitation, and regional programme support. The APC WNSP strives to
challenge the inequities faced by women, especially in the South.
URL: http://www.apcwomen.org/

More annotated links to organisations that use ICTs as tools to
network and share information to advance gender issues in Africa:
http://africa.rights.apc.org/orgs.shtml?-1-Gender