MDG3 (Gender equality and Women empowerment) : March 2005 Issue by i4d magazine

Vol. III No. 3

March 2005

The first monthly magazine on ICT4D

Challenges for gender equality Gender Caucus in WSIS Information for development www.i4d.csdms.org

Promoting skill transfer through ICTs

ISSN 0972 - 804X

MDG 3 (Gender equality and women empowerment )

Empowering women

Teleworking moms unite! eHomemakers network

April 2004 | www.i4donline.net

The bimonthly magazine on e-Governance

ov www.egov.csdms.org

Contents

i4d Vol. III No. 3

Features

March 2005

Columns

Mailbox Mail

info@i4donline.net

27 Mainstreaming women learning tool for 28 Aempowerment Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM)

30 Glossary

Gender related terms

Promote gender equality and empower women

33 Books received 42 Bytes for All 44 Disaster Feature

Developments post tsunami

Gender Caucus in WSIS Challenges for gender equality Heike Jensen

11 Empowering Women

Promoting skill transfer through ICTs Anita Gurumurthy

Gracenet: The New Girls’ Network

45 What’s on 46 Fact Sheet

The tilted balance

Rendezvous

39 Baramati Conference An Oasis for networking

Net to networking: Empowering women Anuradha Dhar

eHomemakers Network

Dr. Maxine Olson UNDP India

Teleworking moms unite! Usha Krishnan, S Puvaneswary

Interview

Use and Abuse of Technology Fighting female foeticide through ICT Divya Jain

35 ICTD project newsletter

21 Overview

Gender budgeting Jayalakshmi Chittoor

i4donline.net

23 News

News Search ICT4D news by date in the sectors of governance, health, education, agriculture and so on. E-mail Subscribe to daily, weekly, monthly newsletters online or send request to info@i4donline.net Research e-Learning projects from India. www.i4donline.net/elearn.asp

Look out for disaster feature every month in i4d!

Learn more about FLOSS www.i4donline.net/floss/introduction.asp Print edition The past issues of the magazine is available online www.i4donline.net/archive/archive.htm

The article in the i4d February issue, “Social Capital brings economic development” was thought provoking. The story of a rural Internet entrepreneur also opens avenues for thought as to how to replicate it in other parts of the country. N P Mohapatra, India npmohapatra@hotmail.com I wrote this in Minciu Sodas, an independent thinkers lab - social development is a precondition for economic development - and not the other way round. Yes! Great that you are emphasising this. Like water becomes ice, social capital becomes economic capital. People have to trust another person before they will complement with them. Bala Pillai, Australia bala@apic.net WSIS Summit, the right earnest steps to achieve MDG’s by 2015. However, people like us working at grass roots, unable to have access to catch the WSIS should be picked up, if the summit is having the real soul or wish. S.A.Rahim, Chairman, PEN, India iite_mbnr@rediffmail.com I am very happy to learn from i4d that the Community Radio in Indian National Capital Region is going to be positioned at Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), New Delhi. I strongly feel that there should be a Community Radio positioned at the IIMC, Dhenkanal to broadcast its programmes to people in Orissa, a State prone to floods and cyclones in India. Prof. B. B. Mohanty, India bbmohanty@sify.com

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i4d Editorial Calendar 2005 Month

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

January February March

Tsunami MDG Intro/Poverty Reduction - MDG 1 Gender - MDG 3

April

Education - MDG 2

May

Health - MDG 4 & 5

WSIS Prepcom

June

ICT Policy

July

Human Rights

August

Environment - MDG 7

September

Millennium + 5 Summit e-Science

October

Special Theme

Media and ICT

November

Global Partnerships - MDG 8

December

HIV/AIDS - MDG 6

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Editorial Information for development

Ten years after Beijing Plan of Action was drawn…

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Advisory Board M P Narayanan, Chairman, i4d Amitabha Pande Department of Science and Technology, Government of India Chin Saik Yoon Southbound Publications, Malaysia Ichiro Tambo OECD, France Karl Harmsen Centre for Space Science and Technology Education in Asia and the Pacific, India Kenneth Keniston Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA Mohammed Yunus Grameen Bank, Bangladesh Nagy Hanna Information Solutions Group, World Bank, USA S. Ramani Research Director, H.P.Labs, India Walter Fust Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Switzerland Wijayananda Jayaweera UNESCO, France Editorial Board Fredrick Noronha, Akhtar Badshah Editor Ravi Gupta

Whither gender equality and empowerment? In September - October 2003, i4d produced a special issue on Gender and ICTs. It was also a period when we were beginning to understand the complex dimensions of the gender perspectives, and in doing so have come a long way in comprehending some bits and pieces of the gender divide. When the various barriers to empowerment and equality begin to get addressed seriously, there is dramatic and visible, measurable changes in the communities especially in societies that have long held patriarchy as the form of social norm. Social change is linked to action, which involves a conscious gender analysis, coupled with critical reflection. This leads to a lot of hands on learning, by doing projects that effect change, and designing participatory processes. Economic empowerment and education leads to better health, access to resources and a better future society, as mothers often play the multiple roles of home makers and breadwinners, and grooming the next generation of children for the future.

Editorial Consultant Jayalakshmi Chittoor Sr. Programme Officer Saswati Paik Programme Officers Anuradha Dhar, Gautam Navin Research Associates Tanzeena Ghoshe Mukherjee, Sejuti Sarkar De Designers Deepak Kumar, Bishwajeet Kumar Singh Web Programmer Zia Salahuddin Group Directors Maneesh Prasad, Sanjay Kumar i4d G-4 Sector 39, NOIDA, UP, 201 301, India. Phone +91 120 250 2180-87 Fax +91 120 250 0060 Email info@i4donline.net Web www.i4d.csdms.org Contact us in Singapore 25 International Business Park, #4-103F, German Centre, Singapore - 609916 Phone +65-65627983 Fax +65-656227984 Printed at Yashi Media Works Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi, India i4d is a monthly publication. It is intended for those interested and involved in the use of Information and CommnicationTechnologies for development of underserved communities. It is hoped that it will serve to foster a growing network by keeping the community up to date on many activities in this wide and exciting field.

Achieving control is an essential component of women’s empowerment, and ensures that gives women resources and benefits to be shared between men and women equally. Thus it becomes a key aspect of the process. In a very powerful set of resources, the Association of Progressive Communications and Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, have produced valuable learning materials and primers and would aid organisations wanted to monitor and evaluate progress of the Millennium Development Goal 3. Getting the numbers right is the focus of these goals. There are still communities where being born a girl is a curse. We have tried to paint a canvas of the efforts that are ongoing to address the various dimensions of this issue. There are many stories still to tell, and more agencies that should work towards gender disaggregated data. We do hope that we can continue to engage in this effort and build capacity of not only ourselves but also a number of civil society organisations on Gender and ICTs in the next few months.

i4d does not necessarily subscribe to the views expressed in this publication. All views expressed in this magazine are those of the contributors. i4d is not responsible or accountable for any loss incurred directly or indirectly as a result of the information provided.

Knowledge for change © Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies, 2005

Supported by:

March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

Ravi Gupta Ravi.Gupta@i4donline.net

MDG 3

Promote gender equality The Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 3 to “promote gender equality and empower women”, aspires to give women an equal stand in the society, which now disregards many women’s rights and women do not afford the same rights as men do. The lives of women and men, the work they do, the income they receive, the roles they are given and the relationships that they share are all shaped by social norm and traditions which treat women and men differently. Such norms and traditions are manifested in laws, institutions and economic and social structures, such as the family and the job market. The complex web of cultural and social set up results in economic and political marginalisation of women and it starts to show early when girls are not allowed to go to school or they drop out of school due to various societal pressures. Two-thirds of the world’s illiterate population is female (www.millennium campaign.org). Without the basic foundation of education, women face limited opportunities in future and become vulnerable to abuse, violence and discrimination. Keeping this in mind, Millennium Declaration has given utmost importance to education and this is evident by the quantifiable target they have placed to achieve goal 3. The target aims to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005 and in all levels of education no later than 2015. With a goal to ‘achieve gender equality’, and looking at this target it seems to be narrow, leaving space for much more that needs to be done. But one also cannot ignore the fact that this is the only declaration, which has tried to put a figure to what we are trying to achieve as compared to many other previous international action plans and statements. Besides the target, it also has indicators to measure the achievement. This includes measuring the ratio of girls to boys in primary, secondary and tertiary education, ratio of literate women to men in ages 16 - 24, share of women in wage employment in non- agricultural sector and proportion of seats held by women in

national parliaments. This calls on all countries to achieve the target for the development of nations. United Nations Fund for Women (UNIFEM), Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), United Nations Education Scientific Cultural and Scientific Organisation (UNESCO), Commission on the Advancement of Women (CAW) are some of the institutions, which are working on diverse issues to achieve gender equality and empowerment.

Gender equality in the Information society To achieve all the above objectives, ICT can play a crucial role in skill development in women, to deliver educational and literacy programmes targeted to poor women, bring awareness and influence public opinion about equal rights of women, give them economic opportunities, lend a voice to fight against discrimination and most important lead them to empowerment. But the barriers still persist. The stories presented in this issue of i4d magazine are woven around these issues. A prevalent gender socio-cultural divide is one of the key reasons why women are under represented in the information society. Though lack of infrastructure is a problem to all, irrespective of gender, its impeding access is acute for women due to poverty, illiteracy and language barriers. Though the socio-cultural conditions might differ somewhat regionally but a grim picture exists worldwide. In October 2004, the Seventh African Regional Conference on Women was held in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. It was an African regional decade review of the implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Platform of Action (Beijing +10). In the conference, the Economic Commission for Africa stated, “women’s access to ICTs in Africa is limited. Poverty, lack of electricity and limited infrastructure in rural areas, is a hindrance to the spread of ICTs”. It reported that Burkina Faso, Mali, Uganda and Tanzania have national policies on ICTs dedi4d | March 2005

MDG 3

and empower women icated to the promotion of women and gender issues. The report also gives a positive sign as the number of women in ICTs and the media in general in Republic of Guinea has doubled to 39 percent of journalists; while Tunisia has 7 feminine newspaper titles and 34.38% of people working in the media are women. ICTs (including radio, television, mobile telephony, computer, Internet) can empower women and help them surmount gender inequality by raising awareness of their social and political status and creating new economic opportunities. However this potential can be realised only when gender dimensions of equitable access conditions, policy framework and action oriented strategies undertaken at several levels including the MDGs, International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) and the outcome of the Twenty-Third Special session of the General Assembly (2000) – the Outcome Document, among others, are implemented and addressed appropriately. Nevertheless there are examples where regardless of these socio-cultural limiting elements, ICTs have opened the window of opportunities for women. The Bangladesh village phone programme where Grameen Telecom provided loans to Bangladeshi women micro-entrepreneurs to purchase and operate cellular phones is one such example. It resulted in an increase in the status and income of the Bangladeshi poor women and also increased the number of women who use telephones in the villages for work. It was a unique initiative because it not only brought economic upliftment of women but also brought valuable knowledge services like health information in village houses. The NGO Grameen Foundation is now replicating a similar model in Uganda by working with micro-finance institutions that train and support the women micro-entrepreneurs in rural communities (http://www.gfusa.org). ICTs can play an important role in the formal and non-formal education of girls and women, particularly through distance education. One example is India’s “Distance March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

education for women’s development and empowerment” jointly operated by the Department of Women and Child Development and the Indira Gandhi National Open University. The programme provides a Certificate level course based on a multi-media training package to make women’s self-help groups sustainable through developing decision-making ability and resource management skills in 150 low literacy districts. This is a perfect case where ICTs have been able to take relevant education suiting the communites’ needs to their doorsteps, thus overcoming the cultural and language barriers they otherwise would have faced traveling to cities to get similar education. Discrimination against women exists in one form or another. The sex ratio in countries like India is skewed. The child sex ratio (in the 0-6 age group) has been dropping alarmingly. From 962 (the number of females per 1000 males) in 1981, it dropped to 945 in 1991 and 927 in 2001. The overall sex ratio for India is 933 females per 1000 males. This situation of a strongly male biased sex ratio is attributable to increasing female foeticide or neglect of the girl children. This is one area where ICTs can play a vital role. How ICTs are playing a role in stopping this practice is discussed in an article in this issue of i4d (see page 17). There is a lot of discussion happening on gender inequality and access barriers but quantitative evidence to support these theories is very limited. Collection and availability of latest gender-disaggregated data is a prime concern, which needs to be addressed urgently. ICTs can help in the collection and analysis of data on gender discrimination. Based on the data collected, policies can be framed, which are directed towards the welfare of women. Finally, equitable access to ICTs and the autonomy to receive and produce information relevant to women’s needs and concerns are central to women’s empowerment, and to the construction of an Information society for all. Anuradha Dhar and Jayalaksmi Chittoor

G ENDER C AUCUS

WSIS

Challenges for gender equality The World Summit on the Information Society has been a serious challenge for gender equality advocates. The predominance of a gender-blind and hence male-centered discussion process has made it hard to even achieve a basic commitment to women’s human rights.

Heike Jensen Department of Gender Studies Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany dr.heike.jensen@web.de

All digital divides, from the urban-rural one to the ones caused by differences in income, education or age, have specific ramifications for women and girls and disadvantage them disproportionately in comparison to men and boys. Yet it would be a mistake to presume that the global political process that has centrally been concerned with finding ways of overcoming digital divides and including everyone in the so-called Information Society would naturally take gender into account. In fact, the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS, Geneva 2003 and Tunis 2005) has been a serious challenge for gender equality advocates. The predominance of a gender-blind and hence male-centered discussion process has made it hard to even achieve a basic commitment to women’s human rights. With each document, from the Geneva Declaration and the Plan of Action to the current drafts of the Political Chapeau and the Operational Part for the Tunis summit, the question has arisen again and again if it would be possible to prevent a backsliding regarding women’s rights and to assure that the core values of gender equality and women’s empowerment get reaffirmed. This state of affairs is particularly worrying given the growing realisation that development will not occur if girls and women continue to be discriminated against.

in the summer of 2002, another organisational entity emerged and joined in the gender advocacy efforts with a slightly different approach: The NGO Gender Strategies Working Group, as the name implies, constituted a civil society platform. It was very active up until the Geneva summit and was instrumental in reaching out to other civil society caucuses and sensitising their members with respect to gender issues. Both entities were able to draw on the substantial body of research on women and media, and women and ICTs, that was presented and discussed in preparation of WSIS. A large part of this research was gathered within the UN context, most notably by Expert Group Meetings held by the Division for the Advancement of Women and other agencies. The findings were synthesised and developed into political recommendations. The Commission on the Status of Women and others submitted these to the WSIS process for consideration. Gender advocacy in the WSIS process has also decisively been shaped by the electronic input of those who could not attend the meetings and negotiations in person. Online discussions and e-mails have been instrumental for lobbying, networking and voicing women’s concerns, which has reinforced the central argument that media politics are crucial with respect to gender relations and vice versa.

Who are the gender advocates?

What are the gender issues?

The WSIS Gender Caucus is the organisational entity that has spearheaded gender advocacy in the WSIS process. This caucus is a multi-stakeholder group and is hence open to all gender advocates, from civil society to business, governments and intergovernmental organisations. Shortly after the foundation of the Gender Caucus at the Regional Preparatory Meeting in Mali

The starting point, as outlined above, is the awareness that gender divides, including gender digital divides, exist and must be overcome so that girls and women can realise their full potential and can shape the world in equal partnership with boys and men. Historically, the isolation of women from the mainstream economy and their lack of access to information because of societal, cultural and market constraints have led i4d | March 2005

them to become distant from the global pool of information and knowledge. With respect to ICTs and the Information Society, women hence must be enabled to access these technologies and to use them productively. ICT policy, regulatory frameworks and licensing guidelines need to be conceived from a gender equality perspective and need to promote gender-sensitive infrastructure development, access point planning and universal service at affordable prices. It is particularly vital to connect the geographical areas in which women predominate and to provide women with appropriate facilities, such as women-friendly telecentres with suitable opening hours and helpful staff, and with useful content and services. Comprehensive educational programmes are needed to show women how they might make use of ICTs in a manner that ultimately allows them to take more control of their lives. Women furthermore must be empowered to develop, create and implement technology and generate content and services that best answer their needs and interests. Free and open source software might prove most suitable for women to move from users to developers. In terms of content and service needs, particular importance must be given to the development of portals, search engines, catalogues and networking tools that make relevant information and partners easily discernible and reachable. Apart from these job tasks, women have to have the same influence as men in policy formulation, implementation and monitoring regarding ICTs. To this end, great advances in terms of girls and women’s education and capacity building are required, advances that do not stop at the level of primary or even secondary education but enable women to become top-level decision makers in all areas relating to ICTs. At the same time, men need to learn to accept women as full and equal partners and autonomous human beings in all aspects of life. Gender advocacy in the context of the Information Society is not solely ICT-focused, even though the inter-governmental WSIS process has squarely addressed ICTs to the almost complete exclusion of all other means of information and communication. Gender advocates have acknowledged older and traditional information and communication technologies as important and effective in their own right. In terms of affordability, access, and ease of use, they are indispensable. Bridging the digital divide in relation to the older and traditional information and communication technologies means assuring that old and new ICTs will interface and complement each other. Non-users of new ICTs should not suffer disadvantages from their continued reliance on older ICTs. The complementarity of technologies is of particular importance for women, who have for instance found that community radios and women’s communication centres can be true means of empowerment, and who need to be assured that options created by new technologies do not bypass them and again marginalise them. March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

These options can for instance arise in the context of e-Governance or e-Health initiatives. e-Governance holds the potential for previously marginalised groups to make their political demands heard, to interact with decision makers and to hold them more easily accountable for their work. E-health could bring valuable information to caregivers, most of which are women. While women need to be empowered to benefit from these e-developments as soon as possible, those who remain excluded from direct access for the time being should be able to at least profit in an indirect way. One interim solution would be to set up community radio projects that act as links between women and the Internet, passing online information on to women and delivering the women’s messages electronically. Education regarding old and new ICTs has to provide girls and women with media literacy, with the ability to judge which media are particularly useful for specific information and communication processes and which sources are most likely to provide accurate and relevant information. While media literacy is important for everyone, girls and women have a particular stake in it as long as information and knowledge are biased towards male world-views and hence are in effect tools of hegemony that marginalise and distort girls’ and women’s concerns, experiences and realities as well as the images they hold of themselves. To counter this hegemonic status quo, education and training need to be gendersensitive and need to redefine what counts as information and knowledge in a manner that validates previously marginalised perspectives. This also requires a fundamental commitment to cultural and linguistic diversity and to non-discrimination between and among the genders, so that all arbitrary social hierarchies that intersect with the one of gender are addressed simultaneously. It also requires an obliteration of stereotypes that are constricting and that limit groups of people to specific options in life, such as the stereotype that girls and women cannot deal with ‘hard’ technological issues and hence should aspire to be users of technology rather than developers. Strategic gender interests related to media and ICTs include those of overcoming women’s isolation, allowing women to network and to gain strength as political actors, enabling an articulation of women’s concerns and human rights, providing effective means to hold governments and other social actors responsible for their conduct, and harnessing the technologies to lift women out of poverty and to secure a livelihood. A particular concern with respect to the new ICTs is that their potential to record, transmit and aggregate personal information is not to be used for purposes of surveillance and invasions of privacy. Women might be particularly vulnerable regarding surveillance and invasions of privacy in the contexts of political activism, health care and consumer data.

