Pamoya Beta

WOUGNET Update Newsletter - March 2010
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A monthly electronic newsletter from Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET)
- http://www.wougnet.org

For comments or queries, contact info [at] wougnet [dot] org

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This issue's contents:
1. Editorial
2. News and Events
3. Tech Support
4. Citizen Journalism
5. Gender and ICT Policy
6. WOUGNET News
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EDITORIAL

Dear Readers,

Women of Uganda Network welcomes you to the March 2010 issue of the
WOUGNET Update e-Newsletter.

To Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET), 2010 is a special landmark in
the existence of the organization. WOUGNET will be celebrating its
10th anniversary in May as it continues to promote and support the
use of ICTs by women and women organisations in Uganda, so that they
can take advantage of the opportunities presented by ICTs in order to
effectively address national and local problems of sustainable development.

As a member /partner of WOUGNET, we would like to thank you for your
continuous support and involvement with WOUGNET. The network is
continuously expanding largely due to enthusiasm and determination of
all members and partners. In this edition, we present a number of
issues which we hope will be informative and of interest to you.

Wish you all happy reading.

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News and Events
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= Women & Mobile: A global Opportunity.
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/content/view/487/29/

Women & Mobile: A Global Opportunity is a study on the mobile phone
gender gap in low and middle-income countries. The study report was
launched at the Mobile World Congress by Rob Conway, CEO of the GSM
Association (GSMA), Cherie Blair, Founder of the Cherie Blair
Foundation for Women and Brooke Partridge, CEO of Vital Wave
Consulting. The Mobile World Congress was held in Barcelona, Spain,
from 15 - 18 February 2010.

Mobile phone ownership in low and middle-income countries has
skyrocketed in the past several years. But a woman is still 21% less
likely to own a mobile phone than a man. Closing this gender gap
would bring the benefits of mobile phones to an additional 300
million women. By extending the benefits of mobile phone ownership to
more women, a host of social and economic goals can be advanced.

WOUGNET's work with rural women farmers in Apac District, Northern
Uganda, is among the cases highlighted in the report. With support
from the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP
EU (CTA) and Hivos, WOUGNET has used mobile phones as one of the ICT
tools to enhance access to agricultural information by rural women farmers.

= Internet Point of Presence (POP) for Apac to be functional by 2010
financial year.
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/component/option,com_mamblog/Itemid,83/task,s...

The internet point of presence in Apac district will become
operational by financial year 2010, says Mr Bob Lyazi, the Director
Rural Communication Development Fund of the Uganda Communication
Commission (UCC). This was revealed during the third Lango Forum on
e-Agriculture that took place on the 18th of February 2010 at the
Apac District e-Society Community Hall.

The Lango Forum on e-Agriculture is hosted twice a year in Apac to
sensitize rural women, policy makers and the community at large on
the role of ICTs in agricultural and rural development. It highlights
both the challenges and benefits involved in the application of ICTs.
The Lango Forum is organised by WOUGNET and Kubere Information Center
(KIC) with support from the Technical Center for Agriculture and
Rural Cooperation ACP EU (CTA). Pictures from the Lango Forum are on
the WOUGNET Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=152148&id=133443013569

= Kubere Information Centre: Farmer Question and Answer (Q and A)
http://tinyurl.com/yhk4uj2

This page provides a sample of questions asked by farmers, including:
1. How do I ensure that in the course of spraying my crops I do not burn up?
2. What diseases cause premature yellowing and defoliation?
3. What is the importance of pruning tomatoe plants?
4. Why should we not plant soya bean in the field where we have
previously grown beans?
5. There is a disease/pest affecting our simsim in the garden, what
should we do?
6. I want to know if it is advisable to burn or remove grass from the
field after first ploughing?

For more information about the Kubere Information Centre (KIC) and/or
to serve as a volunteer expert for KIC's Q and A, send a message to
kicinfo [at] wougnet [dot] org

= Farmers in rural areas urged to practice bee keeping
http://tinyurl.com/yfkbnmy

Farmers have been advised to take up bee keeping so as to generate
income .The Kajara County MP Stephen Tashobya made the call recently
while handling over 50 bee hives worth Shs 47million to six farmers
groups at the Kibatsi Sub-County Headquarters. Tashobya promised to
find market for the farmer's honey. He also encouraged them to join
group under the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS)
Program. Today bee keeping are found in all over the world, from the
tropics to the arctic, in rain forest as well as in deserts, with
over 20,000 spices of bees some of which are small others are large.
(Story adapted from New Vision and CTA Book on Bees)

*** UPCOMING EVENTS ***

= Citizen Journalism in Africa Northern Regional Training, 11 - 13 March 2010
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/component/option,com_events/task,view_detail/...

WOUGNET is conducting training on Web 2.0 tools and Journalism skills
for Citizen Journalism in Africa (CJA) partners drawn from Northern
Uganda. The training will be conducted at Grassroot Women's
Association for Development (GWAD). The CJA project was a three-year
initiative funded by both Hivos and the EU. Hivos was working with
SANGONet (South Africa) on this project. The aim of the project was
to increase civil society organisations' use of and interaction
with various forms of media. While the CJA project has ended,
WOUGNET and CJA partners in Uganda continue to build upon the
opportunities and skills gained during the course of the project.

