[APCPress] APCNews - July 2004 - No. 43

Sat Jul 31 18:10:34 BST 2004

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           *APCNews, the monthly newsletter of the
      Association for Progressive Communications (APC)*
                         - July 2004 No. 43 -
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-- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS --
-- NEWS FROM APC --
-- ICT POLICY & INTERNET RIGHTS --
-- WOMEN & ICTs --
-- ONLINE TOOLS & RESOURCES --
-- IMPORTANT DATES --
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-- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS -

Fantsuam Foundation, Nigeria: The challenge of getting online - Fantsuam 
brings satellite internet to villages in rural Nigeria

APC member in rural Nigeria, Fantsuam Foundation, has recorded yet 
another first in rural ICT programmes. Earlier this year, Fantsuam 
launched a VSAT facility which provides the first rural-based internet 
access in Kaduna State, if not in Nigeria. APCNews talked to Fantsuam's 
director, John Dada, about the impact the new internet satellite 
connection is having on the community and the Foundation. -- APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=22500

BlueLink, Bulgaria: BlueLink's Balkans partnership initiative included 
in a United Nations online clearinghouse on environment

An environmental portal that pools information from eight different 
environmental partners in the Balkans has become part of a United 
Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) clearinghouse which 
showcases good practices. The UN initiative is expected to make 
implementation of the 1998 Aarhus Convention -which aims at improving 
access to information and public participation in decision-making 
regarding environmental matters- more effective. -- BlueLink
http://bluelink.net/en/index.php?x=4135

ENDA, Senegal: African citizens in the information society - a new 
publication from ENDA

This advocacy document produced by APC member in Senegal, ENDA, presents 
the major issues faced by African countries in relation to their 
inclusion in the information society, as perceived by women. It's a tool 
for public, private and civil society stakeholders and decision-makers 
for integrating gender into ICT policies to contribute to a fair, plural 
and inclusive African information society. The foreword is written by 
APC's executive director. -- APCNews
http://www.famafrique.org/regentic/e-citoyennes.pdf (in French)

GreenNet, UK: APC's free software provides the basis for the new 
European Social Forum website, in five languages

APC member in London, GreenNet, tells APC about their latest mammoth 
project. A website for the ESF which will process registration of more 
than 40,000 attendees, provides logistical information and houses 
must-read documentation on the issues - in five languages. -- GreenNet
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=22511

ITeM, Uruguay: Briefing papers towards Tunis 2005

APC member, the Third World Institute (Instituto del Tercer Mundo, ITeM) 
has launched a research project intended to contribute to the second 
phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) 
decision-making process. Research will be focused on key issues of 
interest to developing countries. Based on the research, position and 
briefing papers will be produced to advise Southern negotiators and 
working groups on the policy implications of the different proposals 
they will be considering during the Summit process. - ITeM
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=22513

Colnodo, Colombia: Basic Information System on Colombian Municipalities

The SisBIM helps decision-makers in local governments make informed 
decisions regarding planning for development by providing a series of 
key indicators and essential geo-information. It also serves as a 
'sustainable development observatory' where citizens can find basic 
development information and importantly hold government accountable. The 
system has been developed by APC member Colnodo and coordinated by the 
Ministry of Environment, Housing and Development. In Spanish. – Colnodo
http://www.apc.org/espanol/news/index.shtml?x=22555

Open Forum of Cambodia: Cambodians have access to Khmer-language email 
software for the first time

Until now, a native Cambodian has needed to be able to read in a foreign 
language to be able to send email in Cambodia. Software was not 
available in Khmer. But APC's member organisation in Cambodia, the Open 
Forum, is changing that. The KhmerOS portal, set up earlier this year to 
bring together previously isolated developers is starting out by 
providing Khmer translations of well-known free applications such as the 
powerful e-mail application, Thunderbird. Thunderbird was ready for use 
after just two months - sixty days earlier than expected! The Open Forum 
has sent APC the report on their advances in the first half of 2004. - 
Open Forum
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=22516

RITS, Brazil: 1000 Brazilian communities in areas of extreme poverty to 
get telecentres