Gender advocates have been stressing the need to guide all developments from a gender equality perspective and to monitor and evaluate the gendered impact of ICT developments, including the effectiveness of gender-sensitive policies, programmes and initiatives. Monitoring and evaluation require both quantitative and qualitative approaches to assess the impact of ICTs on different subgroups of women and men. Quantitative data hence needs to be disaggregated not only by sex but also by other relevant factors such as income level and education level, age and location. Since access to ICTs is not in and of itself empowering for girls and women, an important question that needs to be asked is to which extent ICT access is used to further strategic gender interests and to bring about social change. Research into these matters of course requires an adequate allocation of resources.

Has the WSIS process taken up these gender issues? The Geneva Declaration of Principles does acknowledge women as important stakeholders. It states: “We affirm that development of ICTs provides enormous opportunities for women, who should be an integral part of, and key actors, in the Information Society. We are committed to ensuring that the Information Society enables women’s empowerment and their full participation on the basis on [sic.] equality in all spheres of society and in all decision-making processes. To this end, we should mainstream a gender equality perspective and use ICTs as a tool to that end.” (Paragraph 12) Beyond this paragraph of the Declaration, which was long fought for, the Geneva Plan of Action contains a number of paragraphs that address various concerns of girls and women. Among these are education, training and careers in ICT-related contexts; telework and entrepreneurship aided by ICTs; media literacy, balanced and diverse media portrayals of men and women, and gender perspectives in ICT education. Also, the need to monitor developments and to devise gender-sensitive indicators is acknowledged. These provisions constitute real achievements of the gender advocacy that has been undertaken in the course of WSIS. Yet one decisive question remains, and that is whether the overall framework and agenda into which these references to women and girls were inserted will prove to be conducive for the fulfillment of the provisions, or whether the framework will instead corrupt these gender-related goals.

A flawed framework? The Geneva documents favour market solutions and public-private partnerships to overcome the digital divide between the North and the South. In contrast, gender advocates, along with much of civil society and some governments, have been of the opinion that the neo-liberal policy approach to markets in fact constitutes a core problem that intensifies existing inequalities between and among groups of people in the North and the South and that heightens environmental degradation. These constituencies feel that to create sustainable development and people-centered, inclusive, equitable societies, deep structural transformations are required. These need to obliterate sexism, racism, and other forms of discriminatory social stratification as embedded in discourses, institutions and systems that characterise the economic, political, social and cultural spheres.

Also, these transformations would have to lead to a responsible and sustainable development of technologies, including a sound management of natural resources, product cycles and waste. Since the official WSIS documents are a far cry from this kind of vision, the fight for the inclusion of gender concerns at worst has been yet another effort to squeeze “women” into a fundamentally flawed development scheme. At best, however, it will allow women to claim more rights than before and to have more needs met than before. Given the absence of any seriously developed alternative, there does not seem to be much choice. This sentiment is also reflective of the dismal current state of global gender politics more generally. As the Commission on the Status of Women is currently reviewing the developments that have characterised the ten years after the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action at the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, it becomes increasingly clear that no unequivocal progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment can be stated. Many problems and forms of structural discrimination have intensified, from poverty to forced prostitution and trafficking in women. Furthermore, a decisive backlash against women’s rights on the part of several powerful governments makes itself felt, most notably in the area of sexual and reproductive rights. Even the MDGs and their indicators can be seen as indicative of the truncated manner in which women’s rights have recently been dealt with. It hence does not come as a complete surprise that gender equality and women’s rights and empowerment have not been embraced wholeheartedly in the WSIS process, since these principles have not been embraced fully on any political level or in any political process. Despite the need to promote the broadest possible agenda of women’s rights in this political climate, the shaping of the Information Society constitutes a central issue.

Why concentrate on media and ICTs? Information and communication are at the root of every society’s core processes of negotiating power, norms, values and realities. Peaceful social change is impossible without utilising media and ICTs, while hegemonic powers presently utilise these media and ICTs for spreading their ideologies. This is why on the level of global women’s politics, media and ICTs were codified at the Beijing World Conference as one of twelve critical areas of concern for women. Back then, central challenges were seen in the continued stereotyping of women in the media, the occupational segregation and glass ceilings encountered by women in the media professions, and the need to harness the new electronic networks for women’s empowerment. All of these challenges have not diminished in importance, and many more challenges have arisen with the further development of ICTs and their uneven spread within and among societies. At the same time, numerous media and ICT projects and initiatives have proved how decisive these technologies can be for women’s empowerment. It is hence indispensable for women’s rights advocates to fight for the Information Society as a positive utopia, as a society in which everyone can fully join in and benefit from a free flow of communication, an exchange of ideas and the generation of knowledge. Only on this basis can social justice and gender justice, women’s and men’s human rights and cultural diversity flourish and societies develop in a sustainable manner. i4d | March 2005

E MPOWERING W OMEN

Promoting skill transfer through ICTs We need to examine why and how skills and knowledge are positioned within the dominant ICT for development paradigm and explore the routes that we would like skill transfer within the information and communications for development theory and practice to take.

ICTs have transformed the ways in which we learn, with spectacular outcomes. From the radio to the Internet, the potential in these technologies for information and skill transfer is now well demonstrated. While it is true that ICTs provide new paradigms in education – from distance learning, learner-centredness, peer to peer exchanges, etc., the dominant ICT paradigm is not consistent with the social and ethical objectives of education. Within the ICT debate, skill transfer has been positioned within the framework of the market rather than of development. Thus skills have been constructed almost completely as constituting those capacities that can be monetised or as a commodity for exchange. Within the context of a discussion on MDGs, such a definition is indeed very narrow and negates the needs of the vast majority. The poorest certainly need livelihood skills, but their freedom from poverty is predicated also upon a whole range of other skills that can empower them socially and politically, and these capacities lie beyond the framework and logic of the market. We need to examine why and how skills and knowledge are positioned within the dominant ICT for development paradigm and explore the routes that we would like skill transfer within the information and communications for development theory and practice to take.

Education/skill upgradation through ICTs: The state of the art

Anita Gurumurthy IT for Change Bangalore, India Anita@ITforChange.net

March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

The dominant paradigm in the use of ICTs for education is antithetical to respect for diversity, for local control of knowledge and individual creativity (proprietary software being a stark case in point). We know that the major ICT corporations have kept close links with education

institutions in the South. The efforts of Cisco, Microsoft and Hewlett Packard and many other ICT corporations in the field of education invoke the language of ‘development’ and of ‘corporate social responsibility’, and many of them have begun sponsoring gender academies, hosting proprietary systems seminars, lock-in software certification conferences, as they have sought to engage the local labour force in jobs in the IT industry. It is a moot point whether such initiatives are really opening up opportunities on a level playing field or if these are geared towards producing a new form of dependency - a passive, uncritical acceptance of corporate globalisation. Critiques of this model are beginning to emerge in the work of NGOs like ISIS International Manila, engaged in global advocacy for an equitable information society. The increasing privatisation of education and the consequent entry of global media and ICT corporates into this space has seen the emergence of a new agenda for education: the creation of a new breed of internationally-immobile work force with low, but highly specialised skills, ready to plug into the global production chain of knowledge industries. The deskilling of the workforce in poor countries in the global information economy is now well documented. ICTs for development has adopted a market-led approach and within this, approaches to build the information base and skills of local communities for their livelihoods, like MNC-led agriculture extension programmes that use ICTs, have predominantly been synonymous with a submission of local communities to multinational corporate interests. In the short run, this seems like a win-win situation – the corporate gets local produce for its global markets and local farmers get cutting-edge information and ‘assured’ incomes. But almost invariably, this

arrangement is a zero-sum game for local populations – the ICT infrastructure and communication media are controlled not by local people but by the corporates, and in the long run, the survival of local agricultural practices and markets is endangered.

The alternate paradigm – Relocating skillbuilding into the development arena The consequence of the digital divide is mainly in the exacerbation of information poverty of the unconnected. Those who are not connected to telecommunication networks are also those not privileged to be part of human networks that bring tangible and intangible benefits. Conversely, the connected are privy to the network effect, and are the information-resourced. In the information age, we find information following familiar paths, seeking those within the existing web of interconnections. Development goals can be attained only if information and skill transfer is based on a social justice approach that can build new webs of exchange and expand existing webs to include those who are traditionally marginalised, and have limited access to information resources.

Community initiatives that train women in ICT skills can and do change women’s self-perception as well as community perception of women ICTs do afford liberating opportunities for a power shift. They can enable greater democratisation of information and greater participation in knowledge creation. However, they build upon social patterns of exclusion and inclusion and co-constitute the power structures at local and global levels. Therefore, the strategic use of ICTs for information and skill transfer require two things – one, that we see access to the right information in itself as a skill, and this includes the capacity to use information and two, that information and knowledge are taken out of traditional citadels of power – offices of the government, elite institutions and bureaucratic structures – and transferred into spaces and in ways that the marginalised have access. Skills thus need to be defined in broader terms – to encompass not just employment related skills, but those that are needed for social and political empowerment. The construction of skills as a commodity for exchange drives skill-building, upgradation and transfer into market frameworks. For a poor woman, skill-building begins with learning how to address her social relationships differently, and to be able to engage with the different social institutions with confidence. From learning how to use a telephone to negotiating the middle-men in her village, she requires capacities that can enable her to become more autonomous. Information, knowledge and skill transfer thus need to enable people to gain control over

their lives. The use of ICTs by organisations in the grassroots holds great potential for such an alternate model. New paradigms of information / knowledge creation and sharing are required if we are to transfer information and knowledge into the hands of the disadvantaged. The open source software movement has reclaimed the concept of the public domain and the need for technology production and deployment that allows everyone to shape ICTs. Such an open content paradigm, a copyright model that makes it legitimate for whoever seeks digitised development content with the potential to change lives, is the need of the hour. If the animal husbandry department has a CD that a poor woman can pick up skills for rearing milch cows, it has the responsibility to reach it to the largest numbers of women who may want to access it. The dissemination of the CD cannot be constrained by whether copies can be made and if any new version of the CD (with changes or translations) may be illegal.

Learning from alternatives Many initiatives demonstrate empowering paradigms. The CD ROM from Uganda –called “Ideas for earning money” shows the tremendous value of information that meets livelihood needs. Closer home, ICTs have been used by SEWA in a myriad ways – to preserve traditional skills by nurturing markets for them and bringing to women’s doorstep the information that helps women negotiate the public space, understand and deal with markets. Video conferencing has been used to provide unique opportunities for connecting people to experts. Dhan Foundation, an NGO in South India uses this tool to reach significant information from the government’s development machinery to local communities. It is increasingly evident that simple applications and software and locally produced content can make a tremendous difference to people’s lives. Radio has been used in initiatives across the global South to preserve local knowledge, disseminate information and as participatory media. Community initiatives that train women in ICT skills can and do change women’s self-perception as well as community perception of women. The critical thing here is to link women’s skills in ICTs to community needs – the MSSRF experience in Pondichery, and the experience of Tilonia barefoot college that trains men and women to use GIS for water management, testify to how women trained in ICTs not only play a useful role as change agents, but are able to spiral into a personal empowerment trajectory.

Towards institutionalising the alternate Attention and action are required at 2 levels: Global systems – be they globalised markets or a market-driven ICT for development paradigm - that undermine sustainable models at the local level, need to be challenged. Alternate paradigms, built on local contexts, need to find their way into mainstream institutions. Skill- transfer models using ICTs have to be relocated from the market into the arena of development. For this, the new possibilities of information delivery and capacity building through ICTs need to be institutionalised – within development departments, in government schemes and in NGO strategies. Note: This paper was presented in One World South Asia Fourth Annual Regional Meeting, March 4, 2005. i4d | March 2005

G RACENET : T HE N EW G IRLS ’ N ETWORK

Net to networking: Empowering women Gracenet organisation tells an interesting story about how ICT is helping in redressing gender inequalities through networking among women. It started eight years ago when Sylvia Paull formed this group for the professional women of today. GraceNet is named after Grace Hopper, whose pioneering work in computer programming and cryptography provides inspiration and encouragement for women who work in computing and related fields. Gracenet is a virtual group with several thousand women members who are working in high technology. It helps them to share and talk about various gender related issues which they face in their profession. The discussion list runs at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ gracenet/. This not only strengthens the confidence of women members but it also solves a lot of their problems. Gracenet works on a simple model. There is no membership fee to become a member of the group. One can write to Sylvia to become a member of the online discussion list. Once in a month the group meets for a get together at the home of a member, share a meal, talk about what each one is doing, ask for help if they need any and listen to a speaker who talks about various aspects of women in the high tech industry. Through face-to-face meetings at its various chapters, it has encouraged women to help each other find work and employees, some women have started companies by meeting other women in Gracenet. Meetings also serve to inspire and mentor women by having pioneers who have made achievements in the field of high tech speak to the group specifically about how they overcame obstacles created by gender discrimination and offer their valuable insights to women. Rebecca Eisenberg, is the General Counsel for Paypal, and is pregnant with her second child in as many years. She did not tell her boss that she was pregnant until it became obvious for fear she would not receive the same treatment as other workers. That women still get penalised — even in high tech — for bearing children is something we must eradicate. Rebecca is not the only woman. There are whole lot of women like her, who face similar situations. These are some of the gender issues, which plague our society, our workplace and our day-to-day living. They go unnoticed, unheard and suppressed in the male dominated ICT industry or for that matter any office. Therefore this month the Gracenet group has decided to hear a panel of women to address the issue of motherhood in high tech. Gracenet has another very interesting campaign called “Disgraceful Award in Advertising”. A few years ago they started a programme to eliminate sexist advertising in high tech media. That programme became successful and led to the start of giving away March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

Disgraceful Award in Advertising each month to the most sexist ad. It targets ads and companies that are particularly tarnishing the image of women. As a result, Gracenet has been able to point out the flaws in the portrayal of women by some of the biggest companies. Many of the offenders withdrew their ads, including IBM and thus this campaign has helped bringing in a positive change in media and society towards women.

“The best outcome of having started Gracenet was seeing women take the initiative and start companies together, mentor each other, and create a feeling of support and empowerment for women everywhere”, says Sylvia Paull, Founder, Gracenet Sylvia herself develops strategies for generating media coverage for people and businesses in high tech. She also runs a blog at www.whoisylvia.typepad.com. The members of Gracenet family value this association and believe that it provides “the kind of grassroots support that most women in high tech lack from their peers”. This feeling comes across strongly as Susan Hoffman, founding director for SFSU’s New Media Institute and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and also a member of Gracenet says, “Gracenet is immensely important to hundreds of women around the country. For me, it is the most vital professional association I belong to... There is camaraderie and an ethos to Gracenet that keeps women’s edge in technology sharp, competitive and current without being mean or disingenuous.” Over the period of eight years, several regional Gracenet chapters have started in Santa Clara, Los Angeles, Seattle to encourage participation of more women. Gracenet celebrates womanhood entirely and it reminds you of those excellent initiatives that you come across rarely these days that empower women, using ICT as an effective medium for a fruitful networking. In a larger perspective, Gracenet has been successful in creating an impact on the forms of gender discrimination in community by educating them to respect women. Anuradha Dhar anuradha@i4donline.net

eH OMEMAKERS N ETWORK

Teleworking moms unite! In the last two years, the concept of working from home has attracted menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s interest as well. Thus, the network has noticed that more and more men are joining as members.

Usha Krishnan

S Puvaneswary Web editors, eHomemakers Malaysia editor@ehomemakers.net

Homemakers are a vulnerable group in the to transform the existing digital disadvandigital divide as they have little or no access tages, especially for marginalised women, to ICT. As is elsewhere in the world, home- and empower them economically makers in Malaysia are being left out of the through digital learning and usage of ICTs rapidly progressing era of Information and at home. Communication Technologies (ICTs). The core group then realised that an The Mothers for Mothers network, formed e-Networking platform through various in 1998, started as a voluntary group of access points was necessary for the stakeholdmothers from multi-ethnic communities. ersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; development. Initially, a static website Members of the network were initially in- (www.mom4mom.com) was built to meet the volved in women-connecting-women activ- needs of mothers and homemakers by proities to promote the concept of working from viding them with a platform to access inforhome, especially for homemakers who need mation and to network. The site was the economic empowerment to uplift their managed and maintained by a small group gender status. The group had to overcome of volunteers. public prejudice about useless housewives Over time, the network realised that the who did not contribute to society and static website could not support the helped its members gain self-esteem through growing needs of members who wanted a mutual support activities. more dynamic platform with interactive Moreover, those women who chose to features. It was also frustrating for work from home to balance family life and members that there were no information career were exploited with low paying updates on the site for long periods of time assignments and belonged to the informal due to a series of virus attacks. On its own, sector, with little assistance for personal the network lacked funds to improve development. the portal. Disadvantaged people, especially, are left Hence, a proposal was submitted to out of social development due to the lack of the Government of Malaysia for the access to relevant information. If they could eHomemakers project â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a detailed plan to generate income from home and use ICTs address the concerns of Malaysian to improve all aspects of their family life, they would, in fact, actively participate in the information economy. It was evident that using ICTs would provide women with an avenue for selfdevelopment and eHomepreneurship that required little capital, and personal growth. Therefore, the main aim of the network is Salaam Wanita members at a workshop session learning to make baskets i4d | March 2005

homemakers. After a year, in November 2001, the eHomemakers project was finally approved, under a one-year Demonstrator Application Grant from the Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment. With funding, a dynamic portal was built to cater to the needs of members, replacing the old static one. Known as eHomemakers (www.ehomemakers.net), this trilingual portal was created to link homemakers and homeworkers all over Malaysia into an e-community, bound together by common interests in parenthood, homemaking and issues on economic, social, family and gender development. The portal’s main aim is to transform the existing digital disadvantages, especially for marginalised women, and empower them economically through digital learning and usage of ICT at home. It assists in the development of home-based

Winners of the Teleworking Moms contest 2004

businesses and provides information that is of use to all levels of society, including the disadvantaged. The portal also offers a host of e-Community services such as a forum, chat room, e-Cards and a platform called Home-based Xchange for homemakers and home workers to market their products and services. All of the above services are provided free-of-charge to members. The eHomemakers portal is especially useful for members in the grey zone – those who wish to quit their full-time jobs to be with their children or aged parents but are afraid to venture into a home-based business for lack of knowledge. All e-Activities are complemented by ground activities such as training/talks for life-long learning and community outreach, annual Mother’s day contests and contests for home-based business ideas. In the last two years, the concept of working from home has attracted men’s interest as well. Thus, the network has noticed that more and more men are joining as members. Today, the ratio of men to women e-Members is almost 50:50 while the ground members comprise women without access to Internet.

women, single income earners and caregivers whose work options are limited to their home confines. About two hundred disadvantaged Salaam Wanita members from two regions - the Klang Valley and Ipoh – have received basic training on the use of computers and the Internet under this training programme in 2002. Second-hand computers were procured for some of these women then so that they can use their new-found skills to generate an income and become self-reliant. Last year, the training programme was extended to include skill-based training such as basket weaving from paper rolls and baking cookies. eHomemakers then helped to source orders for these women from a multi-national company. A unique marketing website is being created to market the products and services of Salaam Wanita members. The Web application is able to send email that will transform into SMS and fax messages to the women’s handphones or fax machines (for the deaf ). The SMS and fax replies will be converted into email or statistic charts in the website to manage orders received from buyers, thus reducing communication and human resources expenses for organising, procuring orders and compilation of group delivery as the women live all over the Klang Valley and the Ipoh region. This R and D application is enabled by an international grant won under the IDRC’s Pan Asia R&D Small Grant Award 2003. The website (www.justmarketing.info) is expected to go live by May 2005. eHomemakers is actively involved in advocacy work to promote working from home as a means to balance work and family life. Currently, eHomemakers is working with the Malaysian Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, to develop a guidebook on working at home and setting up a home-office. This guidebook, when ready, will form part of the Government’s campaign to promote the concept of working at home to professional women who have chosen to be homemakers in order to raise a family or to take care of elderly dependents. Two other research papers that broach on the gender perspective include, ‘Study on how gender dynamics affect teleworkers performance in Malaysia’ and ‘Empowering Homemakers to become Homepreneurs and eHomemakers through a Gender Governance Framework’.