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Tech Support
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= February 2010: Making a Comment in a Document
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/content/view/483/77/

Did you ever want to mark up a document without having to print it
out? This tip will show you how to insert a comment into a document.
Tips are for documents prepared in MS Word and documents prepared in
Open Office. Similar steps are followed to comment in the
corresponding spreadsheet files.

= March 2010: Demystifying Some Common Computer Security Myths
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/content/category/12/36/77/

There are some common myths that may influence your online security
practices. Knowing the truth will allow you to make better decisions
about how to protect yourself. There is no one cause for these myths.
They may have been formed because of a lack of information, an
assumption, knowledge of a specific case that was then generalized,
or some other source. While believing these myths may not present a
direct threat, they may cause you to be more lax about your security
habits. If you are not diligent about protecting yourself, you may be
more likely to become a victim of an attack.
This techtip provides information on five common myths.

= Feminist Tech Exchange Reboots
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

In celebration of International Women's Day, 8 March 2010, the
Feminist Tech Exchange (FTX) is launching its new website -
http://ftx.apcwomen.org/. The FTX is both a training initiative for
women's rights advocates and a community of feminist and technology
activists. The FTX was developed by the Association for Progressive
Communications Women's Networking Support Programme (APC WNSP) in
response to calls from feminist and women's rights movements for
greater understanding of emerging technologies, their potential and
impact on the rights and lives of women.

For more information or for assistance in managing your computer and
in using the Internet, contact techsupport [at] wougnet [dot] org

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Citizen Journalism
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= CJA blogs on Uganda available via WOUGNET website

Follow the blogs on the Citizen Journalism in Africa (CJA) website
that are focused on Uganda. The section 'What's New at the CJA
Portal: Uganda' on the WOUGNET website highlights the most recent blogs at:
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/content/blogcategory/66/105/

Blogs highlighted include:
- Move to Empowerment Status!
- Million Man March Staged Against Homosexuality in Uganda
- Third Lango Forum on e-Agriculture: Improving information access
for agricultural and rural development
- Ugandans reap wealth from nature, thanks to delicious grasshoppers
- Wainah is The place to be!
- SMUG calls for inclusive health care for LGBTI?s
- Peoples Concepts about Twins

More blogs can be read at
http://www.citizenjournalismafrica.org/news/Uganda

The Citizen Journalism in Africa project (CJA) was a three-year
initiative funded by both Hivos and the EU. Hivos was working with
SANGONet (South Africa) on this project. The aim of the project was
to increase civil society organisations' use of and interaction with
various forms of media. This would help them maximise their
communication strategies and reach. It was hoped that this will
strengthen the organisations' use of media and increase quality
information dissemination capacity using multiple platforms.
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/component/option,com_mamblog/Itemid,83/task,s...

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Gender and ICT Policy
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= Women's Week Exhibition at Uganda Museum
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/content/view/488/1/

The Women's Week Exhibition was held at Uganda Museum on Kitante Road
from 1st March to 7th March 2010. The event is hosted by the
National Association of Women Organisations in Uganda (NAWOU). The
event is an opportunity to showcase what women think and do to
realize equality and equal opportunities. It is also an opportunity
to learn what the youth think through school children drawings. The
Exhibition was opened by the Minister of Gender, Labour and Social
Development on Tuesday 2nd March. This event was one of the
activities to mark International Women's Day.

= Gender and ICT Youth Forums
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/content/view/358/69/

The Gender and ICT Youth Forums are organised by Women of Uganda
Network with Uganda Communications Commission. The theme for the
forums is "Raising ICT Awareness among the Youth in Uganda". Forums
have recently been held in Hoima, Kabarole, Kasese Districts of
Western Uganda. See some pictures of the various events on WOUGNET's
Facebook page -
Hoima: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=152623&id=133443013569
Kabarole: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=153395&id=133443013569
Kasese: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=154153&id=133443013569

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WOUGNET News
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= WOUGNET Annual Members Meeting, 4 March 2010
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/component/option,com_events/task,view_detail/...

The 2010 WOUGNET Annual Members Meeting (AMM) was held on 4 March
2010. The objective of this annual event is to share and interact
with Members on WOUGNET's overall mission, work programmes during the
year and get input into WOUGNET's overall strategic direction. The
theme for this year's AMM was "AGRI-Business: Opportunities and
Challenges", and the Guest speaker was Ellen Agaba from BAGRO
Investments Ug LTD. Some pictures from the event are on the WOUGNET
Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=156964&id=133443013569&ref=mf

= Follow WOUGNET-L discussions via WOUGNET website
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php

Registered users on the WOUGNET website can now follow the recent
discussions on the WOUGNET-L mailing list. Follow links on the right
hand menu to see the whole posting. Register at:
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/component/option,com_comprofiler/task,registers/

= Follow WOUGNET on Facebook and Twitter via WOUGNET website
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php
Site visitors can now access WOUGNET on Facebook and on Twitter via
links from the WOUGNET website.

Become a Fan - Direct access to WOUGNET@Facebook is at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Women-of-Uganda-Network/133443013569

Follow WOUGNET - Direct access to WOUGNET@Twitter is at:
http://twitter.com/wougnet

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The Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) website and
mailing lists are hosted by MountBatten, a local hosting company in Uganda

WOUGNET is supported by APC, CTA, Dimitra/FAO and Hivos

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