New partners mean that RITS -APC member in Rio de Janeiro- is drawing up 
a blue-print for the set-up and operation of 1000 telecentres in 
municipalities situated in areas of extreme poverty throughout Brazil. 
This follows RITS' experience working with the government in Brazil's 
largest city to establish over a 100 free public internet access points 
in marginalised neighbourhoods. -- RITS
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=22518

RITS, Brazil: Voices that must be heard - RITS reports on the latest 
round of the information society summit, WSIS

"The situation that was created in Hammamet makes it plain that there's 
an urgent need to overcome the barrier to participation by organisations 
from civil society in the South." This is the conclusion of APC member 
in Brazil, RITS, at the conclusion of the first PrepCom of the second 
phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) held in 
Tunisia in June. "The massive presence of pro-government Tunisian 
'organisations' made the work of international civil society present 
almost impossible because of divisions principally regarding the 
position of the human rights caucus which was calling attention to the 
question of rights in Tunisia." In Portuguese. -- RITS
http://www.infoinclusao.org.br/conteudo.asp?conteudo_id=592

RITS, Brazil: Planning director of RITS, Carlos Afonso, takes seat on 
body which governs .br

Carlos Afonso of RITS has been elected to the Brazilian committee which 
manages the internet in Brazil and controls .br. The election results 
were announced on July 15. He is one of four representatives from civil 
society. Other sectors represented are the scientific community, the 
business and telecommunications sectors, and internet service providers. 
It is the first time in Brazil that internet governance has been opened 
up to the public. -- RITS
http://www.infoinclusao.org.br/conteudo.asp?conteudo_id=594 (in Portuguese)

SANGONeT, South Africa: Soul Beat Africa - Communication for Change

Soul Beat Africa is looking for information about how individuals and 
organisations are using communication for change and development in 
Africa. Soul Beat Africa is a collaboration between the Communication 
Initiative (CI), which shares similar information globally, and Soul 
City, a health communication organisation based in South Africa, and is 
being implemented by SANGONeT, APC member in South Africa. -- SANGONeT
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=22531

SANGONeT, South Africa: Central Case Management System for the Paralegal 
Sector in South Africa

SANGONeT is currently implementing a Central Case Management System 
(CCMS) for paralegals in South Africa. This project aims to develop a 
centrally accessible database system for paralegal organisations to 
capture and manage case records and related information, while enabling 
an online networking and discussion space for them to be informed of one 
another's work, share experiences and support the advocacy work which 
they perform on behalf of the communities they serve. -- SANGONeT
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=22533

SANGONeT, South Africa: Letsatsi - "helping you grow with ICTs"

"Letsati" is a Setswana word meaning sun. This new discussion forum 
series, offered by APC member SANGONeT, aims to demonstrate the 
practical benefits of technology to the South African non-profit sector. 
-- SANGONeT
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=22535

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-- NEWS FROM APC -

APC at the Americas Social Forum in Quito

The Americas Social Forum 2004 took place in Quito, Ecuador on July 
25-30, 2004.  The Forum -which is the continental version of the 
progressive World Social Forum- opened in Quito with cultural events in 
the historic city centre.  A conference on "Gender and Diversity" 
initiated the discussion and exchange process of the ASF. - APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=22356

After nine years at the helm of the Women's Programme, Karen Banks moves 
into advocacy for APC full-time

A major change for APC programmes occurred in July. Karen Banks has 
moved over to become APC's Networking and Advocacy Coordinator and her 
former role of manager of the APC women's programme (APC WNSP) will be 
taken on by well-known Philippine gender and technology advocate, Chat 
Garcia Ramilo.

Karen was APC WNSP coordinator since 1995 though from late 1999, she 
concurrently worked with APC in our early 'internet rights' work. She 
managed the European internet rights monitor and through networking 
coordinated much of APC's international ICT policy and advocacy work. 
Karen was, and continues to be, APC's principal focal point for the 
World Summit on the Information Society. Until now Chat been running the 
APC WNSP's major project of the last three years, the Gender Evaluation 
Methodology (GEM) for ICT Initiatives project.