Helping the disadvantaged Salaam Wanita is a pilot project to equip urban poor special women in the Klang Valley and Ipoh with basic knowledge of computers and the Internet so that they can work from home. Salaam Wanita members include single mothers, chronically ill women, abused March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

Basic computer training workshop for Salaam Wanita members

Both these reports can be purchased from the Pan Asian e-Mall (http://www.panaseanemall.org/browse.ihtml?step=4&store= 22&id=17&mallcustid=1416130522) from March 15, 2005. The objective of the ‘Study on how gender dynamics affect teleworkers performance in Malaysia’ is to explore how Malaysian women’s family lives and home situations affect their performance as teleworkers. The paper delves into concerns like how ICTs and gender issues affect telecommuting, whether ICTs can affect the efficiency and productivity of a teleworker and the conditions that enable women to be efficient teleworkers. Recommendations have been made to create an enabling environment for home-based work to be successfully undertaken. The findings of this study were presented at the WSIS APC sessions in 2003. It has been found that, with time, flexibility and ICT usage, teleworking generally improves women’s lives. ‘Empowering Homemakers to become Homepreneurs and eHomemakers through a Gender Governance Framework’ research was conducted on Salaam Wanita members to find out the barriers that prevent them from using ICTs and becoming home-based entrepreneurs for economic self-reliance.

Having to deal with discrimination and social stigma, most Salaam Wanita members suffer from depression and a lack of self-esteem. As a result, these women refrain from seeking income-generating options outside their homes. Others barriers include lack of finances, lack of knowledge and lack of family and social support. The study reveals that women have the ability to govern themselves and their families and shape the governance in others if they are willing to go through the 5As Process of Change. Economic self-reliance and personal self-esteem can be achieved through this process.

Conclusion eHomemakers has been successfully working with the grassroots since it was formed in 1998 to improve the lives of homemakers, home workers and the urban poor. Through more active advocacy, out-reach and grassroots research on the relationship between ICT tools usage and its stakeholders, eHomemakers network hopes to bring social economic development to the informal sector and recognition to homemakers’ contribution towards the public and at the home front.

Apply now – Gender and ICT Awards 2005 The Gender and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Awards is an initiative of the Association for Progressive Communications Women’s Networking Support Program (APC WNSP) www.apcwomen.org and the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) www.globalknowledge.org. In 2005, the Gender and ICT Awards focus is on empowerment, specifically ICT initiatives that promote women’s economic empowerment as it relates to development. The APC WNSP and GKP Gender and ICT Awards aim to honour and bring international recognition to innovative and effective projects by women to use ICTs for the promotion of gender equality and for women’s empowerment. The Gender and ICT Awards 2005 is open to civil society organisations, community-based groups, women’s organisations and networks and social movements based in Asia Pacific. The target beneficiaries of the projects must be women or girls. Special attention will be given to projects initiated by women themselves.

Focus of The Awards The focus of the 2005 Awards is on ICT initiatives that promote women’s economic empowerment as it relates to development. Economic empowerment is seen in terms of: • overcoming marginalisation, oppressive social norms, and inadequate support and responsibility from governments in terms of access and rights to resources and making sound decisions; • offering women choice and opportunity, • encouraging women to fulfil their potentials; • giving voice and capability to counter their seeming powerlessness.

Category Two winners will be awarded for outstanding ICT Project for Women’s Economic Empowerment. A cash prize of USD 8,000 will be given to each winner.

Timetable Nominations will be accepted from February 15 to April 30, 2005. Winners will be selected and announced by August 30, 2005. For more information, please read the complete application procedure and download the application form at: www.genderawards.net or write to: awards2005-apply@apcwomen.org To receive regular updates about the Awards, please send an email to: awards2005-info@apcwomen.org The Awards is supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) http://www.sdc.admin.ch and the Department for International Development (DFID), United Kingdom http://www.dfid.gov.uk.

i4d | March 2005

U SE

AND

A BUSE

T ECHNOLOGY

Fighting female foeticide through ICT This initiative is under the ‘Save the Girl Child Campaign’, which uses ICTs to generate and record complaints against members of the medical community indulging in selective sex determination tests and selective abortion of female foetuses.

Divya Jain Programme Officer Datamation Foundation divya@datamationfoundation.org

Background The practice of Female Foeticide or the selection of the sex of the foetus is a combination of personal choices, family issues, social, ethical, medical and even legal reasons. Within all these reasons, technology has also come to play an increasingly crucial role. Sex Determination Techniques, that is, Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) are used for predicting the sex of an unborn offspring after conception preferably in the first four months of pregnancy. From foetoscopy, ultrasonography, chorionic villus biopsy, to foetal blood sampling, genetic technology has evolved over the last three decades.

The Indian picture Women are both worshipped and accorded a highly revered status in our Indian society. Yet the progressive technological developments cannot hide one of the worst impending ‘gender’ crisis the society is facing – ‘the rapid depletion of women population’. In 1975, amniocentesis techniques for detecting foetal abnormalities began to be developed in India, at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. Soon it was known that these tests could detect the sex of the foetus also, and doctors at the Institute noted that most of the 11,000 couples who volunteered for the test wanted to know the sex of the child and were not interested in the possibility of genetic abnormalities. Both the availability and affordability of such techniques after penetrating in the urban communities, are also making inroads in the rural areas shown by the proliferating ultra-sound scan machines in several hundred small towns across the country aiding in sex determination.

Pointers to female foeticide Declining sex ratio in various parts of the

March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

country, specifically the ratio of the girl child, compared to the boys in the age group of 0-6 years has been a cause of deep concern to Government of India. During the last ten years (since the last census from 945 in 1991 to 927 in 2001), this ratio has declined significantly in almost all parts of the country, barring Kerala, and notably in – Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab (one of the worst sex ratios in the country), Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Datamation Foundation’s extensive research in this regard concluded that selective sex tests and abortions are the main reasons for the abandonment of the female foetus.

Interventionist role of ICTs Today, information technology has changed the communication paradigm, making it no longer difficult to reach a large number of people more or less at the same time; and that too enable them to respond, interact as well as obtain a copy of the information within a low-cost. Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) apart from sensitising people against this heinous crime and helping them in general to change their opinion about a girl child, can also play a highly interventionist role by proactively pursuing cases against erring doctors, booking them under the law of the land. An important tool helping the Government of India to accomplish their cherished goal of all together stopping female foeticide is a website solely dedicated to Female Foeticide- www.indiafemalefoeticide.org set up by Datamation Foundation Charitable Trust. Nalini Abraham of Plan International inspired to start this portal and since then has been constantly providing technical inputs. Sarita Sharma from the Foundation with her rich community experience effectively leads the project. This major ICT based campaigning and advocacy programme is to help

prevent occurrences of selective sex tests and selective abortions of the female fetuses in India.

Action plan and objectives Datamation Foundation is involved in active championing, and advocating complete ban and penal action against selective sex tests, working at the convergence of ICTs, and social as well as human development. Some of its main objectives includes sensitisation and awareness generation about the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Act (PNDT) 1994, as well as its recent amendment passed by the Parliament that bans any form of sex selection tests; increasing compliance amongst the maternity and nursing homes, ultra-sound clinics, radiologists for registering their ultra-sound machines under the PNDT Act; exchange information, dialogue as well as communication amongst the interested stakeholders; and making technical material and resources available to all stakeholders online and also Building e-Governance modules that can help identify ultra-sound clinics, nursing homes carrying on illegal sex determination tests.

Target audience and dissemination strategy For the urban community and interested stakeholders, ICTs have played a major role in capacity building and awareness creation, facilitated by the use of Internet and net-telephony. Through emails, till date the foundation has sensitised eight million people world wide on this issue. It is proposed to target the rural population, not enjoying Internet access through Internet radio and Internet video. Besides this, the Foundation staff and volunteers are going to rural areas to educate people about this crisis, using a portable computer mart called a ‘computer thela’, which has been taken to the Panchayat level for the dissemination of information about the site. The youth are targeted through the Internet centers and cyber cafes by pasting posters at appropriate locations, and also near private hospitals and nursing homes. Parliamentarians as well as the lawmakers are targeted by means of giving them timely updates electronically.

Online attempts to check female foeticide The India Female Foeticide portal, www.indiafemalefoeticide.org, an advocacy, capacity building and sensitisation attempt towards femicide, include some distinctive features. The ‘Femicide’ section provides some rich background information on the prevalence and practice of Female Foeticide, including reasons for the sex-selective tests. Also covered in this section are some of the technologies responsible for sex selective abortions. The site not only covers the

regulatory aspects - Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 and the Medical Council of India’s code of conduct to crack down sex selection, but also includes a complaint lodging process in the best tradition of e-Governance. The complaint lodging process protects the identity of the complainant, and yet provides an effective vehicle for booking the doctor, maternity home, ultrasound clinic or radiology clinic. The complaints are retrieved into a database format at Datamation from where they are handed over to the competent authority for readdressal. The response is also expected to be sent back to Datamation to enable updating of the database within a month’s time, failing which an automatic reminder gets published for the competent authority to act upon the Female Foeticide complaints received. The website has a separate tracking process for the medical community and for the people in general. The complaints pertaining to the families, who have indulged in the crime, are forwarded to the regional voluntary groups proposed to be set up for the management of these complaints by the Government and the competent authorities. The interpretation of the law in form of demographic data is also put on the website. Another important platform for the website is the ‘Pledge Support’ page that highlights two features - Pledge Support and Information. Through the ‘pledge support’ feature one can enter the information regarding the type of the volunteer service the person or the organisation is ready to offer, and the ‘information’ option allows one to enter the information about any ultra-sound clinics, doctors, radiologists etc., to enable database building. Serving as a rich resource center is the ‘what’s new’ page that includes the latest news, articles, interviews, reports and case studies pertaining to Female Foeticide. The attempt here is awareness generation and capacity building both amongst the community and the stakeholders. The ‘Links/Resources’ page contains the contact addresses of different NGOs and agencies working for the prevention of Female Foeticide, and gives data for state-wise, sex ratio and Female Foeticide and sex selection. To enable sensitisation through sound and visual media, radio and video links have also been added to the website

What can be done? Indeed a war needs to be waged against the Female Foeticide in India. Fully understanding that an evil such as this cannot be addressed in isolation alone; we are also closely examining related social malaise such as dowry, women’s underemployment and exploitation in the society, education standards of the girl child as well as high school-dropouts amongst the girls, early marriages, arranged marriage system. It is our endeavor to develop sustainable development models for each of the above listed social malaise in India so that these have an impact on improving the ratio of the females in the Indian society.

Do you have an opinion, suggestion or a story? Write to us at info@i4donline.net

i4d | March 2005

Interview

Supporting national efforts to achieve MDGs

Dr. Maxine Olson United Nations Resident Coordinator and United Nations Development Programme Resident Representative

Dr Olson arrived in India in September 2003, to head one of the largest core programmes of the UNDP, focusing on decentralisation, poverty reduction, natural resource management, human development analysis and HIV/AIDS. Prior to her assignment in India she held a similar position in Malaysia with additional responsibility for Singapore and Brunei Darussalam. Before this she was at UNDP Headquarters in the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific overseeing the work of 25 countries. Dr. Olson has varied experience in several UN organisations. During a stint as Deputy Director, UNIFEM (the UN Development Fund for Women), she focused on programmes for the political and economic empowerment of women. In this interview Dr. Olson shares her views on Millennium Development Goals with a specific importance to MDG 3 on Gender equality and women’s empowerment.

World leaders have pledged to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, including the overarching goal of cutting poverty in half by 2015. How is UNDP’s India Country programme addressing MDGs? UNDP, as the UN’s global development network, links and coordinates global and national efforts to reach the Millennium Development Goals. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has asked UNDP Administrator Mark Malloch Brown, in his capacity as chair of the UN Development Group, to be the coordinator of the Millennium Development Goals in the UN system — to make them an integral part of the UN’s work worldwide. An important part of our strategy is to integrate the MDGs into various aspects of UNDP’s work at the country level. The UNDP Country Programme reflects a continued commitment to national priorities as articulated in the Tenth Five Year Plan. The goals and targets of the Tenth Plan are closely aligned with the MDGs and in several instances they are even more ambitious. The Government of India-UNDP Country Programme 2003-2007 seeks to support the Tenth Plan goals of human development and people-centred growth in a manner consistent with the twin priorities March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

of the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), viz. strengthening decentralisation and promoting gender equality. The Tenth Plan proposes “a shift in the focus of planning from merely resources to the policy, procedural and institutional changes which are essential for every Indian to realise his or her potential”. This resonates with the overarching goals of the work of the United Nations system in India – to work towards the promotion of sustainable human development and the elimination of human poverty and inequalities. Within this framework each UN agency supports national efforts to achieve the MDGs focusing on their own mandate areas. For instance the on-going UNDP Country programme focuses on promoting human development and gender equality with support to advocacy on these issues at the national, state and district levels. This is achieved through State Human Development Reports and actionable research, developing programmes to promote sustainable livelihoods and natural resource management and programmes in support of strengthening local governance and pro-poor public policy.

Many academicians and practitioners say that the indicators given to measure MDGs do not cover all development aspects. According to you, what are the strengths and limitations of MDGs? The MDGs are not a programmatic framework and at first glance appear to be almost simplistic. Also, several development sectors seem to be missing. However while critiquing the MDGs it is important to look at the Millennium Declaration as the MDGs are derived from this. The Declaration, which is the vision statement of 189 Heads of States and Governments, addresses the ‘missing areas’ of governance, human rights, equity and social justice. The MDGs are clearly inter-connected and cannot be achieved if related sectors are not addressed - achieving the education goal hinges on students proximity to schools, transportation and roads, toilets in schools, and quality of education. The poverty and hunger goal cannot be met if agriculture and rural infrastructure are not the focus of attention and so on. The health goals cannot be met without attention to education and women’s empowerment. The MDGs cover much more than immediately meets the eye, they are simple, which makes describing what is involved in improving the quality of life easier to understand.

Has India done enough to achieve the national development goal regarding MDG 3 to empower women? India is among the few developing countries where gender equality and improvement in the status of women are specifically stated to be central goals of development and social policy. This commitment is buttressed by an explicit Constitutional mandate that reflects a substantive understanding of the various dimensions of freedom and equality for women. The Constitution also clarifies that affirmative action programmes for women are not incompatible with the principle of non-discrimination on the grounds of sex. Despite these enabling factors, women lag behind men in most of the critical indicators of human development, and poverty in India increasingly wears a female face. Women’s subordinate status is reflected in almost every sphere – Livelihoods, Education, Health, and Governance. A firm constitutional and policy basis exists, but much needs to be done. How can ICT play a role, as an enabler, in overcoming the cultural, social and regional barriers bringing equality and empowerment for women? ICTs, itself not a magic bullet, it is however an important tool. ICTs can empower women with knowledge on health, hygiene, sanitation and livelihoods opportunities. It can also be an enabler to access credit and finance. Access to IT and communications tools is a challenge. When gender barriers exclude women from accessing education, training and capacity building, ICTs are often themselves remote. To bring about social and attitudinal change communication tools like radio and television can be powerful tools to raise concerns and initiate dialogue - giving women a voice and identity but much greater use of these is necessary. The UNDP-supported Community Radio project in Kutch district of Gujarat demonstrated how KMVS was able to address sensitive issues like dowry and violence against women. Ten years down the Beijing plan of action, not much ground was covered on the role of ICTs. A decade after, what are the UNDP supported major ICT initiatives targeting MDG 3? Is your India country programme 2003-2007 involved in gender equality projects?

