[APCPress] (no subject)

[karenh at chasque.net]

APC Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WSNP) celebrates a decade of
empowering women through information and communications technologies
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GENEVA, 11 December 2003. The APC Women's Networking Support Programme (APC
WNSP) celebrated ten remarkable years of working to make ICTs accessible to
women yesterday at the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva. 
In honour, they hosted a day-long series of panels, workshops and presentations
which included a Gender and ICT award winners panel, a presentation on the
WNSP's innovative gender evaluation methodology for ICTs which included the
experiences of GEM testers from several continents, a session on free and open
source software for African women from APC-Africa-Women, and the WENT Asia fifth
anniversary awards.

The day was rounded off by a tenth anniversary presentation. “It was incredible
that everyone who got up to speak from the audience commented on how inspiring
and innovative they consider the WNSP,” said a participant. “Many of the women
there had actually got their first taste of the internet through training from
the WNSP.”

APC WNSP member, Chat Garcia Ramilo, feels that the name says it all.”WNSP is a
home for women working with information and communications technologies which is
often a stressful environment to be in. Women's Networking Support, that's what
WNSP is all about,” she told APCNews.

Katerina Fialova joined the WNSP just a few years ago. She was attracted to it
as “a friendly space where more than anything I've learned a lot about the
social impact of ICTs and how to get involved in advocacy work.” She's working
to raise awareness about the importance of ICT policy in the Czech Republic
which she says will be affected dramatically when the nation becomes part of the
European Union. 

Online members from Mexico and the Philippines were working hard to prepare a
10th anniversary website, and an online chat/message board where people can
write messages. 

The Programme emerged in 1993 as a response to several convergent needs and
demands from within the women's movement. The United Nations Fourth World
Conference on Women (UNWCW) and the rapid development of international
communications technologies were key factors which gave rise to the Programme's
beginning.

APC WNSP's network numbers over 100 women from more than 35 countries. They are
individual women and women's groups and organisations working in the field of
gender and ICT and actively supporting women's networking. Members have formed
themselves into regional networks in Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Africa and are
building an emerging network in Europe.

You can read WNSP birthday wishes:
http://www.apcwomen.org/summit/anniversary/form.shtml

and you can view the site here:
http://www.apcwomen.org/summit/anniversary/index.shtml

More information about the history of the WNSP is available from:
http://www.apcwomen.org/about/history.html
apcwomen at apc.org