Pamoya Beta

WOUGNET Update Newsletter - July/August 2008
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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

To subscribe/unsubscribe to the WOUGNET Update
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This issue's contents:
1. News and Events
2. Tech Support
3. Gender & ICT Policy Advocacy
4. ICT Training: Training Needs Assessment
5. WOUGNET News

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*** WOUGNET Website recovers from a 'hack attack' ***

In the early afternoon of 12 August 2008, the
WOUGNET website suffered a 'hack attack' and was
no longer available for view for a number of
hours. We were back online by the following
morning, and we would like to say thank you for
all the messages and guidance received during
this time. We would particularly like to thank
Kabissa, APC Tech Team, Jenny, Karel, Maartje,
Sally, Nnenna, Andy and our own WOUGNET Tech
Support Team (Milton and Ssozi) that worked
quickly towards getting us back up and running.

We have indeed learned a few lessons from this
experience - and we hope to share this with
members as we move along. We continue to patch up
some few parts of the site, and should you have
any problems accessing the website or loss of
content you had posted to the website, do let us
know by sending email to techsupport [at] wougnet [dot] org.

Once again, thank you to everyone for all your support!

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News and Events
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= UWOPA: Update on the Women's Legislative Agenda in the 8th Parliament
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
Uganda Women Parliamentary Association (UWOPA) is
working around seven legislative areas in the 8th
Parliament including the Domestic Relations Bill,
Domestic Violence Bill and Sexual Offences Bill.
The other areas include Maternal Health, African
Charter on the rights of Women in Africa,
Trafficking in Persons Bill and Peace and
Conflict. UWOPA members are divided into teams
which work in each of these legislative areas.
This is an update on the progress of these legislative areas.

= FOWODE: Gender in the Budget Speech: A snapshot
Gender Analysis of the FY 2008/09 National Budget Speech
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1
The Budget is the most important policy
instrument of government that reflects its
commitment to fulfill specific goals and
priorities. It determines whether or not and the
extent to which different groups of people such
as women and men, girls and boys will benefit
from the services provided by the state through
public intervention. In other words, the budget
process sets spending and revenue patterns for
all sectors of Government, results in the
implementation of broad economic choices and
priorities and affects income distribution and
social change within the country.

Government may be committed to gender equality
but it is through the budget that Â"real
commitmentÂ" is gauged. Forum for Women in
Democracy (FOWODE) believes that all development
initiatives must clearly show benefits for women
and men and that a gender perspective should be
integrated in policies, programmes and budgets.
Only then can the government show accountability
for gender equality and womenÂ's empowerment.

The snapshot analysis explores two sides of the
budget, the revenue side (taxation) as well as
the expenditure side. The analysis follows the
format of the budget speech, reviewing the budget
priorities and then the proposed tax measures.
The budget speech highlighted a number of genders
sensitive issues which the government proposes to
embark on the FY 2008/09. This is a good gesture
on part of government to addressing gender
inequality and also promote equitable
distribution of resources . The budget however
remained silent on a number of gender issues that
have persistently not been addressed in the
budget. Both the strength and weakness in the
budget speech in addressing gender issues are the
highlight of FOWODEÂ's response to the budget
speech. The analysis report is available online.

= ''Apac CSOs to Submit Budgets and Workplans to
the District Local Government"
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_mamblog&Itemid=83&task=s...
Civil Society Organizations operating in Apac
District have been challenged to submit details
of their activities to the district Local
Government. The call was made during the
participatory planning and budgeting workshop
organized by the NGO Link Forum on the 28th to
29th of July 2008 at Scouts Hall Apac Town. The
objective of the workshop was to enable members
of the Civil Society organization in the District
gain skills in participatory planning and
budgeting of the local Government and be able to
actively participate in the development processes
of the district and at the same time hold the
district leaders accountable to their electorates.

= A new world by way of Apac e-Society!
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategor...
Technology enhances information and
communication. It has made Apac more accessible
to the world in a situation where distance has
been a challenge. People in Apac can now rely on
Communication and Information Centres equipped
with computers, telephones and the Internet, to
carry out their day to day activities.
The Apac e-society was formulated as a joint
effort between IICD, Hivos, local partners Women
of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) and I-Network.