The promotion of human development and gender equality is one of the five thematic areas of the new India Country Programme (2003-2007). Two sub-programmes will be supported under this thematic area, a) Strengthening State Plans for Human Development and, b) Promoting Gender Equality. One of our UNDP-supported projects is aimed at supporting the Government of India in tracking and monitoring progress across sectors in achievement of national commitments to gender equality and empowerment of women. The areas of focus of this project are aligned to crosscutting strategies that are central to gender mainstreaming efforts in the country. The project will study and analyse the dynamics by which women have been able to bring a gender equality dimension into social change processes, and the factors that facilitate and hinder women’s engagement in and leadership of such processes. The project will also explore women’s access to rights and justice, through mapping/collation of gendered critiques of legal and regulatory frameworks and in-depth analysis of the process of administration of laws impacting on women’s status. An attempt will be made to further mainstream gender concerns into key policy instruments and the preparation of a “Status of Women Report”. The project will be implemented in collaboration between UNDP and the Government, and a range of stakeholders including UN System organisations, women’s groups, civil society organisations and research institutions. Can community radio be a powerful tool to empower women? What is UNDP doing to enable its licensing in India? A handful of community radio projects around the country such as the Voices cable radio project, the AID project in Jharkhand and the KMVS project in Kutch have all shown remarkable results in terms of community empowerment. In May, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in partnership with UNDP and UNESCO organised a consultation on community radio in Delhi, involving international experts and UN agencies. It was an important step forward and raised hope for a more enabling policy climate for genuine community radio to take root in India. At UNDP, we are convinced about the

potential inherent in community radio to afford voices to the voiceless and the less privileged sections of society. Can you share some landmark achievements this year for gender equality? One of the landmark achievements this year has been the inclusion of gender budgeting in the Union Budget of 2005-06. This year’s Union Budget proposals include a separate statement on gender sensitivities of budgetary allocations under 10 different demands for grants. The total amount is Rs. 143,790 million (approx. USD 3343 million). Henceforth, all government departments will be required to present gender budgets. Gender-sensitive budgeting, as part of the larger impact of the macro policies on gender, is one of the focus areas of UNDP’s work on gender. What role is UNIFEM playing to achieve MDG3 and how far is it using ICTs in its programmes? UNIFEM is advocating on MDG Goal 3 in conjunction with advocacy on Beijing + 10 and CEDAW processes in the region. This includes facilitating high-level policy advocacy, multi-stakeholder dialogues and roundtables on development effectiveness in the context of MDGs in South Asia. In Nepal, there are plans to support establishment of a Gender Management system in the national planning processes. UNIFEM and the Confederation of Indian Industry will be enhancing the effective utilisation of gendered guidelines on ICT and will support regional roundtables for empowering women in the ICT sector. Have any government bodies like National Commission for Woman undertaken any specific activities to attain MDG3? In view of their mandate, all their activities, directly or indirectly promote gender equality (MDG 3). The NCW does not however, undertake projects. It plays a watchdog role in support of women’s rights. What is your budget for gender and ICT programmes in India? It is difficult to put a dollar figure to our work on Gender and ICT because both of these are cross cutting. Gender is mainstreamed into the work of the India country office not only in the programmes/ projects that are supported but also within the organisation and ICTs are an important tool in our programme strategy. i4d | March 2005

OVERVIEW

Gender budgeting Budgets and financial allocations for development made by governments often do not have specific allocations for gender issues. Nor are they sensitively budgeted to the needs of women. In order for women’s groups to advocate for change, not only do they have to move from the basic needs to a basic rights perspective but also move from being recipients of services to getting access and control over the resources needed to achieve equality. In a comprehensive paper review of “Gender Budgeting, the problems and perspectives”, presented by John R. Bartle from the School of Public Administration, University of Nebraska, Omaha and Marilyn Marks Rubin, John Jay College, City University of New York, in 2002, several country analyses were provided. These have been an eye-opener for many who wish to learn more about gender budgeting.

Learning from other country initiatives

In Spain, the government of the Basque Country has shown interest in introducing a gender sensitive budget approach. In 2000 there were two initiatives, which moved the process forward. The Basque Country’s women’s office, Emakunde, in partnership with the education information technology company, Infopolis, established a virtual library of materials on gender budgets. These materials are available on the web (www.infopolis.es/usuarios/ bibliotec.htm). In addition, Rhonda Sharp was invited to provide a briefing on gender budgets to the President of the Basque Country, his Finance Minister and senior government officials. In Sri Lanka, five ministries were selected in 1998 to examine the gender impact of recurrent spending, as well as the gender distribution of public sector employment. One common finding was “that a proper mechanism is to be developed to collect data disaggregated by gender”. The procedures and mechanisms identified in this study to gather information, as a continuous process will be used for future policy formulation. Commonwealth Secretariat (ComSec) conducted and published the findings in the following year, it is reported that measures to reduce gender bias have been undertaken in the educational, agricultural and industrial sectors.

The first gender budget exercise was undertaken in Australia in 1984. It resulted in a comprehensive analysis of federal expenditures (but not revenues). However this effort was shut down in 1996. One of the lessons of the Australian case is that gender sensitive budgeting exercises that are not ‘owned’ widely by civil society groups are vulnerable to ideological shifts within the state. In the Philippines, since 1994, agencies are required to allocate at least International agencies 5% of their budgets to “the developsupport initiatives ment, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of gender and A symbol of global solidarity and mutual learning Various International agencies have development plans.” A national been supporting partners to develop commission has published an analysis of expenditures for 19 gender budgets in national programmes. The Commonwealth agencies. Issues that had to be addressed were: need for technical Secretariat (ComSec) has had an explicit programme of support for assistance, difficulty in monitoring agency performance, and gender budget initiatives since 1996. The United Nations resistance from budget officers. Development Fund for Women (Unifem) has not had an explicit The process in South Africa began in 1997, with the participa- programme but has, nevertheless, provided support of various kinds tion of several agencies, including revenue collection as well as spend- under other programme headings. The International Development ing agencies. Measures to improve data collection were necessary. Research Centre (IDRC) has more recently become interested in “The experience of South Africa indicates that engendering the supporting these initiatives, and collaborated with ComSec and national budget is a process which has to be developed over a Unifem in raising money for, and planning, continued support. period of time.” However, it does appear to be having an impact, The above are the leaders in the field of gender budgeting. both in statements of the Director-General of Finance and in the The overall objective of the partners’ programme is ‘to advocate gender-sensitive national budget address. The budget, especially for and support the engendering of economic governance and relating to spending, are disaggregated by gender. “This aim is to leadership in order to increase women’s participation in focus attention increasingly to government outputs and the impact decision-making processes that shape their lives and to respond to of government expenditure.” challenges emerging from the process of globalisation’. March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

As gender budgets have been implemented, the developing strategies have been: • To improve the analytical tools and sources of data to justify changes in the distribution of both revenues and expenditures between the genders, and • To mobilise social groups to become informed and persuasive advocates. It is hoped that these two strategies will be mutually reinforcing. Gender budgets are intensely political processes. Over 40 countries around the world have responded to norms of preparing and presenting gender sensitive budgets. Looking at the impact and reach to women is the central goal of such gender sensitive budgets. Since the stakeholders for the advocacy of gender budgets are many, it would be a good idea to begin processes that are informed and sufficient capacity is built at various levels to ensure that the countries initiating gender budgeting programmes for advocacy or advise happen within and outside the governments and are built through intense research and learning from the lessons of other countries. Debbie Budlender, representing Community Agency for Social Enquiry, South Africa is an expert who has worked and supported gender budgeting programmes in at least ten countries, recently conducted a comprehensive review, case studies and analysis, entitled ‘Review of Gender Budget Initiatives’. This review is a valuable resource for projects and organisations, which are interested in learning the global scenario and adopting the methodology for developing the programmes in their own countries. http://www.internationalbudget.org/resources/library/ GenderBudget.pdf

India presents its first gender-budget In India, of the 496 million women, roughly 273 million are old enough to vote, according to a report published by the weekly India Today on the day Indian government presented its budget to the Parliament on February 28, 2005. For the first time this year, the budget proposal presented by the Finance Minister,

Women activists have been demanding the following: • The employment Guarantee Scheme should benefit at least 40 per cent women • Of every Rs.100 of public sending, women get 87 paise. This must rise 40 per cent • More fund for shelter for single women and those affected by domestic violence • Tax sops for single women, women heads of families. More pensions for widows • Rural development programmes benefits only two out of 10 women • Women dominate the work force in unorganised sector. New social security schemes for them imperative

P. Chidambaram was a welcome one. It promised India’s first gender-sensitive budget. In ten demands for grants, the minister made a provision in budgetary expenditure for 2005-06 to the tune of INR 143,790 million (approx USD 3343 million). However, the women’s groups in India have responded critically, commenting that wide-ranging consultations with women’s groups are needed. Women’s activists have criticised the sops and tokenism that have come by way of cooking gas prices or lower duties for imported cooking vegetable oils. They say it misleads the public.

The background to this year’s gender budget was a study done by Ashok Lahiri, the current economic adviser to the Finance Minister, in which it is mentioned that in real terms, women get as little as one per cent share of the budgetary allocations. The Lahiri report’s experts say, that it demystifies the budgetary allocations, and gender budgeting lays stress on reprioritisation rather than an increase in overall public expenditure. This would mean that public spending would be evaluated and gender disaggregated expenditure analysis will be done. Both outputs and inputs are monitored. The above demand by activists and solutions offered are still not matched, but this year’s gender budget in India is surely a welcome beginning. Jayalakshmi Chittoor, jchittoor@csdms.org

The Finance Ministry has offered the following solutions: • Proposal is being considered specific allocations exist but women argue that they are too little • 18 ministries have been asked to submit gender wise expenditure for an action plan • New incentives for investment in hostels, shelters and tax deductions for hostel residents • New tax-saving instructions and concessions are being considered • Ministries will be asked to ensure that at least four out of 10 beneficiaries are women • Labour Ministry may be asked to set up a panel to look into the options

i4d | March 2005

Vol. III No. 3

March 2005

Information for development www.i4d.csdms.org

Gender Gender in journalism awards in Pakistan gets support from UNESCO The Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) seeks applications for the 2005 Gender in Journalism Awards, which honour excellence in gender sensitive reporting in the country. United Nations Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) supports the two awards, each carrying a cash prize of US$ 400 that will be given to Pakistani journalists. One award will recognise models for excellence and best practices in coverage of gender related issues. The second award honours outstanding coverage of any issue by a female journalist. Its aim is to promote role models for women entering or planning to enter the journalism field. Applications should be sent to the Pakistan Press Foundation, Press Centre, Shahrah Kamal Ataturk, Pakistan. For more information, contact: genderawards@pakistanpressfoundation.org or ppf@cyber.net.pk Source: http://portal.unesco.org

something that must be corrected. As WSIS moves from Geneva to Tunis, the gender caucus expects that financing ICT for development must include women’s development priorities as well as their information and communication rights.

swer this challenge, Digital Links has developed a product consisting of a refurbished laptop powered by a solar PV (photovoltaic) panel, used in conjunction with a car battery, which provides a reservoir of power for the computer.

Source: http://africa.rights.apc.org

Source: http://www.balancingact-africa.com

Give voice to the African rural UNESCO publishes studies on women ICT education The African regional preparatory conference for the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) has called on people to give more consideration and a voice to the rural women of Africa. African women continue to face uphill battles to get their voices and concerns heard in development matters, the workshop on ICTs and poverty reduction revealed when Salamatu Garba, national coordinator for the Women Farmers Advanced Network (WOFAN) presented a case study of women farmers of Kano in Nigeria. Her presentation showcased Africa as one of the most important, yet challenging areas for those who aim to achieve gender equality while using information technology as a tool in poverty reduction. Source: http://africa.rights.apc.org

Tunis agenda at WSIS sidelined gender issues: Say gender activists In Geneva, gender activists at the preparatory conference for the Tunis phase of the World Summit on the Information society (WSIS) are bitterly disappointed because their recommendations being ignored. A statement from the WSIS gender caucus says that mentions about the empowerment of women and gender equality in the text have been cut back. The Tunis Agenda for Action is completely silent on gender in all aspects of implementation and they find this silence unacceptable and March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

Education Digital links goes for digitisation of primary schools in Rwanda Digital Links, a London-based charity, in partnership with World Links to digitise primary schools in Rwanda. This collaboration brings together the two themes of delivering renewable energy powered education and communication to one of the most disadvantaged countries in Africa. Especially in rural areas, 94% of the schools have no electricity supply. To an-

The Asia-Pacific Programme on ICT in Education managed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Bangkok has just published two studies on ICT in education christened as ‘School Networking.’ ‘School Networking’ analyses the experiences of five Asian countries in networking schools, namely, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. This publication provides specific lessons learned in the use of SchoolNets to revolutionise education and highlights best practices, along with recommendations for further improvements. Source: http://portal.unesco.org

‘Easylearning’ launched in India Unleashing of a new era in the field of education, information and skills development in India, Asad U Shah, Director Strategic Alliances of ICWFD (International Commission on Workforce Development (ICWFD.ORG) has launched ‘Easylearning’ in Bangalore. ‘Easylearning’ is a unique initiative to provide self-sustainable IT and Professional Development skills training to the masses. He has said that this distribution programme will be a unique opportunity for all key players to develop a shared vision of ways to bridge the digital divide. Source: http://www.deccanherald.com

The i4d News

34 AP villages of India to be covered by the ‘Knowledge Corridor’ The Government of Andhra Pradesh has decided to create a ‘Knowledge Corridor’ that would be spread across 20,000 acres in 34 revenue villages. The ‘Knowledge Corridor’ would encompass industries and services in the areas of information technology, biotechnology and financial services. The corridor would spread from Khanamet village near Hyderabad to Kollur village. While speaking at a meeting organised by the Hyderabad Software Exporters Association, the Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy said that a unique ‘Knowledge Corridor’ aimed at further strengthening and consolidating on the advantages of technology sector in the state. He also said that the IT policy, to be put up before the Cabinet slated to meet on March 4, would provide support to the technology sector with new set of guidelines and norms. “While the government will continue to focus on sectors such as agriculture and irrigation, we will continue to provide the much necessary support and infrastructure for technology sector as well”, he said. The `Knowledge Corridor’ will be complemented by an eight-lane 160-km ring road along with 12 satellite towns dotting the network. Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

Massachusetts Institute of Technology to bridge the digital divide in developing countries In United States, the researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has planned to provide laptops costing US$100 to 100-200 million students in the developing world by 2006. But bridging the digital divide between rich and poor countries is not just about making a cheap product; it is also about making it usable in areas that have unstable electricity supplies, poor transport systems, and few trained computer technicians. The scientists of Massachusetts Institute of Technology aim to overcome these problems. They are developing innovative ways of powering the machines, such as through the action of typing. The laptops are also being designed to be as robust as military equipment to prevent them being damaged in transit on poor roads. Source: http://www.scidev.net

Community Radio Delhi to avail its first community radio to fight against natural disasters The Indian national capital of New Delhi, will soon be availing its first community radio positioned at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC).

The community radio will initially cover a radius of 8-10 kilometres in and around IIMC. After the tsunami disaster, the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry has decided to set up community radio stations to broadcast news and alerts about imminent natural calamities. Source: www.thestatesman.net

Agriculture ICT to enhance the agricultural productivity of Philippines The Philippine Council for Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCARRD), a sectoral council of the Department of Science and Technology, is providing an overall coordination and administration of knowledge-based products, services and systems in attempt to boost up the applications of ICTs in the farming sector. DOST-PCARRD, Department of Land Reform (DLR), Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) and Department of Agriculture – Philippine Rice Research Institute (DA-PhilRice) have jointly developed an ICT-based programme entitled ‘Knowledge Networking Towards Enterprising Agricultural Communities,’ or K-Agrinet. The K-Agrinet has developed four project areas of intervention, namely e-Consortia; and e-Farm, initiated by DOST-PCARRD; Open

Academy for Philippine Agriculture, initiated by DA-PhilRice; and e-Agrikultura, initiated by DLR and DAP. DOST-PCARRD is providing an integrated and interactive website, where all services and links can be done through a single central portal. The site will make all transactional services offered by the council available online. Source: http://www.abscbnnews.com

e-Governance Multimedia Telecare Centre to provide ICT services to people In Philippines, the President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has inaugurated the Multimedia Telecare Centre of Lapu-Lapu City which is one of the 5,000 e-Governance terminals that interconnect national and global agencies. The President has remarked that this is important because it will help people to fight against poverty and terrorism. The City Mayor has remarked that the Centre will provide the general public with affordable access to a variety of ICT services such as Internet, e-mail, fax, future voice over IP, distance learning and other online community-based services. Source: http://www.mb.com.ph

‘e-Tout’, the middleman in the electronic society The professor of the College of Business Administration, University of Rhode Island, Nikhilesh Dholakia, has viewed in his article that on his recent visit to India, a colleague narrated this tale of a villager dealing with the district-level government bureaucracy. In this particular district of Madhya Pradesh (MP), an Indian state, the enlightened district collector had converted a lot of government records into electronic formats. With such conversion, it had become possible to deliver a variety of government services using the Internet. As happens often in developing nations like India, the newly available systems were too complex for most of the rural users. In this district, a few ‘agents’ essentially gobetween shopkeepers, helping the users negotiate the complex field of e-Government services—had sprung up. For a small and reasonable fee, these ‘e-Touts’ helped the villagers fill out web-enabled forms, send emails, and receive and print confirmatory documents. The writer’s colleague i4d | March 2005

The i4d News visited the storefront of one of these ‘eTouts’. Along with vending of typical sundries and provisions, and operating the long distance pay phone booths, now the store owner had become an ‘e-Tout’ and offered e-Government services. Source: http://www.financialexpress.com

Malaysian government using ICT to bridge the digital divide The Malaysian government has declared that more than 12 million Malaysians should be having access to computers by 2015. This is the government’s long-term target to bring ICT to the common folk. Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has said that presently, only 5.5 million people had access to computers. He also said that the government and Multimedia Super Corridor-status companies were also working together to narrow the ‘digital divide’ among people. The Multimedia Development Corporation and the Education Ministry were also working towards providing ICT facilities to marginalised communities. By 2008, the government is hoping to provide 2.8 million people in rural areas with training and access to ICT through the Pusat Internet Desa (or Rural Internet Centre) programme. Source: http://www.nst.com.my

‘Digital Oman’ - an initiative to connect Oman’s ICT community The Oman Establishment for Press, News, Publication and Advertising (OEPNPA) in partnership with Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM) and the Information Technology Technical Secretariat (ITTS) at the Ministry of National Economy will launch the largest and most exciting ICT magazine christened as ‘Digital Oman’ to hit Oman’s ICT community. Mohammed Al Ghassani, Director, KOM, has remarked that ‘Digital Oman’ will be 48 pages of high-performance material, covering only the best the ICT industry has to offer. With over a dozen domestic contributors, authoritative features will provide up-to-date stories and opinions from Oman and around the world and give readers an inside look at the Sultanate’s ICT landscape and the people driving its development. The quarterly, bilingual publication is intended to connect Oman’s March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

technopreneurs, ICT and government leaders. Indeed, with its circulation via The Oman Daily Observer and its Arabic sister daily, Oman. Source: http://www.ameinfo.com

Now, handicraft workers of India can avail electronic identity cards The Union textile ministry of India has introduced electronic identity cards to artisans across the country to ensure their equal participation and transparency in its various schemes. Union Textiles Minister, Shankarsinh Vahgela, while inaugurating a three-day workshop, ‘Marketing, Communication and Review,’ in Noida, a city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, has said that a unique code will be provided to the artisans through the card which can subsequently be connected with assistance received by artisans through schemes been implemented by the Development Commissioner of handicrafts. Source: http://www.asianage.com

Telecom World Bank’s approval of $11 million for the expansion of rural telecommunication services In Uganda, the World Bank (WB) has approved $6m for the expansion of telecommunication services in rural and commercially-unviable areas. The Uganda Communication Commission’s Technical Director, Patrick Mwesigwa, while attending the Africa regional

conference for World Society for Information Sciences at Accra International Conference Centre in Ghana recently, has announced that earlier, the WB has provided a $5m grant for the development of ICT, but it has increased funding by $6m to reach $11m. Source: http://allafrica.com

