[APCPress] NO EMBARGO: GenderIT.org - a new gender and ICT policy website

[Karen Higgs]

NO EMBARGO

PRESS RELEASE



April 11 2005

NEW GENDER AND ICT POLICY WEBSITE HELPS WOMEN MAKE ICT POLICY A PRIORITY

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

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

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

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

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


What does GenderIT.org feature?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Who's using GenderIT.org?

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

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

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

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


FOR MORE INFORMATION

GenderIT.org: http://www.genderit.org.


ABOUT THE APC WNSP

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

APC WNSP: http://www.apcwomen.org

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

CONTACT

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