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This paper was presented by Karen Banks, Global Coordinator of the APC Women's Networking Support Program in a forum convened on Wednesday March 17th during the 43rd Session of the CSW to shape strategies for using electronic networking as part of the Beijing +5 Review process, and to share experiences on advocacy and accountability strategies by women activists worldwide. The workshop was attended by more than 70 women from NGO communities, UN and/or governmental organizations worldwide.

The forum convenors were the APC Women's Networking Support Program (APC WNSP); Internatiojnal Women's Tribune Center (IWTC); International Information Center and Archives for the Women's Movement (IIV); Environment and Development in the Third World/ Synergy, Gender and Development (ENDA/SYNFEV); Isis-WICCE (Isis-Women's International Cross-Cultural Exchange; and Isis Manila.

We would like to engage women in an open dialogue about critical Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs) issues & concerns, to mobilise for action. We believe that women should be able to use ICTs strategically in support of women's actions & agendas, to:

• redress the isolation of issues of concern to women
• reinforce solidarity campaigns
• facilitate networking
• defend the rights of women to participate equally in civil & public life

"Women's access to information & technology has historically been marginal. Harnessing the power of both is a critical step in developing a genuine culture of gender equality."
Anriette Esterhuysen, Director, SANGONeT, South Africa

We are a global network of individual women & women's organisations working for gender equality in the design, implementation, access & use of ICTs & in the policy decisions & frameworks that regulate them.

Can ICTs Really Make a Difference?

As women, we are all committed to a world of healthy & sustainable communities, peace, social justice, & racial, ethnic & gender equality. As social networks, organisations & concerned individuals we must therefore have greater participation in the decisions that concern us & we must develop the capacity to propose viable alternatives & priorities. ICTs are a powerful tool in building this capacity.

The 1995 United Nations World Conference on Women (UNWCW) was a major impetus for women's advances in the use of ICTs. During the preparatory phase of the UNWCW, women were pioneers in taking up the use of email for information exchange, lobbying & campaigning.

Though the Internet was a relatively new tool for women, those who gained access & learned to use it were quick to grasp its potential to facilitate the UNWCW agenda. Like many other civil society organisations, these pioneers now recognise the value of using ICTs in their work.

"Indeed once trained, women's groups can harness the potential of the Internet towards the common goal of a gender balanced, just & empowered society."
Dorothy Kabagaju Okello, Uganda

ICT Realities and Trends

Civil society ICT users are united in certain observations:

• Recognising mass media & communication networks as crucial for achieving their goals;
• Noting increasing trends toward cultural homogenisation, centralisation, privatisation, commercialization, illegal & harmful content & corresponding regulation & censorship of ICTs
• Seeing the lack of public influence on these trends in both developed & developing countries, in democracies & under dictatorships

Key Areas of Concern

Comparatively speaking, many more women & women's networks are using the Internet in their work now than in 1995. But, there continue to be serious barriers that prevent full appropriation of ICTs by women & women's networks in their quest to fulfill their missions & agendas.

Following are the key areas of concern from our dialogue - rooted in a diversity of groups, experiences & participatory research.

Economic, development & access issues

• Ensure governments & private sector prioritise basic connectivity & infrastructure
• Design communications systems to include locally appropriate tools such as solar energy, radio, video & tape-recorders
• Involve women in the design of such systems, tools & interfaces
• Build bridges with people who will act as conduits between those connected & those who are not.

"Advances in information technology have opened up boundaries. The role of women in global communication networks needs to be strengthened. Barriers to such information technology and to women's involvement at every level of its development should be reduced.
(CSW's 40th Session of the CSW Recommendations Section E para. 17)"

Political & human rights issues

• Assure women the freedom and privacy to express their opinions in a safe environment, respectful of civil society codes of conduct, unrestricted by direct or indirect means of censorship & control
• Involve women in planning & decision making on ICT policies & projects to ensure relevance to the communities they work in
• Implement gender assessment & evaluation of new ICT projects & policies to ensure they are accountable to women's needs
• Consult women to ascertain ICT opportunities & constraints in their communities.

The APC Women's Networking Support Programme affirms the view that gender is only one of many factors that intersect and shape women's ICT needs and experiences: race, ethnicity, class, culture, sexual orientation, age, history, and colonialism, in some cases, play an even greater role. When considering ICT issues and strategies it is important not to lose sight of this diversity and complexity.

Gender and cultural issues

• Implement gender and culturally sensitive educational and training approaches to enable women's adoption of ICTs
• Give priority to initiatives that support the production of information, in languages other than English
• Encourage initiatives that support the production of information that is relevant to women particularly in the areas of health and reproductive rights, violence and poverty
• Ensure that young girls and women are given equal access to ICT education & training opportunities & are encouraged to take leadership roles in advocating its use.

Looking forward from Beijing

As we reflect on the progress made by women since Beijing, these key concerns can serve as building blocks for a wide variety of actions that are required to take up the ICT challenge:

• The Beijing Platform for Action reflects many of these concerns, but efforts are needed to monitor whether - and to what extent - they are being implemented.
• More equitable & strategic use of ICTs by women can contribute towards addressing the other "critical areas of concern" of the Beijing Platform.
• The Beijing+5 process can involve many, many more women if appropriate use is made of ICTs.

ICTs will be one of the major development issues of the coming decades. If women are not actively present at all levels, we will see new forms of marginalization that could undermine other advances made by women in the 20th century. This implies a crucial challenge to women to take on these issues.

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of borders."
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19

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