RailTel to go for broadband and long distance telephony in India Lalu Prasad Yadav, the Union Minister for Railways, while introducing the budget in Parliament said that the Railway’s telecom venture, RailTel Corporation, is embarking into the broadband and long distance telephony segment. The company is planning to increase its optic fibre cable network from 26,000-route km to 40,000 km by 2008 and is increasing its capacity to 2.5 giga bits per second to offer high speed broadband and Internet services. “Once the ongoing process of upgrading the capacity of the optic fibre cable network from STM-4 to STM-16 over 23,000 km is completed in June 2005, RailTels’ revenue earning capability will increase beyond expectations. RailTel will make every effort to exploit this vast network through public private partnership by means of joint venture, either through leasing or channel partner,” he said . RailTel has completed connectivity of four metros and four mini-metros. This apart, the present network already provides connectivity to 180 cities and 1,750 railway stations. RailTel has reported revenues of Rs 26 crore for the year 2003-04. Source: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com

‘Mission 2007’ got a boost by the Finance Minister Endorsing the concept of ‘Mission 2007’ of making every village a knowledge centre, the Government of India has made a formal announcement of support to Mission 2007 in its Union Budget 2005-06 by allocating Rs 100 cr through NABARD, Rs 1200 cr through USO fund and of providing rural credit and Indebtedness through rural kiosk. The Finance Minister, P.Chidambaram, has said that the government intends to continue with its effort to turn the focus of commercial banks, Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) and cooperative banks towards providing credit, especially production credit, to rural households and farm households. Source: http://indiabudget.nic.in

The i4d News

Talking ATM to be launched soon to benefit rur rural al India With the help of a technology called voice recognition-NLP (Natural Language Processing), a software programme enables the device to convert voice into digital data. This in turn, helps the Automated Teller Machine(ATM) to perform the necessary functions. IBM India partner and head - financial services and technology strategy business consulting services, Ravi Trivedy has said that the vast rural base of India is the obvious target. IBM has helped in building the technology, which in turn is given out to the banks. He also said that they are carrying out extensive research in this area, at their research labs in conjunction with other companies. Source: http://www.financialexpress.com

European Commission to boost up rural telecommunications of Mozambique The European Commission is providing $10.9 million for the rehabilitation of the telecommunications networks in the Southern Mozambican provinces of Gaza and Inhambane. The project consists of rehabilitating rural telecommunications networks based on the existing transmission centres in the towns of Xai-Xai, Chokwe and Chibuto in Gaza, and Inhambane City, Vilanculos and Massinga in Inhambane. The new infrastructure, using radio techniques, will allow phone calls to Chicualacauala, Pafuri, Massingir, Mabalane, Mazivila, Mandlakazi and Chigubo in Gaza, and to Vila Franca do Save, Machanga, Mapinhane, Mabote and Pomene in Inhambane. Source: http://allafrica.com

Digital Culture

occasionally hitting the islands, have taken their toll and the introduction of digital technologies is rendering the analogue tapes obsolete. During the very practically oriented workshop Karl Lippe, together with SBC’s librarians, developed a strategy to digitise the remaining analogue audiotapes. Source: http://portal.unesco.org

New Zealand’s Culture and Heritage Ministry launches online encyclopedia The Ministry for Culture and Heritage of New Zealand has developed a new online encyclopedia christened as ‘Te Ara’. The encyclopedia unveils a journey of discovery. It is a comprehensive guide to New Zealand’s natural environment, history, culture and government through interlinking image trails. Source: http://www.teara.govt.nz

Open Source

Samoa’s audiotapes: Journey from analogue to digital

SIPA aims to increase open source software usage

Karl Lippe, Sound Engineer of Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) had stated at the 7 days workshop for Samoa Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) from 27 January to 4 February in Apia that Samoa Broadcasting Corporation is the only institution in the Pacific island state, which preserves sound documents of the island’s history and heritage. The archive’s 2500 tapes contain recordings of the country’s music and culture as well as political and religious events of more than 40 years of Samoa’s history. However, these documents are highly endangered. Cyclones, which are

The Thai Software Industry Promotion Agency (SIPA) is trying to increase the usage of open source software in government departments, NGOs and universities across Thailand. Their aim is to encourage governments and other organisations to start using open source software for server communication applications and for desktop office productivity applications, and to migrate to other applications. They have recommended that schools and universities should run introductory open source computer courses and also suggested that a Linux professional certification programme should be

set up to increase open source skills among people. Source: http://news.zdnet.co.uk

Wireless C-DOT, Vanu come together for wireless expansion in rural India The Center for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) and the Cambridge-based Vanu Inc. have entered into a partnership to introduce the latter’s Anywave Software Radio GSM Base Station technology, as an integral component in wireless access and broadband solutions for rural India’s communication needs. Vanu Inc., developer of software radio solutions, has developed Anywave Base Station, a US Federal Communications Commission Certified Software radio. The partnership will focus on extending CDOT’s rural network infrastructure solution to provide wireless capability through Vanu’s software radio approach to wireless communications. Source: http://www.ciol.com

General i4d, the media partner of Doors of Perception 8 conference Doors of Perception: 8 is an innovative information design conference which will be held in New Delhi from March 20th- 25th at the India Habitat Centre. Doors of Perception: 8 is brought to India for the first time by the Doors of Perception Foundation, Occitania (The Netherlands) and the Center for Knowledge Societies, an arm of CKS Consulting Pvt. Ltd. Doors of Perception is both a conference and knowledge network, which brings together innovators, entrepreneurs, educators, and designers in the Information and Communication technology (ICT) space. The endeavour is to imagine alternative and sustainable futures, and set new agendas for design in order to realise them. The conference explores next-generation service and product concepts, and helps share insights, tools, and knowledge unlike nearly all other Internet and design events. Details of the conference can be found at http://doors8delhi.doorsofperception.com i4d | March 2005

M AINSTREAMING W OMEN

Rural eSeva: Women learn and operate ICT The district West Godavari in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India has a total population of over 3.8 million out of which over 70% (2.1 million) lives in rural areas. The women population in this district, which is over 1.8 million is further marginalised than their male counterparts. The e Seva project established Web enabled rural kiosks termed e Seva centres at the mandal (a sub district unit of administration) level, was initiated with twin objectives of helping the rural women as information leaders to bridge the gender divide and providing people of the district various C2C (citizen-to-citizen) and C2G (citizen-to-government) services. The e Seva centres are run and managed by the women self help groups. It not only builds their confidence and empowers them economically but also provide a virtual meeting place and a focal point for synergising and pooling in their efforts. Each self help group also use project computer for maintaining the internal lending records and also to enter into online transactions with their banks. They are trained to handle the computer, the package and therefore are positioned as information intermediaries and helps in their bargaining power over the men. Most of these self help groups come from the poorest segments of the society and the project helps them achieve economic independence. With almost over 80 kiosks operating in the district, the project has been able to carry out more than 300000 transactions relating

to various C2C and G2C services, deliver 1,20,000 certificates while an amount of over Rs 50 million have been collected as electricity bills. The eSeva centres runs on a district portal that allows access to various citizen centric services. These services range from the issuance of various certificates to getting information about various programmes to online marriage bureau. All the centres are being run on commercially viable lines and user charges are collected for the services rendered by the centres. The equipment provided to each centre has also been given on finance through the banks. An upfront subsidy has also been given in the beginning to minimize the burden on the women groups. Once the centre is established, the groups are in a position to not just meet the incidental expenses but are also in a position to repay their commitments and to make adequate returns for consumption and ploughing back into the project. This therefore ensures that each stakeholder gets adequate returns, which would sustain their interest in the continuance of the project. The project is an initiative taken by the district administration in the year 2002 and has a flexible management structure. The project is being directly monitored and headed at the level of the District Collector. More information can be found at www.westgodavari.org or writing to Sajay Jaju at sjaju1@rediffmail.com

Nabanna: Information networks for women Nabanna is an ICT initiative by an organisation called Change Initiatives in the Indian State of West Bengal. This initiative seeks to empower poor women who have been unable to fulfil even basic needs because of their lack to information and skills, by building structured local communication networks that promote access to information or provide spaces for sharing information and knowledge. Nabanna’s vision is to energise the community in Baduria Municipality, a rural region in North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, by empowering poor women to organize and use – to ‘harvest’ information. Nabanna is a Bengali word literally meaning first rice. Rice is more than a staple in Bengal and it tends to symbolize agriculture and food. Under the project five ICT centres have been established in Baduria and nearby areas. With two desktops, printer and Internet facility these have become learning centres where the women are taught basic computer skills and how to use MS-Office and DTP applications. Two to three women from each of the municipality’s 17 wards were identified as information agents. These women participate in the training forming the backbone of the network. Each

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information agent leads an information group, comprised of ten women who are recruited from their local neighbourhood. The information agents are wither students or housewives. The information groups meet once in a week to discuss issues such as livelihood, agriculture, health and education. In this initiative, UNESCO and National Informatics Centre (NIC) have been the major partners. NIC provided the web-based interface, eNRICH. The women also learn how to search for information in eNRICH and offline dissemination of eNRICH content takes place meetings of information groups, publication of a community newspaper and setting up of bulletin boards in the houses of beneficiaries. Nabanna is not just instilling confidence and bringing respect for women in society but it is fulfilling their practical needs through innovative use of ICTs for addressing their concerns. Through ICT, these women are empowered and are able to network with other women. They are able to generate content resources, deliver them and use what others have uploaded into eNRICH database. More information can be found in the article published in i4d Vol.II No.5 May 2004.

G ENDER EVALUATION M ETHODOLOGY (GEM)

A learning tool for empowerment Background

Navigating the GEM online tool and resource

Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM) is an online guide for conducting gender evaluations of initiatives that use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for social change. The tool helps to assess if ICTs really improve women’s lives and gender relations as well as promote positive social change. As more and more projects on ICTs are being supported the world over, it becomes imperative to examine if they are indeed benefiting or accentuating existing gender biases and stereotyping of women.

Created under the creative commons license, the http:// www.apcwomen.org/gem/ is a free online and downloadable guide (provided due credits are given for use and adapting the learning resource) provides users with an overview of the evaluation process, explores gender and ICT issues, and outlines suggested strategies and methodologies for incorporating a gender analysis throughout the evaluation process. The programme has received support from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada, United National Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and UK Department for International Development (DFID, UK). The entire guide can be downloaded, and thus can become off-line tool for people who do not have continued or broadband connectivity. Once you have obtained the training, an online network linking up with the GEM Practitioner’s Network enables regular exchange of methodologies and ideas with other GEM for ICTs. Understanding GEM is the next section that one must familiarise oneself with to understand the philosophy, and the critical issues before beginning to use the GEM tool itself. The tool is a step-by-step guide to the methodology. GEM is not simply an evaluation tool. While it is a guide to integrate gender analysis and frameworks into evaluation of ICTs for social change projects, it can be a useful tool for project planning as well. It aims to promote positive change at the individual, organisational, community and broader social levels. It is an evolving tool. With experiences of the practitioners constantly providing inputs and feedback, and case stories, the dynamic tool enables the users to walk through different experiences throughout the process of learning and orienting themselves. For women, the accessibility of ICTs requires adequate equipment, information, financing, organisation, training and time. GEM provides a number of services. Since they have trained a number of people and institutions around the world, a pool of facilitators and consultants are able to provide a number of GEM services. They include: • Training for organisation members on the use of GEM and carrying out gender evaluation of ICT projects • Introductory workshops on gender and ICTs • Introductory workshops on gender evaluation of ICTs • On-site or online consultancy for on-going evaluations using GEM • Application of the GEM framework in planning, research, and assessment of development initiatives

APC’s Women’s Networking Support Programme The Association of Progressive Communication’s Women’s Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP) offers the GEM Tool as part of its work in Gender and ICT learning and advocacy. The APC WNSP is an international network of individual women and women’s organisations promoting gender equality in the design, implementation, access and use of ICTs (Information and Communications Technologies) and in the policy decisions and frameworks that regulate them. The programme was initiated in 1995. Four years later, they initiated a two year research, training, resources and documentation project called ‘Lessons Learned.’ The goals of the programme are: • to promote the consideration and incorporation of gender in ICT policy-making bodies and forums • to initiate and implement research activities in the field of gender and ICTs • to advance the body of knowledge, understanding, and skills in the field of gender and ICTs by implementing training activities • to facilitate access to information resources in the field of gender and ICTs

i4d | March 2005

GEM has been used as a framework in: • Mainstreaming gender in national ICT policy development plans • Integrating a gender perspective in e-Governance and political participation programs • Developing a framework for gender and ICT research GEM tool underwent a 14 months long process of evaluation among the partners, and began in October 2002. The parameters that the partners tested were some common issues among all projects and they asked these basic questions: • How are women using ICTs? • What are the barriers they encounter? • What are the benefits they reap from ICTs? How are these different from the use, barriers and benefits gained of the men? The issues that emerged from these were discussed in a workshop held in The Philippines. The feedback and experiences are presented under three themes: ICT and traditional gender roles; Gender roles in ICT development; and ICTs and women’s movements. An extensive bibliography that has been put together for further reading have been well classified into four different sub-themes: • defining the problem; • situation analysis and emerging trends; • WNSP gender and ICT analysis framework; • WNSP gender evaluation approach. This is a huge, well organised repository of knowledge. Another section that provides navigation assistance is the site map. The FAQ segment (frequently asked questions) clears doubts about a number of issues as the learner walks through the learning process, using this online tool. To help understand commonly used terminology, the glossary section provides a valuable resource. We have published selection from this glossary segment in this issue (see pages 30-32) The GEM evaluation methodology is seven-steps guide which can be implemented in three phases.

Advancing women’s rights One of the most valuable uses of ICT within the women’s movement is in advancing of women’s rights through women’s information activities and advocacy campaigns on a range of women’s issues. As such, GEM selected several projects from various regions to learn how effectively ICT tools have been used. Projects evaluated included specific e-Bulletins, radio programmes and e-Lists by

women’s information centers like ModemMujer in Mexico, Karat Coalition based in Poland, Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) and regional AMARC networks in Africa and Latin America. All of these organisations designed and conducted surveys among their audience to gauge the effectiveness of their medium as well as content. For many of them, the GEM evaluation gave them their first opportunity to systematically ask for feedback from their public. Overall, the survey results were encouraging in validating the value of the information to women in their localities or region. For example, Karat Coalition received feedback that information from the region and local social movement groups are generally difficult to collect. A lot of women’s activists mentioned their e-Bulletin as a very important component of their daily work, keeping them informed about the main initiatives, trends in the region and helping them to learn new experiences, shape objectives for their future activities, find new partners and give them ideas for the development of their NGOs. Most of the women activists, especially those from the European Union candidate countries, are also looking for information about the EU enlargement process that directly impacts on the economic and political situation in that region. A common limitation noted in many instances is the need for more content translated into major regional languages or local languages. Most regions are not linguistically homogeneous; therefore language should be a key indicator that measures accessibility of information. These and other examples, and worksheets guide the learners and practitioners to adapt the generic methodology to suit their own project or locale-specific needs. GEM is organising a training workshop in May 7 - 8, 2005 in conjunction with the GKP international forum on advancing ICT solutions for development through cross-sector partnership and GKP annual general meeting in Cairo, Egypt. Applications closed on April 4, 2005. Write to chat@apcwomen.org for further details and sending your applications. Summarised by Jayalakshmi Chittoor jchittoor@csdms.org

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G LOSSARY

Gender related terms We acknowledge the immensely valuable online glossary that is available on: http://www.apcwomen.org/gem/glossary/ index.htm. Some key terms have been extracted for the offline readers of i4d magazine. For more terminologies, please use the links given in the box at the end of this section and surf along. i4d’s friend, Cheekay Cinco cheekay@apcwomen.org, who has been our link to the APC Women team, has provided conceptual clarity to the editorial team members. We hope you all benefit too.

Empowerment The idea of power is at the root of the term empowerment. Power must be understood as working at different levels, including the institutional, the household and the individual. Empowerment is sometimes described as being about the ability to make choices, but it must also involve being able to shape what choices are on offer. Empowerment corresponds to women challenging existing power structures, which subordinate women. As such, what is seen as empowering in one context may not be in another Empowerment is not about reversing existing power hierarchies but rather about empowering women and/or women’s groups to make their own choices, to speak out on their own behalf and to control their own lives (Wieringa, 1994) http://www.awid.org/ywl/glossary/?term=Empowerment

Evaluation A process by which a strategy, issue, or relationship is studied and assessed in-depth. (IDRC, Outcome Mapping) http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-28407-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

Feminism Feminism is a movement aimed at critiqueing and debunking patriarchal structures which promote male power and privilege. Its ideology is based on the principles of gender equality and social justice. It seeks to transform the world by mobilisation and resistance to women’s oppression and advancing alternative ideals of justice and anti-sexism. The women’s liberation movement, for example, was formed by women who adopted the idea that women were oppressed in the same way that colonised people were, therefore women needed to be freed from oppression, not just given equal rights. Feminism also requires an understanding or recognition that rights of women should be equal to men. However, interpretations of what equality means differs across cultures, races, religions, ages, and genders. One of the challenges feminism faces are differences in feminist ideologies. Feminism is a multiple term and thus should be conceptualised as plural, in other words, Feminisms. http://www.awid.org/ywl/glossary/index.php?term=Feminism

Gender The term gender refers to culturally based expectations of the roles and behaviours of men and women. The term distinguishes the

socially constructed from the biologically determined aspects of being male and female. Sex identifies the biological difference between men and women. Gender identifies the social relations between men and women. It therefore refers not to men and women but to the relationship between them, and the way this is socially constructed. Gender relations are contextually specific and often change in response to altering circumstances. (Moser 1993:230, from Navigating Gender) http://global.finland.fi/julkaisut/taustat/ nav_gender/; and http://www.ifad.org/gender/glossary.htm

Gender analysis The systematic gathering and examination of information on gender differences and social relations in order to identify, understand and redress inequities based on gender. Gender analysis is a valuable descriptive and diagnostic tool for development planners and crucial to gender mainstreaming efforts. The methodology and components of gender analysis are shaped by how gender issues are understood in the institution concerned. There are a number of different approaches to gender analysis.Gender and Development: Concepts and Definitions http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/reports/re55.pdf

Gender awareness (Gender consciousness) This is the ability to identify problems arising from gender inequality and discrimination, even if these are not very evident on the surface, or are ‘hidden’ - i.e. are not a part of the commonly accepted explanation of what and where the problem lies. http://members.tripod.com/anansiweb/genderissues.htm

Gender blindness Gender-blindness refers to a failure to identify or acknowledge difference on the basis of gender where it is significant. It can be a person, policy, or an institution that does not recognise that gender is an essential determinant of the life choices available to us in society.(Parker 1993:74)

Gender budgets A variety of processes and tools that attempt to assess the impact of government budgets, mainly at the national level, on different groups of men and women, through recognising the ways in which gender relations underpin society and the economy. Gender or women’s budget initiatives are not separate budgets for women. They include analysis of gender-targeted allocations, such as special i4d | March 2005

programmes targeting women; they disaggregate by gender the impact of mainstream spending across all sectors and services; and they review equal opportunity policies and allocations within government services. Ames et al, cited in Maclean, H., et. al. (2004). Globalisation, gender and health: Research-to-policy interface. Unpublished manuscript. A working paper prepared for the African online discussion forum, “Globalisation, Gender & Health” (January 26-February 10, 2004). Sponsored by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Gender and Health. http:// www.awid.org/ywl/glossary/index.php?term=Gender%20budgets

Gender mainstreaming Gender mainstreaming implies assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action, including legislation, and ensuring that both women’s and men’s concerns and experiences are taken fully into account in the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of all development activities. The aim is to develop interventions that overcome barriers preventing men and women from having equal access to the resources and services they need to improve their livelihoods.

