In depth
Access to Knowledge in Emergency situations: Looking at the situation in Jordan and in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Sonia Randhawa interviewed with Lulu Mitshabu and Daoud Kuttab. Lulu Mitshabu is the Africa Programs Coordinator at Caritas Australia. A Congolese woman, she travels through Africa regularly and is responsible for their Congolese programme. Daoud Kuttab is president of AMARC Middle East and North Africa, and responsible for setting up Jordan's first community radio. He has recently been working…
In depth
Money for tech? Tech and money? Facilitating women’s engagement in the financing discourse through the use of ICT
Ireen Dubel, the manager of the gender, women and development programme of Hivos is an active participant in discussions on financing for women and development work. Hivos, Ireen’s organisation, is one of the few…
In depth
Of empty purses and tattered pockets: Stitching funding back into gender and ICT
The panel on women's communication rights "Why the purse feels empty: Financing for women's equitable access to information and communication technologies" during the recent 52nd CSW brought together donor, development and civil society perspectives on the issue. Erika Smith presents an overview of the discussion around the challenges, importance and opportunities of financing ICT for women's…
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Feminist theory, practices and actions can lead to innovative solutions on internet governance
Civil society entities, academic figures and government officials met in Sao Paulo during the first few days of July to participate in the first seminar of the preparatory process for the meeting of the Internet Governance Forum, with the aim of developing proposals to take to that forum next November. Amongst the presentations, the talk “Internet governance and issues of gender” by gender and…
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Do women’s access to ICTs lead to empowerment? Looking at the CEEWA ICT project in rural Uganda
Is there a direct connection between empowerment and access to information and communication technologies? Patricia Litho interrogates this question through the CEEWA ICT project case study in rural Uganda. She examines the conceptualisation of empowerment, and its relationship with infrastructure, skills, connectivity, access and participation.
In depth
New technologies and women in Arab countries: a forest of concepts, a complex reality
Natalia Fernández-Diaz identifies the difficulties of understanding feminist concerns regarding the needs and potential benefits of emerging technologies in what is usually known as ‘Arab countries’. Locating the relationship between women and ICTs in women’s movements, Fernández-Diaz interrogates the concepts of technologists, producers, users, victims and indirect beneficiaries in this complex…
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Revolution in ICT infrastructure: Hope for the Ghanaian woman
In the area of telecommunications, Ghana appears to perform relatively well in relation to its neighbours in the West-African region. How does it fare in terms of ensuring that gender concerns are taken into consideration whilst promoting ICTs for development? Emily Nyarko examines this question through a closer look at the Strategic Document for ICT and Gender in the national ICT policy agenda.
In depth
'Wanting to' versus 'Being able to': The rhetoric of access to the information society
Uruguay has one of the highest rates of internet coverage in Latin America, but studies that demonstrate this fact is gender-blind. So what have been the experiences of Uruguayan women with new technologies in relation to the three basic dimensions of any digital inclusion initiative, connectivity, education and infrastructure? This article is translated from the original version written in…
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Women’s networks for effective communication
Dafne Sabanes Plou is the regional coordinator for Latin America for the APC Women’s Networking Support Programme (WNSP). In mid-March she coordinated the “Building inclusive community networks” workshop in Comodoro Rivadavia, Chubut Province, Argentina, in which women interested in learning about strategic uses of information and communication technologies took part. This is an account of the…
In depth
Doing IT on Paper
This article examines the discrepancy between Pakistan's national IT policy and the reality of access and use on the ground. It argues a case for the revision of this policy by taking into existing account socio-cultural inequalities.