Report on the APC Women's Program in Africa and WomenAction research into the situation of computer networking among women's organizations in Africa and how WomenAction can support their participation in the Beijing+5 process

 

 

 

Presented at the Sixth African Regional Conference on Women for

the Mid-Decade Review of the Implementation of the

Dakar and Beijing Platforms for Action (PfA)

22-27 November 1999

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

 

Prepared by:
WomenAction
Ellen S. Kole (kole@pscw.uva.nl)

APC Women's Program in Africa
Buhle Mbambo (mbambob@noka.ub.bw)
Marie Helene Mottin-Sylla (mhms@enda.sn)
Dorothy Kabagaju Okello (dokell@po-box.mcgill.ca)

Amsterdam/Gaborone/Dakar/Montreal: November 1999

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Introduction

Over a period from August-September 1999, the APC Women's Program in Africa and WomenAction conducted research into the situation of computer networking among women's organizations in Africa and how WomenAction could better support their participation in the Beijing+5 process. Results of the research are to be used as a lobby input for the 'Beijing PfA Section J: Women and Media' at the Sixth African Regional Conference on Women for the Mid-Decade Review of the Implementation of the Dakar and Beijing Platforms for Action (PfA), 22-27 November 1999, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In addition, the results will be used by WomenAction to better anticipate how to enable women around the world to communicate with each other about Beijing+5 and to exchange information.

This report presents a summary of the research findings. In the following section, the characteristics of the respondents and their organizations is presented. This is followed by sections on the Beijing+5 process, Communication, Information retrieval, Information dissemination, Skills, Training & support, and finally Recommendations.

 

Characteristics of respondents and their organizations

It is estimated that, using email, about 100-140 organizations were reached either by direct invitation or by a call for participation on mailing lists. In return, filled-in questionnaires were received from 25 organizations: 20 from direct invitees and 5 from mailing list respondents, and were about evenly distributed between Anglophone and Francophone Africa. Twenty-three responses were obtained from organizations in the following countries: Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zimbabwe. In addition, two responses were obtained from organizations that have Africa-wide offices. One third of the organizations are small-sized (maximum 5 employees), while the rest are of medium-size (6-50 employees). Nine organizations represent grassroots organizations.

Most of the organizations work in two or more sectors including: gender/women, media/information/communication/Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), environment, education/training, poverty/development, health, and women/human rights.

In the rest of the report, the terms 'respondent' and 'organization' both refer to a respondent's organization.

 

Beijing+5 Process

In June 2000, the United Nations (UN) will review the implementation of gender policy worldwide in the Special Session "Women 2000: Gender Equality, Development and Peace for the Twenty-First Century". In particular, the UN delegates will assess the progress made in implementation of the Beijing PfA policy document. Worldwide, NGOs have mobilized to lobby, advocate and organize parallel activities and to perform an alternative assessment. This process of preparing for the Special Session is called the Beijing+5 process.

Almost all (24) of the respondents have a role to play in the Beijing+5 process, including:

• Discussion of the critical areas of the PfA
• National, regional and/or global cooperation
• Informing the mass media and general audience

• Accelerating national women's empowerment
• Supporting other women's organizations participating in Beijing+5

Working issues for the Beijing+5 process largely involve: women's/human rights, poverty, information/communication/ICTs, gender sensitization, and reproductive rights.

3. Use of WomenAction

16 out of 23 respondents indicated that they would use WomenAction for their Beijing+5 activities. Of these, five indicated that their usage of WomenAction would depend on the following:

• 'If we will continue to get support for e-mail and internet services'

• 'Availability of facilities for down loading'
• 'Comprehension du méchanisme (Understanding of the mechanism)'
• 'Si on nous donne l'opportunité (If we are given the opportunity)'

• 'Acquisition de connaissances en internet (Acquisition of knowledge about Internet)'

Table 1 presents the ranking (by language region) of ten factors that are considered to result in the success of WomenAction.

choice	Anglophone Africa	Francophone Africa
1st	women-friendly system	women-friendly system
2nd	support & training	cooperation
3rd	user-friendly system	support & training
4th	time-saving tools	local/regional input
5th	cooperation	time-saving tools
6th	local/regional input	user-friendly system
7th	appropriate to needs	access conditions
8th	NGO control	appropriate to needs
9th	access conditions	NGO control
10th	benefits	benefits

Table 1: Ranking of ten factors for the success of Women Action

 

4. Communication

Respondents were questioned on their current communication facilities, their communication problems, and their modes of communication with other organizations and with their target audience.