Gender disaggregated information Information differentiated on the basis of what pertains to women and their roles, and to men and their roles.

Gender equality Gender equality requires equal enjoyment by women and men of socially-valued goods, opportunities, resources and rewards. Gender equality does not mean that men and women become the same, but that their opportunities and life chances are equal. The emphasis on gender equality and women’s empowerment does not presume a particular model of gender equality for all societies and cultures, but reflects a concern that women and men have equal opportunities to make choices about what gender equality means and work in partnership to achieve it. Because of current disparities, equal treatment of women and men is insufficient as a strategy for gender equality. Equal treatment in the context of inequalities can mean the perpetuation of disparities. Achieving gender equality will require changes in institutional practices and social relations through which disparities are reinforced and sustained. It also requires a strong voice for women in shaping their societies. DAC Definition (from http:// www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/cida_ind.nsf/08700c460e686 fbe9852569 3b00831f31?OpenDocument) Source: DAC (Development Assistance Committee) Guidelines for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment in Development Co-Operation, Development Co-operation Guidelines Series, OECD, 1998. Internet address: http://www.oecd.org

Gender equity Gender equity means fairness of treatment for women and men, according to their respective needs. This may include equal treatment or treatment that is different but which is considered equivalent in terms of rights, benefits, obligations and opportunities. In the development context, a gender equity goal often requires builtin measures to compensate for the historical and social disadvantages of women.

Gender gap Gender gap is the observable (and often measurable) gap between women and men on some important socio-economic indicator (e.g. ownership of property, access to land, enrolment at school), which is seen to be unjust, and therefore presents the clear empirical evidence of the existence of a gender issue. March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

Policy A course or principle of action adopted or proposed by a government, business, party, or individual.

Practical gender needs Needs women identify in their socially accepted roles in society. PGNs do not challenge, although they rise out off, gender divisions of labour and women’s subordinate position in society. PGNs are a response to immediate perceived necessity, identified within a specific context. They are practical in nature and often concern inadequacies in living conditions such as water provision, health care and employment. See also Strategic gender needs. (Moser 1993: 230)

Sexism The oppression and/or exploitation of women based on gender. http://www.awid.org/ywl/glossary/index.php?term=Sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on gender. Like the other “isms,” sexism can be both personal and institutional. http://www.adl.org/children_holocaust/more_resources.asp

Stakeholders An individual, group or organisation that has something to gain or lose from involvement in a project. Having a stake often implies an element of risk: standing to gain or lose something, and possibly having to make some sort of investment (not necessarily money), in

order to obtain benefits from a project. Stakeholders are not simply ‘beneficiaries’. Those who stand to lose from a project are also stakeholders. (Moore et al. 1996:24)

Strategic gender needs It defines the needs, which women identify because of their subordinate position in the society. They vary according to particular contexts, related to gender divisions of labour, power and control, and may include such issues as legal rights, domestic violence, equal wages, and women’s control over their bodies. Meeting SGNs assists women to achieve greater equality and change existing roles, thereby challenging women’s subordinate position. (Moser 1993:231)

Women’s empowerment A ‘bottom-up’ process of transforming gender power relations, through individuals or groups developing awareness of women’s subordination and building their capacity to challenge it. Gender and Development: Terms and Concepts Hazel Reeves and Sally Baden, Bridge 2000. http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/reports/re55.pdf

For gender glossaries: AWID - Young Women and Leadership Glossary http://www. awid.org/ywl/glossary/index.php?letter=f Gender and Development: Terms and Concepts, Hazel Reeves and Sally Baden, Bridge 2000. http://www.bridge. ids.ac.uk/reports/re55.pdf Gender and Empowerment: Definitions, approaches and implications for policy. http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/Reports/re40c.pdf Navigating Gender http://global.finland.fi/julkaisut/taustat/nav_gender/ APC Women Gender Evaluation Methodology http://www.apcwomen.org/gem/glossary/index.htm

For evaluation: International Development and Research Center in Canada, Outcome Mapping Evaluation glossary http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-28407-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

Linuxchix Africa launches an organisation to position African women within the Free and Open Source (FOSS) movement Linuxchix Africa was formed in 2004 by African women and for African women. It is a chapter in Africa affiliated to Linuxchix worldwide. The aim of the African chapter is to help toward building the critical mass of Linux skills among African women, and to advocate for the use of Free and Open Source Software for the many community development challenges being faced by Africans, especially African women. Information is universally acknowledged to be a lynchpin of sustainable and equitable development. In Africa, however access to information is limited, and specially so for rural women. ICT, centred mostly on the Internet, provide potential to redress this imbalance. Women must also be the decision-makers and actors in the process of using new ICTs to accelerate African economic, social and political development. The challenges of Africa are well documented, with HIV/AIDS representing the most significant development challenge of our times. Community development can no longer be viewed in isolation but require multi-tiered, cross-sectoral, and well-coordinated approaches that are aligned to Information and Communications Technology (ICT).Without ICT, communities get left behind and are unable to take advantage of the social and economic benefits that come with ICT. This integration of ICT into social development programmes is often referred to as eDevelopment, eHealth and eLearning and represent models of ICT intervention in development, health and education respectively. With the advent of Free and Open Source Software, it has now become possible to make software available to people who would

otherwise not afford it. With FOSS, countries will no longer have to prioritise between poverty and the digital divide. Also since women are the ones mostly affected by poverty and HIV/AIDS, it is relevant that they be properly tooled and positioned to make that difference in their lives. Furthermore, ICT is still male dominated, more so the Open Source technical environment, so Linuxchix Africa will play a role as a catalyst that will demystify FOSS to the people who stand to benefit the most from it. For more information contact: Anna Badimo and Dorcas Muthoni Co-Founders Linuxchix Africa anna@cs.wits.ac.za dmuthoni@kenet.or.ke Visit at www.africalinuxchix.org and subscribe to chix@africalinuxchix.org i4d | March 2005

Books received ICT for Development

ICT4D-Connecting People for A Better World

Contributing to the Millennium Development Goals

Lessons, Innovations and Perspectives of Information and Communication Technologies in Development

Principal authors: Simon Batchelor, Soc Evangelista, Simon Hearn, Malcolm Peirce, Susan Sugden and Mike Webb (Big World). Publisher: The World Bank, 1818 H Street, NW Washington, DC 20433, USA, 96 Pages The book showcases lessons learned from seventeen infoDev Projects. The aim of this book is to create an explicitly available resource that offers descriptions of selected infoDev ICT for Development (ICT4D) projects and their impact on poverty. The book first presents case studies of a crosssection of projects funded by the infoDev core programme, followed by a comprehensive study and analysis of the impact and limits of those projects. The book is divided into three major sections. Section I consists of infoDev case studies. The total number of case studies mentioned in the paper is 17. Each case study is given under certain heads such as Abstract, Background, Impact/Results, Key Issues, Beneficiary Stories and Issues and Lessons. Key Issues are further divided into Target groups, Capacity building, Technology and Finance and Issues and Lessons are also divided into Challenges, Key factors/issues which led to poverty reduction outcomes, Future outlook and Stakeholder consultation. Section II covers an analysis of case studies, which is divided into certain sections. Functional use of ICT in infoDev Projects which cover the areas such as Information Technology (IT) training and telecentres, Networks and partnerships, e-Commerce, e-Services and Radio and Education; Contribution to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) under which 8 MDGs are presented along with their targets; Projects by Sector that consist of Education and training, Social development, Enabling environments-policy and regulatory frameworks, Business development, Health care, Agriculture and rural development and Infrastructure development. Section III analyses the Lessons Learned and the recommended guidelines for ICT for development projects. This study of infoDev’s experience has acknowledged some practical tasks as potentially useful to project designers, executing agencies and organisations and evaluators of ICT for development projects. March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

Edited by Gerolf Weigel and Daniele Waldburger Publisher: Swiss Agency for Development and Corporation (SDC) and Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), 287 Pages ISBN 3-03798-065-6 The book has raised certain qualms regarding the various tools of ICT such as computers, television, radio or mobile phones, are they effective instruments to empower people? Can they reduce poverty and improve lives? Or does ICT just intensify already existing inequalities and divisions in the world? In the book, the key innovators, leading CEOs, top level government leaders and grass-roots practitioners offer new and often surprising answers to these questions. In order to provide a synopsis of the actual state of the debate and the opportunities and risks of ICT for Development (ICT4D), the book covers lists of toolkits, web resources and publications related to solid implementation. The book is divided into three major parts. The first part offers an outline of the latest status and findings regarding opportunities and risks of ICT4D and poverty reduction. The second part focuses on the ICT4D forum proceedings: the themes and panels. It is further divided into certain sections such as, Innovating for Equitable Access, which involves a complex mix of technological, financial, economic, cultural and language factors. It is further divided into 3 parts, which talks about smart solutions to overcome the barriers to equitable access, Open Source Software and provides selected references, Fostering Policy and Implementation, which tells how can ICT make a difference in National Development Efforts, Enhancing Human Capacity and Empowerment through the potential of ICT, Strengthening Communication for Development. This part talks about the role of media in re-building post-conflict societies, Promoting Local Content and Knowledge, Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships for meeting the challenge of the Millennium Development Goals, ICT for Poverty Reduction, talks about the myths, realities and development implications, Innovative Financing Mechanisms tells how to venture beyond the ‘Forever Pilot Syndrome’. The third major part informs about the Reports to the World Summit on the Information Society organised by the Swiss Agency for Development and the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP).

Global ICT for Development Factbook Data, Contacts, Programmes Publisher: United Nations Development Programme One United Nations Plaza, New York, New York 10017, 146 Pages http://www.undp.org/ictd The Directory of ‘Data, Contacts, Programmes’ offers an overview of UNDP’s ICT4D regional programmes and the scope of its activities. The Directory talks about the Sub-Regional Resource Facilities (SURFs) and also Regional Programmes, which cover three areas. They are: • ICT for development in the Arab Region (ICTDAR) • Asia-Pacific Development Information Programme (APDIP) • RBEC Regional Support Centre The Directory also gives the data analysis by country. It presents a small brief about the country; it’s population, Human Development Index, Adult literacy rate, GNI per capita, Telephone mainlines, mobile phones, Personal computers, Internet users, National ICT strategy and e-Readiness Assessments. It also talks about the programme activities, the partners and the pipeline programmes.

This study, Up-scaling Pro-Poor ICT-Policies and Practices, looks into these issues in more detail. A first draft served as a background paper for an MSSRF/SDC-sponsored expert meeting in Chennai (India) from November 17–19, 2004 to discuss the recent lessons and trends in up-scaling propoor policies and practices. Based on these inputs, the authors further developed the arguments in this report. During the expert discussions a ‘Chennai Statement’ emerged, which presents the insights of the participating development practitioners and policy makers. The statement is intended to strengthen a multi-dimensional poverty reduction agenda for the implementation of the WSIS Principles and Action Plan, which is closely linked to the achievement of the MDGs. This statement can be read in i4d February issue 2005. The study discussed about the overall context, the challenge of MDGs and the ICT context. It also notifies the crosscutting themes of ICT for poverty reduction, the poverty reduction strategies and ICT, Pro-poor ICT environment, ICT empowerment and political participation of the poor, the opportunity of ICT and income generation by the poor and the Security of ICT and education of the poor. The study is concluded by presenting a global perspective, which showcased the lessons learned, MDG implications and the Messages for WSIS.

Who pays for the Information Society? Challenges and Issues on financing the Information Society

Up-Scaling Pro-Poor ICT-Policies and Practices Editor: A Review of Experience with Emphasis on Low Income Countries in Asia and Africa Authors: Richard Gerster Sonja Zimmermann Publisher: Swiss Agency for Development and Corporation (SDC) ICT4D-Information and Communication Technologies for Development, 61 Pages http://www.sdc.admin.ch/ict4d The Report has been supported by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and M S Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF). ICTs can make a difference in reducing poverty and reaching the MDGs. This potential, however, contrasts with the relatively modest role attributed to ICTs as a general enabler for reaching the MDGs and development goals in many cases. How do we explain this gap between the potential and the role assigned to ICT in poverty reduction and related development strategies? What key barriers impede the implementation of declarations? How can we multiply, up-scale, and imitate successful pilot projects and approaches?

Chantal Peyer (Ed.)

Publisher: Bread for all, 64 Pages http://www.ppp.ch/communication ISSN 1421 - 6272

The book is divided into two major parts. The first one has build up the critical analysis on the final report of the Task Force on Financial Mechanisms (TFFM), and the political and economic visions and paradigms that underlie the debates. The second part eventually provides the proposal to the analysis and discussion of official development aid policy. The contents of the book has initially discussed about the Context of the Debate, Financing Paradigms in the WSIS process and about the Telecommunications Regulation. The latter part raises the question of what are the alternatives for financing the information society from a development perspective? This part has also tried to offer the possible answers of the proposed question as it talks about the Official Development Aid and Multilateral Funds. Official Development Aid discussed about the illusions about existing resources and opportunities by global taxation and Multilateral Funds has talked about the world digital solidarity fund. i4d | March 2005

ICTD Project Newsletter programme should be designed in order for it to benefit and suit the local people. Needs assessment study thus helps to ascertain the demand for, willingness to use and possible outcomes of an ICT for development project. A formal needs assessment study can be undertaken over a period of 2-3 months or be completed in 4 weeks depending on the nature of the project, availability of resources and requirement of quantitative data.

Importance of needs assessment

Conducting a needs assessment study for ICT for development projects Needs assessment study helps to ascertain the specific requirements of a community and also to determine the stakeholdersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; willingness to use ICTs. Analysis of the data collected through needs assessment study will result in a well-defined project that addresses the needs of the target population. It will also lay a precise foundation for project execution and help decide the success metrics for quantitative measurement.

Needs assessment The use of Information and Communication Technologies for Development is on the rise. Government agencies and Non-governmental organisations alike are increasingly embarking upon projects that extensively use ICTs to achieve development goals. The emphasis on the use of new technologies for social development, in regions where even basic amenities and education are lacking has led to much furore over the possible social implications of mindlessly applying ICT for Development projects.

Though the number of projects that currently use ICT for development is in hundreds, the ICT for development domain in India is still at a nascent stage. In such an atmosphere, it is comparatively easier to disseminate information and promote use of best practices such as conducting a needs assessment study in projects that promulgate the use of ICTs to create social change. Needs assessment study involves assessment of the requirements of the target audience for whom the programme is being designed. In addition it will determine exactly how the

The necessity of a needs assessment study has not been recognised in India. The ones that have been conducted have not been available for general viewing or have not been documented properly. Thus the advantages and benefits of a needs assessment study for developmental projects are not understood. Though development projects are implemented with the sole motive of making a positive change in the lives of the communities, more often than not, the community is not consulted, and is left out of the project planning, development and implementation processes. It has been seen that a lack of initiative on part of the implementing agency to create in the community a desire to see the project implemented, often results in the failure of the project, as the people do not identify with the intervention provided. The benefits of conducting needs assessment study outweigh the effort spent in undertaking the exercise. By assessing the project and understanding the needs of the stakeholders, the needs assessment study paves the path to determine possible future issues and thus make suitable changes in the project plan. It helps to document the desires,

questions and thoughts of the community and pre-empt problems by ensuring community readiness. It helps to make the project more people-oriented and mobilises the community in the process, creating in them a sense of ownership. A needs assessment study has to factor the following: • Needs v/s Wants: Taking into account the existing social infrastructure, focus on what exactly is needed to empower the population for whom the project is being implemented. The project must provide them with something they need and not something they want merely for entertainment or social stature purposes. • Micro v/s Macro: Ascertain whether the ICT intervention provided will be more beneficial at a local micro-level (at the village) or at a macro level (district / state). Some ICT initiatives are too broad-based in their approach and do not pertain to the informational and other needs sought by the local people for whom the project is being implemented. • Technological v/s Social solutions: Often a technological solution for a social problem does not fully address the requirements of the population. An ICT for development project should be a simple technical interface, so that it can be easily used by the local providers and the population for whom the intervention is meant. It must not require an intensive investment in IT training by the locals, isolating them in the process, but should be designed in a user-friendly manner.

Pre needs assessment activities Needs assessment study is most often conducted with the intention to understand and then address the needs of the target audience. But the scope of ICT for development projects is large. The sociological impacts of projects that use information and communication

technologies to deliver services and provide interventions has largely not been documented or studied, and hence there is a need to pay special attention to the requirements in other project spheres. ICT for development projects have two areas in which Needs Assessment has to be undertaken • Social (Target Group) Needs Assessment • Project Needs Analysis (includes technology needs analysis, financial needs analysis and human resources needs analysis) This paper though deals with the primary area in which needs assessment must be conducted: Social (Target Group) Needs Assessment. Based on the results of the social needs assessment, the Project Needs Analysis must be studied and project plans suitably modified. Before undertaking a needs assessment study it is important to define the scope of the study. The scope of the study has to be clear with respect to:

1) Objective and description The objective of the study must be to identify current gaps in the project plan and better the delivery of the ICT solution. A SWOT Analysis is/can be carried out at this juncture to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the project plan and of the possible opportunities and threats to the project, taking into account the resources, skills and motivations of the organisation implementing the project. The strengths, opportunities, weaknesses and threats must be ascertained both from the perspective of the ICT project implementing organisation as well as from the communities. The needs assessment must ascertain what the community’s development priorities are. The study has to ensure that information and services provided through the project must be locally relevant and applicable. External policies and legal mandates that will affect the project should also be taken into account.

2) Target audiences There are various methods to determine sample size of population to be surveyed during the needs assessment. Simple sampling, Random Sampling, Stratified sampling, Systematic sampling are some of the techniques to arrive at sample size population. Random sampling is the easiest method but may not be the most accurate. Using a combination of sampling techniques for different needs assessment techniques would result in a broader section of the population being included in the needs assessment study.

3) Social inclusion People from all economic strata and social hierarchies must be randomly selected and included to ensure accurate representation of the entire population.

