Overview of the Workshop

Asian Women's Resource Exchange (AWORC) is an Internet-based women's information service and network in Asia. AWORC develops cooperative approaches and partnerships in increasing access to and exploring applications of new information and communication technologies (ICT) for women's empowerment. It also expands existing regional networks in the women's movement, promotes electronic resource sharing and builds a regional information service to support women's advocacies, specifically those critical for women in Asia

AWORC members include women's information, resource and documentation centers, women's information providers and users, communications organizations working closely with women's networks.

In the year 2000, the UN General Assembly will convene a special session to assess progress achieved in the implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) and the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women. The special session entitled "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development And Peace For The Twenty-first Century" will take place on 5-9 June 2000 at the UN Headquarters in New York.

AWORC seeks to contribute to the assessment process in Asia through developing regional women's Internet-based information and communication channels. AWORC's website now highlights resources, activities and organizations of women in the region and serves as a channel for women's organizations to exchange information on the review process. AWORC's website address is www.jca.apc.org/aworc

AWORC is also organizing the "Asian Women's Electronic Network Training Workshop". This training workshop is scheduled on June 21- 26, 1999 at the Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul, Korea. The workshop aims to train participants on basic website development tools and and other Internet-based group communication (e-mail, mailing lists, newsgroups, etc.) so that women's organizations may effectively use the technology to exchange and disseminate information on the five-year review of the BPFA (officially titled Women 2000).

The goals of the training workshops are:

1. To train women's information providers in the use of group conmmunication and web authoring tools to be able to provide meaningful Internet-related activities of their organizations, networks and localities.
2. To develop and increase the level of cooperation among women's information providers and existing women's information networks in the region.
3. To promote greater sharing of of information sources towards enhancing the promotion of a regional information network on the review process of the Beijing Platform For Action (BPFA).
4. To promote the appropriate use of information and communication technology in the regional women's movement.
5. To train women's information providers who will be able to assist women in the use of Internet services and tools.

The Regional Training Workshop is open to women who meet the following criteria:

1. Active involvement in her organization's information work. Preference is given to information officer/staff and experience in women's network.
2. Organization is engaged in the BPFA Review process, and has plans of putting out information about issues related to the crticial themes of Women 2000.
3. Has basic to intermediate computer-literacy. (Training will be conducted in Windows 95. However, applicant does not necessarily have to be a Windows user.)
4. Fair to good knowledge of English language.
5. Willingness to participate in a information network for the BPFA process or Women 2000.
6. Willingness to share the knowldge, skills and resources she will acquire from the training with other women.
7. Willingness to work in a group-focused environment and process.
8. Capacity to receive a week long training conducted in university classrooms and student dormitory with shared rooms.

The main topics to be covered will include:

1. Introduction to the Internet and Internet tools
2. Familiarization with how women's organizations use the Internet
3. Group Communication Tools
4. Planning a user-focused Website
5. Basic and Intermediate HTML Authoring
6. Introduction to the use of multimedia on the Web
7. Search Strategies
8. How to support and train users and providers of information

The course is a mixture of lectures or presentations and demonstrations with emphasis on hands-on practical experience. Emphasis will be given on collaborative learning and group work.

By the end of the training workshop, participants will be able to write and design a user-focused and web-based Information service, as well as effectively use basic group communication tools.

* The training is NOT a programming course.

AWORC Training Team - aworctrain@isiswomen.org