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-- ICT POLICY & INTERNET RIGHTS --

"ICT Policy: A Beginner's Handbook" - new book from APC now in web version

The acclaimed book from APC can now be browsed online. First published 
in soft-back in December 2003, the handbook is for people who want 
orientation about information and communications technology (ICT) and 
internet policies, who want to understand how the internet and markets 
work, the background on policy and regulation, and what's at stake for 
ordinary citizens. The handbook will be available shortly in Spanish.

"ICT Policy: A Beginner's Guide" would not have been possible without 
the support of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO).

Find out more about the handbook: 
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=16108
Read an interview with the book editor, Chris Nicol: 
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=16109
Download the beginner's handbook from the APC site: 
http://rights.apc.org/resources.shtml or order a printed copy from 
handbook at apc.org
**And now you can browse the handbook online: http://rights.apc.org/handbook

NEWS: ICT policy advocacy workshop organised by APC kick-starts policy 
actions in Africa

ICT policy set to change - Minister of Information and Communication 
backs change for the better

Kenya's new Minister of Information and Communication, Hon. Raphael 
Tuju, has announced his support for the liberalisation and advancement 
of ICT policy in Kenya following a week-long ICT policy advocacy 
workshop in Nairobi organised by APC. The multi-stakeholder workshop - 
which ran from 19-23 July - brought together some of the most 
influential ICT policy stakeholders from civil society organisations, 
the private sector and the media from nine African countries. - APC
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=22398

Rural Africa Yearning for Internet, Connectivity

In a few years, an old woman in rural Africa should be able, if all goes 
according to plan, to connect to the net and communicate with her 
children in the city. This is what an information and communications 
technology (ICT) workshop held in Kenya's capital, Nairobi by APC is 
seeking to explore. - Joyce Mulama, IPS
http://ipsnews.net/interna.asp?idnews=24742

Background to the workshop can be found online:
http://africa.rights.apc.org/news-content.shtml?x=21956

RESOURCES FROM APC: More discussion papers on "sticky issues" to support 
new WSIS phase

The papers commissioned by APC to provoke debate on the issues that were 
most contentious during the first stage of the World Summit on the 
Information Society (WSIS) proved useful at the first PrepCom of the 
second phase of the Summit held in Tunis in July. The paper on financing 
of the information society in developing countries was "an important 
contribution to the meeting," said Magela Sigillito whose organisation 
-the Third World Institute (ITeM)- co-prepared the paper for APC. 
Delegates distributed copies to their regional counterparts and various 
were spotted reading the paper in detail at the meeting itself.   UN 
agencies from Western Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean expressed 
interest in discussing the paper at regional level.

New papers are now online:

**Networking Communities In The South -- Challenges For Diverse Actors: 
Remittance, Microfinance And Technology
By Scott Robinson (June 2004)

In 2003 a Pew Hispanic Center survey found that 40% of the adult, 
foreign-born, Latino population in the United States, some 6 million 
people, send money home on a regular basis. This paper deals with the 
issue of the high cost to migrants of sending money back to their 
families at home, i.e. international money transfers and who controls 
them, and discusses opportunities of creating an alternative system. 
Scott Robinson, a Mexico-based anthropologist who has been a pioneer in 
community based information services, telecentres and ICTs for social 
justice in Latin America. APC thanks Scott for permitting us to 
reproduce his paper here.

**African Participation in WSIS: review and discussion paper
By David Souter (July 2004)

This paper presents a review of African participation in the first phase 
WSIS process. It is not intended as a comprehensive analysis, but to 
stimulate discussion about ways in which African participation - 
particularly that of African civil society - can be more effectively 
structured during the second phase of the summit. Prepared for APC.

All the papers are collected online and will be added to in the coming 
year: http://rights.apc.org/papers.shtml

Join the debate. You can post your comments directly next to the 
discussion papers on the APC site. Just fill out a simple form - it 
takes a matter of minutes.

ARTICLE: How the ten civil society ICT portals were set up 
simultaneously in ten different countries

APC's Anna Feldman explains the process behind the challenge to set up 
ten information portals around the world in under six months in a team 
effort where everyone involved collaborated entirely online. – APCNews
http://www.apc.org/english/news/index.shtml?x=22268
More about the portals: http://rights.apc.org/policy_sites.shtml

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-- WOMEN & ICTs -

Networking for Change and Empowerment Forum 2004 - Presentations and 
snapshots from this major Gender and ICT event now online

Rio de Janeiro in June hosted over 40 gender and ICT advocates from 26 
countries in the "Networking for Change and Empowerment Forum" - a space 
where the APC Women's Networking Support Programme (WNSP) could 
consolidate the growing gender and ICT advocacy network and focus 
greater attention on the need to locate gender issues at the centre of 
all ICT policy and practice processes.