4) Allocation of personnel Most organisations opt for an external professional agency to undertake the whole needs assessment. But this could be a costly affair. And so if an organisation decides to undertake the study on their own, they must allocate the necessary human, financial and other resources for the exercise, as early as possible. It is essential to conduct needs assessment through people who are acquainted with the process. Tapping into community resources and selecting volunteers from within community can be beneficial, as the respondents are then more honest with their responses to the questions posed. Nevertheless it is essential that the personnel conducting the study, be it external consultants, internal staff or volunteers remain unbiased to ensure accuracy in the data collected.

5) Information • What are the services being offered? • What are their benefits? These two questions would act as the motivator based on which the target group would be studied. The motive of collection of data during needs assessment would be to ascertain what intervention/service is needed to enable the

population. It is thus essential to execute the study to validate the necessity for the intervention/service the project is trying to provide. Demographic, economic and social information must also be collected to evaluate and analyse the data in a correct light.

6) Tools and methods There are various needs assessment methods to collect information. Depending on the duration of the study, arrive at a combination of methods that would provide most accurate data. Simultaneously also devise and decide on documentation process for the data collected. Some of the commonly used needs assessment methods are:

Surveys The survey method involves the use of questionnaires to assess the stakeholders satisfaction with the current service and the change they need to see. The questionnaire contains carefully worded, open-ended (requires answers), close-ended (yes-no) or explanatory (multiple-choice) questions. Care has to be taken to phrase the questions in an unambiguous and simple manner. A comprehensive survey of the informational needs, technological needs, readiness of the stakeholders, how and what intervention they would like to see implemented, and what their current status is with regard to the area of intervention; must be conducted using this method. The survey can be conducted by mail, telephone or personally by visiting people.

community, and their perspective on possible solutions to problems commonly encountered by the community.

Focus groups interviews and group discussions Focus group interviews and group discussions can be conducted by arranging a randomly selected group of people in the community and interviewing them as a group. The number of people in the groups should ideally be small (around 6-12) and must be conducted with different groups over a certain period of time. The community must be encouraged to speak openly during the interviews about what they feel about the ICT intervention being provided, if the use of technology would intimidate them and isolate them, about ways to overcome their inhibitions and make the intervention meaningful to them, etc. The output of the workshop depends heavily on the skills of the moderator/ interviewer and his ability to draw the responses with simple but pointed questions.

People forum approach This method of data collection involves conducting a series of meetings or events involving the whole community. The meetings are interactive sessions where the community is provided with a forum to speak freely. These can be held on various occasions with different groups in the community. Such discussions help build a sense of trust and local ownership within the community and encourage local involvement.

Key informants

Previously published data

This technique involves identifying certain people in the community, who are known for their social stature, are active in organising community events and who are well acquainted with the needs of the community due to their work. These people are termed as key informants based on their contacts in the local community. Interactions with them can be through meetings, interviews etc to elicit information about the needs of the

Old reports, studies and other published data in the region often provide good inputs about the community and factors that influence development projects there. Studying these reports often results in a deeper understanding of the economic, social and political influences on the community, which may also impact the ICT for development project on hand. Study of such data also helps establish contact with agencies that have

already undertaken development projects in the area and may thus be a source of valuable information that could impact the project on hand. Local libraries, universities and media houses are good places to source such data from.

Innovative new methods Use of suggestion boxes, polls taken during meetings, response sheets etc, help in arriving at instant data. Though not highly reliable, such methods work well as an ancillary data collection measure.

Needs assessment study activity The needs assessment study process can be divided into three distinct phases.

1) Conducting the survey It is essential to establish a dialogue with the audience. Ask relevant questions. Determine what they need by interacting with them and then talk to others outside the location to see what else you can provide, that will facilitate them further. Gauge the level of local participation and interest in the ICT for development project. Prepare questionnaires, conduct focus group interviews, group discussions, etc. with all individuals. All villages/blocks/mandals where the project is being implemented, must be covered under the needs assessment. Care must be taken to ensure that everyone present is encouraged to voice their thoughts about the project.

2) Compiling data The way you document your findings is what truly influences the results. A needs assessment study would produce no definite results, if proper documentation methods are not followed. Thus is it essential to establish and maintain a filing system for each methodology used which will allow a viewer to easily read, understand and then arrive at rational and logical conclusions on data collected. The files should contain information about the results of the exercise, the dates, size of the people surveyed/

Name of Village / Block/ Mandal

No. of households

Total No. of Participants

Male

Castes Information of the people surveyed

Female SC

ST OBC

Study Method Used (Surveys, Interviews, Discussions)

Days taken for Study

Others

1 Data compilation format

interviewed etc. Various tools are available for documentation of data obtained through research and studies.

3) Data Analysis and Evaluation Information gathered through needs assessment serves the dual purpose of providing the change needed in the communities and also arms the project implementation agency by equipping them with information about the stakeholders which they have to address through their project and allocate resources needed for the same. Compiling the needs assessment study data in a structured manner will allow for easy analysis. The data must be available for all to view. Before making modifications in the project, consult people in related fields to gain knowledge about similar ICT projects. Validate the results of the needs assessment study with other social organisations in the area. Experts in ICT may also be shown the results of the needs assessment to determine what changes can be made to the project to include the results of the needs assessment study. The data collected will lay the foundation and determine the direction of the project. It will help the organisation ascertain if the goals of the ICT for development project are aligned with the needs of target population. The analysis will thus allow for positive modifications to be made to the project and the project scope can be modified accordingly. The data after analysis must be documented to identify and ranked according to the most important development priorities of the community. This information must then suitably, to the extent possible, be incorporated in the project.

It is essential to address the most pressing concerns raised by the target audience during the study and provide solutions for the same. This would help to increase the confidence levels further of the community in the project.

Needs assessment report Needs Assessment Report should consist of the following: • Summary Document • Objectives of the Needs Assessment Study • Project Information (a) Organisational Details (b) Project Strategy (b) Operational Strategy (c) Financial Strategy • Target Audience Template for Tabular Representation of Data complied: Name of Project: Name of Organisation: Name of Needs Assessment Coordinator: • Needs Assessment Study Report • Changes in Project Scope post Needs Assessment Study • Conclusion • Annexure: Documents used during survey

Conclusions The needs assessment study will equip the organisation implementing the ICT project with information such as • Identifying gaps • Arriving at solutions • Ascertaining target users • Identifying potential users • Allocation of resources and • Determining infrastructure requirements

It is important to recognise the necessity to identify the needs, concerns and capacities of the community throughout the project period. But the needs assessment study conducted in the initial stages of the project can help increase the impact of the project and the lay the foundation for use of ICT’s as an enabler for the community.

References Needs Assessment the first step by Robert H. Rouda & Mitchell E. Kusy, Jr.(C) copyright 1995 by the Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry. Conducting A Community Needs Assessment: Primary Data Collection Techniques1 by Keith A. Carter and Lionel J. Beaulieu2 (The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Florida Cooperative Extension Service/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences / University of Florida/ John T. Woeste, Dean) Needs Assessment Tools: by Peggy Sleeth, Health Sciences Librarian, Matthews-Fuller Health Sciences Library, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH Questionnaire Design and Surveys Sampling: Professor Hossein Arsham, University of Baltimore https://www. keysurvey.com/online_tools/resources/texts/ questionnaire_ design.jsp http://www.genomicstoolkit.org/moxie/ gettingstarted/needsassessment.shtml http://som.flinders.edu.au/FUSA/ PARC/toolkitneedsassess.htm Anita Satyajit © 2005. National Institute for Smart Government (NISG) NISG and i4d reserve the right to reprint articles produced for the ICTD section of the i4d magazine and website, with due credits to NISG and i4d. Please write to the editor for any request of reprints.

Rendezvous e-E DUCATION

CONFERENCE ,

M ARCH 03 - 05, 2005 B ARAMATI , I NDIA

Baramati: An oasis for networking Introduction Baramati Conference 2005 is the fifth annual conference on ‘ICT and Development’, organised as part of an unique ICT programme called ‘Baramati Initiative’, conceived by Vidya Prathisthan’s Institute for Information and Technology (VIIT) and implemented in rural region of Baramati – roughly 100 Kms from Pune (an industrial and educational hub) and approximately 200 Kms from Mumbai, the capital city of the state of Maharashtra, India. The initiative began with its opening conference in 2001 and over five years it has established itself as a networking platform for people, institutions and organisations across the world to showcase and share knowledge in the field of ICT for development. This time the conference was co-organised by VIIT (www.viitindia.org) and Grameen Foundation, USA (www.gfusa.org).

Conference theme This year Baramati conference chose to focus on ‘e-Education’. The conference tagged itself with the statement – ‘Delivering Opportunity: Education, technology, and development’. All over the globe and particularly among developing nations, education has been identified as the single largest impacting factor for catalysing development of underprivileged communities. Undoubtedly, recent progress in information and communication technologies is increasingly providing easy and economical means for reaching out to those who were alienated from ICT advantage. Thus, the conference theme aptly fits into the need-of-the-day, providing an ideal setting for people working in this field to maximise each other’s potential for achieving the common goal of leveraging universal education through ICT application.

Alex Counts - CEO and President of Grameen Foundation, USA (co-organiser of the event) touched upon the need to proliferate ICT usage for leveraging the socio-economic conditions of poor and underprivileged societies. Highlighted the efforts of his organisation in delivering high quality education through various ICT platforms. He urged the gathering to take up initiative that can effectively bring out potentials of modern ICT in bringing social and economic equity through education. This was followed by a speech by Sharad Kulkarni – Chairman, Governing Council, VIIT, who gave a brief preview of the association of his institute with Grameen Foundation, USA, in organising the Baramati conference and conducting a number of rural ICT projects in and around the region with assistance from national and international funders. The last speech of the welcome ceremony delivered by Paul Maritz former Group VP, Microsoft, emphasised on the potential of eEducation in bridging the digital divide and stressed the need of leaders in helping underserved communities to gain access to technology aided education. The session concluded over a sumptuous dinner at lawns adjacent to the conference venue, providing quality-networking time for the participants.

Day II - Opening remarks The second day began with an opening remark by Guest of Hounor, Dayanidhi Maran – Union Minister of Telecom & IT, Government of India. Deliberations of Maran categorically highlighted government initiatives in propagating education through modern ICTs. “ICT as a catalyst for development is a focus of my ministry. I firmly believe ICT can deliver on the promise of

Delegation The conference witnessed cross-sectoral representation of delegates spanning government, corporates, research institutes and civil society organisations, both from within and outside India. Leaders of corporate IT giants, policy makers from the government and representatives of various national and international non-governmental organisations equally shared the platform to discuss their views on innovative ICT application in formal and informal education, as well as, brainstorm issues which are emerging as challenge to the current developmental process.

Day 1 - Welcome address The conference began on the evening of 3rd March, in the main auditorium of the sprawling VIIT campus. Welcome address by March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

bringing education to all”…explained Maran. He specifically talked about the huge potential that ICTs offer, in the field of remote learning and distance education. He expressed his hope in making knowledge and education to reach all parts of the country with cost-efficient solutions that ICTs offer. He also mentioned the special efforts put in by his ministry in formulating policies that would enhance ICT penetration in both government and public domain and make it more viable for use by the general mass.

Keynote address The keynote address was given by Ravi Venkatesan – CEO, Microsoft India. He came up with intriguing facts, figures and insight about current conditions of Indian IT education and reminded us of the long way that we need to traverse before common people can start reaping the benefits of IT. He was specially apprehensive about the dismal state of current school-level IT education and urged the government to step up efforts for making basic IT facilities available for all. In this context, he brought forth some of the unique endeavours of Microsoft Corporation, in spearheading IT and IT-enabled education in India. He mentioned Microsoft projects like ‘Shiksha’ and ‘Unlimited Potential’ – which aims to provide basic IT skills to teachers and students across the country and about ‘Project Bhasha’ - for providing Microsoft Office applications in 14 different Indian languages, at 25-30% discounted rates (compared to English versions) for educational purposes. He concluded his speech by expressing his keen interest to collaborate with state governments, industry consortiums and NGOs for catering a larger section of the society.

most pioneering applications of ICT in various forms of education. Educational ICT products like that of ‘K-Yan’ of IL&FS Educational and Technology Services Ltd (a compact and portable PCcum-Projector device with wireless mouse and keyboard and 60GB of memory) and that of innovative educational software for visually impaired by Enabling Dimensions (India) Pvt. Ltd. shared the space with ICT Project exhibitors like Tata Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. - with their ICT-based Land Information System project and Centre for Science Development and Media Studies (CSDMS) - with it’s ‘Mapping-the-Neighbourhood’ project, showcasing school-based Geo-ICT application for local development.

Panel I: Education content: Launching schools into the 21st century The first panel discussion of the day focusing on the issue of educational content for school based IT-enabled learning had an impressive delegate group on the dais. Participants included Dileep Ranjekar - Azim Premji Foundation, Amol Goje - Principal, VIIT, Rukmini Banerji – Pratham, Neelambari Rao - Sujaya Foundation and Srimati Prasad - America India Foundation. The session repeatedly highlighted the need for creation and delivery of rich educational contents, which can be effectively used in curriculum centric IT-enabled school learning. Almost all the speakers were critical about the insufficiency in supply of curriculum relevant content and stressed upon the pivotal role of content in making any ICT programme successful. Some innovative school based projects, like that of Azim Premji Foundation and America India Foundation made for a good hearing.

Inauguration and exhibition

Panel II: Establishing the course for life long Just before lunch, Sharad Pawar, Union Minister of Agriculture, knowledge Government of India, along with Dayanidhi Maran, inaugurated the exhibition arena. Delegates met the exhibitors to learn about the projects, products and programmes that were on display. Although the exhibition was a small one, yet it showcased some of the

The second panel discussion based on the theme of exploring sustainable knowledge dissemination channels through ICT applications, brought out a number of novel ways in which modern ICTs can be used for knowledge-based social and educational benefits.

Education at the doorstep: Another mobile project VIIT, the Vidya Prathisthan’s Institute for Information and Technology at Baramati in Maharatra has initiated computer learning project in June 2004 to empower the rural poor. The institute is providing basic computer skills to the primary school students of rural Baramati. Along with the World Bank, VIIT runs a mobile education programme through its mobile bus fully equipped with the computer lab. Each bus has 18 computers installed goes once in a week to each 53 schools of the chosen 40 villages catering to 6300 students. Each bus has four teachers, trained by VIIT itself. Depending on the total numbers of the students in a school, two groups at a maximum of 36 students each are formed. Each group takes their theory and practical classes one after another. Each computer is shared by two students. The World Bank is funding five such buses. Mobile computer lab After interacting with the students, we found that they are very enthusiastic and are keen to learn the new skill. It was really good to find the student, many don’t even have proper dress are playing with the mouse. But their keen interest of learning computer boosts the morale of the teachers as well as the parents. We found that the students want the bus to visit twice a week so that they would get some more time to browse through the system. The best part of this project is that it helped in changing the mindset of the students and the parents towards learning as the attendance of the schools shoots up after the implementation of the project. Projects such as this really helps in bridging the digital divide. Also refer the story of AISECT ICT mobile vans published in i4d volume 3 No. 1 January 2005.

i4d | March 2005

Projects and initiatives highlighted in the session covered an array of topics, ranging from dynamic brail system for ICT education of visually disabled students; school-based technology education program in Latin America; ICT education for organic farming community and that of kiosk-based information services for poultry and dairy farmers. Presentations of the session was followed by a round of interesting discussion, with an attempt to find the innate strengths and impending challenges coming across the way of new ICT applications. ICT for the blind got a special attention in the session, invoking questions from the audience regarding the success-levels achieved and it’s improvement potential in implementation mode.

Panel III: Best practices/ lessons learned on content The third and final panel of the day focused on best practices and lessons learned through practical experiences, about content in ICTdriven education. Speakers from places like SMARTLab Centre, Cornell University, British Council and Zensar Technologies infused deep understanding about the relevance of making e-Contents to conform to quality standards of curriculum and value-based knowledge.

Day III Panel lV: Government initiated efforts Examples from across the world The third day of the conference began with a special panel; categorically focusing on Government led initiatives in ICT enabled education. Speakers comprised of people from various national government departments, as well as from international non-governmental organisations. The tone was set towards evaluating the efforts of national and international Governments for spearheading universal education and finding newer and better ways of accommodating public-private initiatives in current and future government programmes.

Panel V: Corporate initiated efforts Examples from across the world The session on corporate initiated efforts found participation of eminent organisations like Intel, HP, TCS, IL&FS and Yes Bank, who showcased their ICT-based community development work in the sphere of ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’. While Intel, TCS and IL&FS focused on rural education initiatives, others like HP candidly presented their ICT driven livelihood improvement program (HP i-Community) in Kuppam district of the state Andhra Pradesh in India. The presentation of Yes Bank primarily focused on their organisation policies and business models for providing micro-credits towards ICT infrastructure development in rural areas for livelihood options through Small and Medium Enterprises.

Panel VI & VII: Innovative delivery mechanisms - Kiosks, mobile ICT labs Two back-to-back sessions on Innovative Delivery Mechanisms highlighted on various technology platforms through which educational and knowledge-based contents are being delivered to rural learners. Organisations that presented in these two session March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

Indian IT minister visiting CSDMS stall

were – CDAC-India, Grameen Telecom-Bangladesh, ASAFE-Cameroon, e-Convergence Technology Limited, VIIT, Harvard Berkman Center for Internet & Society, University of Washington, Taleem Foundation and Microsoft Research Lab. Speakers discussed about various platforms like – rural internet kiosks, community information centers, mobile ICT labs and such other means through which e-Services are being made available to communities. Along with issues of delivery infrastructure in terms of hardware and connectivity, these sessions spruced up interesting debates and discussions on associated themes like – content creation and relevancy, content updation and even economic feasibility and sustainability models of such services.

Expert lecture: Conversations with Dr. M. S. Swaminathan - Chairman, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation In his lecture Dr. Swaminathan elucidated about his ambitious program – ‘Mission 2007: Every Village as a Knowledge Centre’ and it’s relevance in the present day for bridging the ever widening digital divide. He talked at length about various innovative ICT experimentation going across the world that with insightful comparison and contrast of one against another. The hour-long speech was followed by an encouraging round of open-floor discussion, which provided the audience with a scope to clarify and consolidate their understanding on contemporary developmental issues, from the expert himself. Together it made for a great learning experience for everyone who participated.