= AIDS epidemic update 2007
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_mamblog&Itemid=83
A global summary of the AIDS epidemic including
the number of people living with HIV, the people
newly affected and the number of AIDS deaths.

*** UPCOMING EVENTS ***

= CEEWA-Uganda: Empowerment Session on Â"Managing
Personal FinancesÂ", 20 August 2008
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_events&task=view_detail&...
CEEWA-Uganda is hosting an Empowerment Session on
"Managing Personal Finances", targeting women
professionals, Entrepreneurs, Civil Society
Organizations, Private Sector and the General
Public. It will be held on Wednesday 20th August,
2008 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm at CEEWA-Uganda Secretariat, Kansanga-Kiwafu Road.

The Session will empower participants with unique
techniques and skills that will enable you manage
your personal finances better. The main
facilitator for this session will be Ms. Ruth
Biyinzika Musoke of Private Sector Foundation
Uganda, a Consultant, an Entrepreneur and a
Motivational Speaker on Financial Management.

The fee for this session is Uganda Shillings
20,000 (Twenty thousand shillings only) per participant.

For further information and/or registration
contact Ms. Rosette Ndeezi, Ag. Coordinator, at
041-4269477/507 or email: info [at] ceewauganda [dot] org

= Software Freedom Day, 20 September 2008
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_events&task=view_detail&...
Software Freedom Day is a global, grassroots
effort to educate the public about the importance
of software freedom and the virtues and
availability of Free and Open Source Software.
Local teams from all over the world organise
events on the third Saturday in September.

In Uganda, this event has been hosted previously
and has attracted varied participation from the
community in Kampala. Last year, it was hosted at
UICT-Nakawa and had workshops, an exhibition and
training activities. This year, WOUGNET has been
able to raise some funds to also enable the
participation of up to 10 people from out of
Kampala in order to generate a little more
awareness of this event beyond Kampala.

The event this year is being organised by a
variety of partners including WOUGNET, East
African Centre for Open Source (EACOSS) and Linux Solutions.

= 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based
Violence, 25 November - 10 December 2008
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_events&task=view_detail&...
16 Days of Activism is a global campaign against
gender-based violence. It commences on 25th of
November and ends on 10th December of every year.
This year the global theme is 'Defending Rights,
Defending Women'. The regional theme is "Our
Strength is the Solution: Communities Can Prevent
Sexual Violence" designed to focus on sexual
violence not just in conflict but also in our communities.

WOUGNET will be partnering with Raising Voices
and other organisations to conduct a series of
activities to mark the 16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence.

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Tech Support
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= August 2008: 7 Online Blunders That Threaten Your Identity
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&se...
These common mistakes can ruin your computer or
invite identity theft. What are they, and what you can do.

= July 2008: Steps for Recovering from a System Compromise/Intrusion
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=213...
Three steps to recover from a system compromise
or intrusion addressing (1) before you get
started, (2) regaining control, and (3) recovering from the intrusion.

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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gender & ICT Policy Advocacy
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= Does Uganda need "Internet Governance"?
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=224...
Should Uganda care about how the Internet is
"governed"? Should we be on the same page with
much of the world which has placed issues such as
Openness, Security, Diversity and Access among
those that need to be addressed by the Internet
Governance Forum (IGF), and by respective
national and regional bodies? Or should we have a
set of other issues that should be a priority for
Uganda? In addition, a copy of the first National
Internet Governance Forum (NIGF) Workshop report
with a discussion of the IGF issues is available online.

= New APC series on equitable access
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=222...
Equitable access is about addressing social and
economic imbalances when developing policy and
rolling out ICTs , so that people from diverse
backgrounds have more or less similar
opportunities when it comes to accessing and
using technology. Many Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) enthusiasts are
developing innovative new solutions to bring
access one step closer to communities but these
pioneering efforts are currently scattered and
largely unavailable in public domain. APC
launches a series on equitable access to ICT infrastructure.