The Forum combined debate, analysis, training, capacity-building, and 
access to new tools in a series of five events in Rio, from June 1-7 
2004. Presentations and photos are now online. A report will be out shortly.

GEM Practitioners Exchange: The Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM) for 
ICT initiatives has been piloted for the last two years in five 
different regions of the world. This was the final meeting of testers.

The Exchange Workshop centred around three areas:
-lessons learned from the GEM testing process
-the latest version of the GEM Tool
-the GEM Practitioners Network
Explore the Practitioners Exchange agenda, presentations, and photos.
http://www.apcwomen.org/policy/activities/gemagenda.html

The Gender and ICT Policy Forum provided a space to build on the 
momentum created during the first phase of the WSIS and prepare a 
strategic approach and plan for ICT policy arena internationally. 
Participants took full advantage of the forum to debate regional 
strategy and analyse regional issues and processes.

Explore Forum agenda, presentations, and photos.
http://www.apcwomen.org/policy/activities/rioforum.html

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-- ONLINE TOOLS & RESOURCES --

NEW ONLINE RESOURCE: "ICT Policy: A Beginner's Handbook" - now in web 
version

The acclaimed book from APC can now be browsed online. First published 
in soft-back in December 2003, the handbook is for people who want 
orientation about information and communications technology (ICT) and 
internet policies, who want to understand how the internet and markets 
work, the background on policy and regulation, and what's at stake for 
ordinary citizens.
http://rights.apc.org/handbook

SPECIAL REPORT: Beijing +10 - Conference on Women Review

The Beijing +10 global review, coordinated by the UN Division for the 
Advancement of Women (UNDAW), will be held in 2005. The objective of 
these regional and global processes is to review the implementation of 
the Beijing Platform for Action, signed by 189 governments at the United 
Nations Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China, in 1995.

Several NGOs have expressed concern over the risks of losing the gains 
achieved under the platforms adopted at the Conferences in the 1990s, 
and at the same time are raising questions as to both the efficacy of 
such world conferences in securing the economic, political and social 
rights of women, and the strategic roles that feminist activists can 
play at such events. In-depth reports from Choike, an initiative of APC 
member the Third World Institute (ITeM).
http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1665.html

SPECIAL REPORT: Cairo +10 - Conference on Population and Development Review

Ten years on from the International Conference on Population and 
Development (ICPD), the review of the Programme of Action is taking 
place amidst a debate on the defence of sexual and reproductive rights. 
In-depth reports from Choike.
http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1869.html

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-- IMPORTANT DATES --

Towards Articulating a Regional Agenda for Advocacy in Communication 
Rights: Asian Workshop on Advancing Communication Rights
4-6 August 2004, Manila, Philippines
APC Asia meeting
7 August

An Asian Workshop on Advancing Communication Rights aims to 
contextualise the issues and themes and action areas within the Asian 
experience, deepen the analysis from a concrete regional perspective, 
and identify key action areas for regional engagement and mobilisation. 
A meeting of Asian APC members and APC staff will take place on 7 August.

Organised by APC member in the Philippines, Foundation for Media 
Alternatives in cooperation with Bread for All-Switzerland, the World 
Alliance on Christian Communication and the Campaign for Communication 
Rights in the Information Society (CRIS Campaign) 
http://rights.apc.org.au/events/manila_asia_cr_workshop_aug_46.php

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APCNews, in English, and APCNoticias, in Spanish, are distributed 
monthly by APC - a worldwide network supporting the use of internet and 
ICTs for social justice and sustainable development since 1990.
APCNews Archive: http://www.apc.org/english/news/apcnews/

CopyLeft. 2004 Association for Progressive Communications (APC). 
Permission is granted to use this document for personal use, for 
training and educational publications, and activities by peace, 
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an acknowledgment to APC.