Conclusion The deliberations over the three days of the conference emphasised many crucial aspects of ICT in education. New ideas and concepts of innovative ICT-usage in addressing issues of universal education and livelihood improvement were addressed by various sections of the participants. Proposals were put forward for possible improvement of current efforts and attempts were made to gauge challenges of the future. Content and delivery of ICT-led education were also analysed to arrive at common consensus on issues of knowledge feasibility and effectiveness. Reported by: Dipanjan Bannerjee and Gautam Navin, CSDMS

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Bytes for All... The Tsunami still looms large in the minds of all. In the aftermath of December 26 2004, our thoughts are still heavily doused with disaster mitigation, early warning systems and whether the human tragedy could be averted. Following is a summary of discussions held in the Bytes for All readers forum in the months of January and February 2005. Are rural communities getting their due? Gary Knight, a well-traveled journalist, based in Australia, has started a group called ‘Global-Rural-Network’ (Globalruralnetwork @yahoogroups.com). An introductory article posted by Gary about the group touched upon the following issues: • Rural communities all over the world are the ‘food bowl’ of their countries, yet they lag behind their city counterparts in business networking, education, health services, communications, political representation, access to clean water, transport, media distribution, new technologies and information. • Rural producers are usually at the mercy of city-based brokers and get poorly paid for their produce. • There is a constant ‘brain-drain’ of skilled rural workers migrating to the cities. Through this article Gary urges readers to use Global-Rural-Network to: • Disseminate information • Discuss the needs of your community and region • Promote your product, technology or business • Align yourself with people in similar industries throughout the world • Put forward your ideas that can assist people in other regions and countries to grow • Learn how to be effective in lobbying for change that is needed. • Learn how to attract infrastructure, investors, population, new industry or whatever your town requires for survival • Deal directly with people to do business • Learn about new regimes in cropping, water management and waste management • Learn about other rural communities This article evoked interesting reactions from the rest of the readers. Peter Burgess said, “The rural world really does not need more journalism, what it needs is a committed community of people who are organised to help and information management to show the effectiveness of resources used and progress achieved. Don Cameron added to that saying, “The rural world does not need foreign consultants trying to impose solutions upon them”.

Bytes For All and WSIS The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Regional

(South Asian) Consultation Meeting took place in Dhaka, Bangaladesh from 5-7 January 2005. Bytes for All being closely associated with WSIS, asked for inputs from its readers on the following topics: Financing ICT4D issues (Scope for Regional Cooperation), ICT Policy Interventions in the South Asia region and Internet Governance: Regional Perspectives. Bytes for All received the following inputs from its readers: Financing ICT4D issues • Social co-operative movements could be important partners in rural development • WSIS should issue guidelines (for public funded projects) that examine the desirability and cost of deploying knowledge and technology in the public domain • Technical infrastructure should be in place for ICT • Capacity at the local level should be created for sustaining and maintaining this infrastructure • WSIS should look for sustainable models for ICT4D financing. • Donor-funded projects should only concentrate on areas where market mechanisms have no influence and where there is little opportunity to build on a sense of entrepreneurship ICT policy interventions • South Asia needs a clear policy on communication • A sound IT policy as well as a policy for ICT in general is required, for better ICT implementations • Local communities should be enabled to use information to their advantage • People should be empowered to act on the information quickly, especially during an emergency • ICT policies should encourage resource-sharing projects. • Better connectivity, local language computing, promotion and standards should be prioritised • Ensure transparency and accountability Internet governance: Regional perspectives • Issues like ‘identity theft’ and ‘online pornography’ need to be addressed

Tsunami A. Does relief aid really get where it is intended? After the Tsunami hit South Asia in December 2004 end, the world responded with magnanimity and aid poured in the affected areas like never before in the history of mankind. But as always happens there are always vultures who want a share of the spoils during a tragedy. An article posted by Bala Pillai on ‘Whether aid gets to the poor or ends up in Swiss accounts’ was thought provoking. The irony is that the biggest danger for tragedy-hit people is to be run over by a big ‘white jeep’ symbolising the local administration in charge of relief operations. It seems Indonesia’s national debt is 80% of its national income, even though billions of dollars worth of aid pours in every year. One reason such countries cannot repay i4d | March 2005

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Bytes for All... their debts is because they have failed to spend the money for what it was intended. If donors want to rebuild houses, roads and airports, they must try to channel more aid through charities and less through governments. As long as the proposed beneficiaries do not have a voice, they will continue to be exploited by vested interests. B. Open source disaster management system Sri Lankan programmers have developed an open source disaster management system to help relief work in their Tsunami hit areas. The software has many features like, maintaining a database of people missing, dead, orphans, etc. The database also stores fingerprints and DNA samples. Among others, it has a request management system that coordinates the efforts of organisations to respond to requests from relief camps. For more details read http://theage.com.au/articles/2005/01/271106415704413. html?oneclick=true C. Learn from our stone-age brethren Tribes living in remote Andaman and Nicobar Islands survived the deadly Tsunami waves, because they climbed to trees and higher grounds well in time. In this age of information technology, it is unbelievable but true. Resorts built on the coastlines of the Tsunami hit areas had all the technology at their disposal. But could neither protect their high profile clientele nor their structures, which were razed to the ground in minutes after the killer waves struck. The stone age tribes of Andaman and Nicobar however live close to nature and are known to heed biological warning signs like changes in the cries of birds and the behavior patterns of land and marine animals. If only their city cousins were to respect nature and stay well clear of the coastline, the human tragedy could be much lesser. For more read http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/ GA07Df05.html

Has India lost its spirit of invention? Balla Pillai threw the following question to the readers group: “Why India has not produced a single quantum invention in 1000 years?” A quantum invention can be defined as a significant leap in the order of problem solving from cave-man days till now: e.g. taming of fire, domestication of rice, invention of writing, discovery of zero, wheel, gunpowder, paper, seafaring vessels, printing press, electricity, cars, computers, credit cards, Internet etc. The above question evoked the following insights: As of today in India and most of Asia for that matter, the focus is on the services sector. The services sector is determined by the cost factor. This sector cannot afford to waste time on experimenting, making mistakes and failing. The approach is ‘let someone else do the experimenting, we will use the tried and tested methods’. Also in the past few years, India and the rest of Asia has been experiencing heavy brain drain. If at all there have been sparks of innovation, they have all migrated to greener pastures in developed countries. For ideas to proliferate, the dependencies are primarily on March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

government with a vision and a favourable environment where the idea can thrive when deployed on a very large scale. India remained out of the creativity map for 1000 years because after 1200 A.D. fortunes of India waned politically, socially and economically. Because of continuous onslaught from invaders, the local population was on survival mode. ‘Sparks’ were always there. But for the sparks to be ignited a conducive socio-cultural landscape is required, which was not present. An inventor cannot survive in isolation. A repressive regime can kill creativity. One reader argued as to why M.K. Gandhi’s peaceful means of warfare (Satyagraha) should not be considered a quantum invention.

Speech riding the airwaves Speech is natural, efficient, flexible and faster than any other media of human communication. Speech can be especially effective when working with the disabled like the blind. Radio waves can travel anywhere on the earth and this technology has been there for a long time now, even before Internet. A low powered radio is a technology that even the poor can use. Securing these thoughts, Dr. Arun Mehta, an IIT alumni and now a scientist in India, demonstrated a tiny radio transmitter at the Bangalore, India Asia Source camp in Jan-Feb 2005. For more on the story read http:// www.tacticaltech.org/node/225

Innovative use of technology There is more to technology than merely browsing the Internet and downloading the latest ring tones on your mobile handset. Some of the innovative uses of technology mentioned are a robotic minecleaning vehicle remotely operated by humans, an irrigation system called Easy-Drip, a small computer called Taking Tactile Tablet to help visually impaired students to perceive graphical images and hold your breath, an improved rat-catching device for farmers. Take a look at the following link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ bytesforall_readers/message/4704?threaded=1

News flashes • Bangladesh cabinet approves Draft of Information and Communication Technology Act-2005 in Dhaka, February 14 • Indian rail goes mobile: Get updates on your train, PNR status, 2005 etc on your mobile. For more read http://www. indianrail.gov.in/sms.html • People’s Summit for People’s SAARC took place in Dhaka in February 2005 Bytes for All: www.bytesforall.org or www.bytesforall.net Bytes for All Readers Discussion: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ bytesforall_readers To subscribe: bytesforall_readers-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Compiled by Archana P. Nagvekar, Bytes for All, India

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D ISASTER F EATURE

Developments post tsunami An earthquake in the Indian Ocean triggered the Dec. 26 tsunami, which killed more than 200,000 people in 11 nations and caused immense life and property damage. This catastrophe struck everyone how ill equipped we are to face such disasters. The i4d monthly disaster feature updates you with the follow-ups that are taking place world wide for disaster preparedness and management. There was a growing appreciation among people that ICT can play a crucial role in the disaster warning, disaster reduction and post disaster rehabilitation. Recently, two meetings were held in Thailand to discuss the function of ICT in disaster management. Some member countries of the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) had experienced severe damage to life and property caused by the tsunami disaster. In view of the urgency of the matter, a joint APT-ITU Meeting on the Role of ICT for Disaster Reduction was held on 28th February, 2005 after the opening of the 2nd APT Conference Preparatory Group for WRC2007 (APG 2007-2) in Thailand. The meeting addressed the key issues on the role of ICT to prevent disaster in the Asia Pacific region. The meeting aimed to furnish APT members with comprehensive knowledge of the disaster awareness and vigilance and brought out the various ways in which ICT tools could be used to give advance warnings of such imminent disasters. The topics of the meeting included; Disaster Awareness and Preparedness, Disaster Prevention and Recovery, ICT Tools for Disaster Management, Disaster Prevention Network, Post Disaster Recovery, Development of Warning Systems for the Asia Pacific Region. The top Disaster Management experts and leaders in ICT, Wireless and Radio fields attended the meeting. It was an excellent opportunity to share views

on matters of common interest and networking among APT members. In Thailand, another conference named “Phuket International ICT Conference for Disaster Recovery Management and Global Warning: Learning from Tsunami” took place, which had initiated a thought of using ICT for disaster recovery. 1000 delegates from a number of International companies attended the event with a vision of finding out the hundred of ways that current technology already in place can help minimise the losses in times of a crisis. Networks, devices, infrastructures, radio, mobile, fixed, short and long, narrow and broad bands should be used as a strong communication tool instead of using them only as a mere commercial channels. Dr. Tadashi Shiomi, the Vice President of Japan’s National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT), for example, has developed a sophisticated Japanese disaster central system for disaster warning, prevention and rescue. The system is managed by the Cabinet and related agencies, and uses a wireless networks through satellite communications, wired networks, broadcasting and the Internet to deliver messages. According to the California based technology company, Qualcomm, mobile phones with Global Positioning System (GPS) could help locate people even inside of buildings. In order to retain the public security, phones could also have buttons to make emergency calls and push-to-talk technology could be used as a real-time communication. The meeting highlighted the features of Content Management (CM) Technologies that permit users, organisations and individuals to interact in real time with Internet applications and protocols in order to publish real time data.

Highlights Other countries have also taken part in setting up warning systems to fight against natural disasters. Experts from the United Nations and Indian Ocean countries agreed on setting up an Indian Ocean tsunami warning system by the end of 2006 to prevent a repeat of the tsunami disaster. The decision was announced at the close of a five-day meeting in Paris, recently, to discuss putting an effective tsunami warning system. Nigerian Meteorelogical Agency (NIMET) has decided of setting up a Weather Early Warning System (WEWS) to enable it prepare adequately for catastrophes like the tsunami that ravaged Eastern Asia and some parts of Africa last year. In achieving this objective, NIMET’s Director General, Liwhu Akeh, disclosed that the Agency has started the acquisition of advanced Doppler Weather Radars to monitor natural disasters and storms before they occur, adding that the equipment will assist with relevant information for farmers in rural areas. The Indian Union Minister for Science and Technology, Kapil Sibal has announced, recently, while delivering his valedictory speech at the fifth All India People’s Technology Congress organised by Forum of Scientists, Engineers and Technologists (FOSET) in the Indian city of Kolkata, that the centre would spend $6.6 million in developing tsunami warning system. Malaysia has decided to set up a tsunami warning system costing $5 million by the end of this year. American and Japanese maritime experts will help install the system around the coast of Northern Peninsular Malaysia, as well as Sabah and Sarawak state on Borneo Island. i4d | March 2005

What’s on

The United Arab Emirates 05-06 April, 2005 Middle-East E-learning Technology, Dubai http://www.dubaimelt.com/

Belgium

Italy

18-20 April, 2005 ISCRAM 2005: Information Systems for Crisis Response and Management Brussels

13-16 June, 2005 2nd International Conference on Communities and Technologies, Milan

http://www.iscram.org/index.php?option= content&task=view&id=684&Itemid=2

Bulgaria

http://www.cct2005.disco.unimib.it/

11-15 July, 2005 OSS2005: International Conference on Open Source Systems, Genova http://oss2005.case.unibz.it/

22-23 April, 2005 WebTech 2005, Sofia http://webtech2005.info/index.php?/archives/22About.html

Canada

Mozambique 10-11 May, 2005 3rd International Open Access Conference, Maputo http://www.wideopenaccess.net/

27 June-02 July, 2005 ED-MEDIA 2005 Montreal http://www.aace.org

24-28 October, 2005 E-Learn 2005: World Conference on e-Learning in Corporate, Government, Healthcare & Higher Education Vancouver British Columbia http://www.aace.org/conf/eLearn/call.htm

China

Nigeria 25-28 May, 2005 Enhancing Human Resource Development through ICT, Abuja

http://ifets.massey.ac.nz/tedc2005/

04-06 April, 2005 LILAC 2005: Librarians’ Information Literacy Annual Conference London http://lttg.lse.ac.uk/LILAC/default.asp

22-24 June, 2005 First International Conference on e-Social Science Manchester http://www.ncess.ac.uk/conference_05.htm

10-12 July, 2005 Euro Conference on Mobile Government Sussex University Brighton http://www.icmg.mgovernment.org/ europeanmg.htm

http://is.lse.ac.uk/ifipwg94/pdfs/2005firstcall.pdf

14-16 July, 2005 6th International Women into Computing Conference Greenwich

South Africa

http://www.wic.org.uk/conference/

24-26 August, 2005 CIRN2005: The 2nd Annual Conference of the Community Informatics Research Network, Cape Town

United States

http://www.cirn2005.org/

06 July, 2005 IEEE 3 rd International Workshop on Technology for Education in Developing Countries Taiwan

The United Kingdom

Spain 06-08 July, 2005 7th ISKO-Spain Conference Barcelona http://www.bd.ub.es/isko2005/

02-05 April, 2005 e-Learning 2005 Dallas, Texas http://www.144.162.197.250eLearning 2005glance.htm

16 April, 2005 Grassroots Use of Technology Boston http://organizenow.net/conference05.html

France 11-13 May, 2005 ICT for Capacity-Building: Critical Success Factors UNESCO Headquarters, Paris http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID= 17638&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

Tunisia 16-18 November, 2005 WSIS: World Summit on the Information Society Phase 2, Tunis

12-14 June, 2005 The International Symposium on Women and Information and Communication Technology Baltimore

http://www.itu.int/wsis/

http://www.wtci.org/CWIT/CWITsite.htm

Get your event listed here. www.i4d.csdms.org/events March 2005 | www.i4d.csdms.org

F ACT S HEET

The tilted balance Data gap bigger than gender digital divide After examining the Internet for the availability of gender related data, it was found that useful gender disaggregated statistics is limited and old. The latest reports giving gender data was found to be of year 2002. Particularly gender and ICT data is scattered and almost non-existent. Mostly the data found was percentage female home Internet users country wise. As reported by Nancy Hafkin in one of her papers, “From both observation and anecdotal evidence, we know that there is a gender gap in the digital divide in several developed and many more developing countries, but there is virtually no data to establish it.”

Key findings on Gender and ICT • In Asia, women constitute 20 percent of programmers (mostly in lower skilled positions), while making up the majority of workers in data processing (especially outsourced work) (Nancy Hafkin 2003) • 37% of women in the world have access to a PC and that one third of the world’s ICT market is in Asia (USD 3 trillion ecommerce market). ( Lucita Lazo, UNIFEM) • Percentage female home Internet users in India is 23 (NASCOM, 2000) • However, two thirds (876 million) of the world’s illiterates are women and many women are still unable to obtain techno access so there is much to be done in order to increase opportunities for these women. (Lucita Lazo, UNIFEM) According to a ‘Report on Progress of World’s Women 2002’ by UNIFEM, there has been progress in achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment around the world - but the pace is too slow in many regions. Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest levels of Countries with Highest Levels of Achievement in Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Country

30% Women’s share of seats in National Parliament

Female/Male Ratio Net Secondary School Enrolment, (95-105%)

Female Enrolment Rate in Secondary

Female Share Paid Employment Non-Agricltural Sector, (44-55%)

Sweden Denmark Finland Norway Iceland Netherlands

45.0 38.0 36.5 36.4 34.9 31.5

104 103 102 101 104 100

98 91 96 96 78 92

51 49 50 48 52 44

Germany

31.0

101

School

Very close to the highest levels of Achievement in Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Costa Rica Argentina South Africa

35.1 31.3 30.0

113 109 110

Source: Report on Progress of World’s Women 2002 by UNIFEM

46 79 95

39 43 n.d

achievement, primarily because of a devastating combination of national poverty, conflict and the effects of HIV/AIDS.

Education • There are an estimated 140 million illiterate young people in the world, of whom more than half – 86 million are young women. • In the period between 1990 and 2002, there were improvements in the literacy of young women in all the countries. • In Sub Saharan Africa and South Asia there is a lower enrolment rate for girls than boys due to rigid customs and orthodox sociocultural matrix. • A majority of countries have almost achieved gender equality in literacy as rising percentage of girls is enrolling in secondary education. • 34% of the countries have achieved gender equality in youth literacy rates. • If current rates continue, UNESCO projects that in 2015 there will be an estimated 107 million illiterate young people, and again more than half – 67 million – will be young women.

Employment • More women work today than ever before. In 2003, 1.1 billion of the world’s 2.8 billion workers, or 40 per cent, were women, representing a worldwide increase of nearly 200 million women in employment in the past 10 years. • Women still face higher unemployment rates, receive lower wages than men and represent 60 per cent of the world’s 550 million working poor. • By analysing 7 labour market indicators, the Global Employment Trends for Women 2004 finds that the explosive growth in the female workforce has not been accompanied by true socio-economic empowerment for women, nor has it led to equal pay for equal work or balanced other benefits making women equal to men across nearly all occupations. In short, true equality in the world of work is still out of reach. Source: Global Employment Trends For Women 2004http://www.ilo.org

Women in Parliament • The level of women’s representation in national governments has been improving, but still around the world women are largely absent from parliaments, on average accounting for only about 14% of members in 2002. • In 2002, only 11 countries had achieved the benchmark set in the Beijing Platform for Action of 30% representation by women in parliament: Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Norway, Iceland, the Netherlands, South Africa, Costa Rica, Argentina and Mozambique. In all of these countries quotas were legislated or adopted on a voluntary basis. i4d | March 2005

Map India 2006

Map Middle East 2005

30 January â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 2 February, New Delhi www.mapindia.org

23-25 April, Dubai www.mapmiddleeast.org

Map Asia 2005 22-25 August, Jakarta www.mapasia.org

Can you afford to miss these? www.GISdevelopment.net info@GISdevelopment.net

Building scientific temper among rural school children

Almora , Uttaranchal, India

Children mapping the locale with a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)

Mapping the

Neighbourhood www.youth.csdms.org