= Urgent call for new publications on gender and development
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=207...
Have you or your organization recently produced a
book on women and socio-economic and political
change in Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Latin
America and the Caribbean and Central and Eastern
Europe? Are you in interested in marketing and
selling your publication? Women, Ink., a project
of the International Women' Tribune Centre, is
urgently seeking new publications about various
gender and development issues ­ with a special
focus on those produced in the last three years
by small independent and women's presses and
information-producing groups in the Global South.
Both practical and academic, the Women, Ink.
collection seeks books on various aspects of
gender and development, including women's human
rights; conflict and peace processes; training;
economics and globalization; health, sexuality
and reproductive rights; political process;
information communication; policy and political
process an women organizing. Deadline for submission: August 30, 2008

= "Gender issues in Apac, a nightmare to women"
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_mamblog&Itemid=83&task=s...
Gender issues in Apac district still requires a
lot of redress/sensitization by all stakeholders
if itÂ's to be fully understood by both men and
women. Both women and men has failed to grasp the
idea of gender equality as both accused each
other of being behind perpetration of violence in
homes under the pretext of gender equality.
For more information, please write to info [at] wougnet [dot] org

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ICT Training: Training Needs Assessment
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WOUGNET is preparing to conduct ICT training for
its member organizations. To ensure that this
training meets your training needs, we are
providing a Needs Assessment Questionnaire for
you to fill out and return to the WOUGNET Secretariat.

For more information or for a copy of the
questionnaire, please send email to
info [at] wougnet [dot] org, call 041-4532035, or simply stop by the office.

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WOUGNET News
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= Citizen Journalism: Organisations benefit from user generated content
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_mamblog&Itemid=83&task=s...
The citizen journalism genie is out of the bottle
and is the answer to the documentation challenges
that organisations face. Big media houses are
taking advantage of content submitted by the
lay-man who in most cases is not a trained
journalist. CNN for example has the iReport whose
pictures have sometimes been their only source of
information in some situations. The value of user
generated content is undeniable.

= First Lango Forum on e-Agriculture
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=217...
The first Lango Forum on e-Agriculture was held
on 31st July 2008 in Omodi Hotel in Apac town.
Participants came from different districts
including Gulu, Lira, Oyam and Kampala. The
Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural
Cooperation ACP- EU (CTA ) supported the forum
together with Hivos. This facilitated 42 women
from Apac, Gulu, Lira, Oyam to attend the one day
forum. Some of the organizations that attended
the forum include the BOSCO project being piloted
in Gulu diocese, the Refugee Law project, in
addition to the hosting Apac community. The RDC
of Apac town Mr. Alex Jurua opened the forum and
the area MP Hon. David Ebong closed it.

= WOUGNET @ MobileActive08 Summit
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_events&task=view_detail&...
SANGONeT and MobileActive.org will be hosting the
MobileActive08 Summit under the theme "Unlocking
the Potential of Mobile Technology for Social
Impact". The event is scheduled for 13 - 15
October in Johannesburg, South Africa.
During the event, WOUGNET and Bulk SMS will
collaborate in "Texting for Social Action" to
showcase both Bulk SMS and WOUGNET's campaign
using Bulk SMS. Briefly, Bulk SMS is a messaging
provider based in Cape Town. A number of their
clients are the NGOs that use bulk SMS messaging
for social action, health, and youth development.
Through support from Hivos, WOUGNET has had
access to SMS Bulk and will show how it has used
this tool for supporting women's campaign strategies.

= New materials at the WOUGNET Resource Centre, Plot 53 Kira Road
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_mamblog&Itemid=83&task=s...
New materials include the Information Economy
Report 2007 ­ 2008 (UNCTAD), The Uganda Country
Self-Assessment Report and Programme of Action
(Uganda and APRM), and Frequently Asked Questions
about Multi stakeholder Partnerships in ICT for
Development (APC). For information on other materials available, please visit:
http://www.wougnet.org/cms/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid...

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The Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) website and
mailing lists are hosted by Kabissa - Space for Change in Africa

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

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