4. Availability of equipment and connections:

All 25 respondents have a telephone. Two organizations do not have a computer. Of the organizations with computers, one has no email/Internet connection while three organizations have only email connectivity.

Almost 75% of the respondents experience some type of equipment problem including: technical and financial problems, lack of skills and access problems.

4. Reaching the grassroots and other organizations

The general picture reveals that face-to-face (oral) communication is a very important way for reaching the grassroots. More traditional telecommunication technologies and traditional mail are far more effective than the new electronic communication technologies, email and Internet – although these are marked as successful options by the respondents. As one South-African respondent clarifies: '[We] communicate with our membership by email and the WWW. In general in South Africa, radio is the best medium for reaching the largest numbers of people, particularly in rural areas and urban townships'. Table 2 lists the modes of communication by language region.

	Anglophone Africa	Francophone Africa
1st most successful:	face-to-face	face-to-face
2nd most successful:	radio	phone/fax/telex
3rd most successful:	phone/fax/telex	postal mail
4th most successful:	postal mail	Email
5th most successful:	Email	Radio
6th most successful:	Internet	Internet

Table 2: Modes of communication by language region

 

5. Information Retrieval

22 out of 23 respondents indicated that they would use computer networks for Beijing+5 information retrieval. The majority of the respondents use a web browser such as Netscape or Internet Explorer to retrieve information on the World Wide Web (WWW). One respondent had only email connectivity and hence relied on GetWeb, the email tool to download Web pages, to access information from the WWW. Additional features supported by a few respondents' computers include: graphics, frames, plug-in programs and multi-media. Comparing language regions, it was observed that 18.2% of the Anglophone respondents supported multi-media features compared to 45.5% of the Francophone respondents.

In terms of search methods, the most popular method was to search by theme or issue. The next popular method was searching by region or country. On the other hand, the most popular format for presentation of information on the Internet was text-based. Figures and tables were also viewed favorably but graphics were the least preferred format. In fact, graphics were listed as the least favored format by 85% of the small-sized organizations.

On the question of level of detail of Beijing+5 Internet information required, the majority of respondents (59.1%) preferred to get full information. 18.2% voted for medium-detailed information and 9.1% for summaries only. Also, there was a strong preference to receive the Beijing+5 information through mailing lists. Table 3 lists the top four choices of retrieval applications.

Choice	Preferred retrieval method
First	Mailing lists
Second	Web sites
Third	News/Discussion lists; Bulletin boards
Fourth	Databases

Table 3: Preferred methods of retrieval information from the Internet

Of the 22 respondents who answered the question on whether they experience problems with electronic information retrieval, 72.7% said 'YES'. The range of problems included: lack of skills, financial, access, electronic archiving & classification and language. Breaking down the reported problems by language region, it was observed that the Francophone respondents accounted for all those who reported language as a problem while access was more of a problem to the Anglophones than to the Francophones.

6. Information dissemination: Repackaging and redistribution of information

78.3% of the respondents will repackage the Beijing+5 information that they find on the Internet. This will take on the following forms: summarizing of the information, making of references and directories, information compilation and translation, conducting discussion groups with grassroots women, publication of press releases and the use of radio & television broadcasting.

The most popular media for redistribution are electronic networks and spoken word (56.5%), followed by publications (52.2%). The least preferred media are fax/telex/telephone (26.1%) and radio/TV (21.7%).

80% of the respondents involved in repackaging and/or redistributing electronic information had one or more problems with the activity such as: financial, lack of connectivity of the recipients, culture/language, and lack of technical skills for redistribution. Table 4 shows the overall picture of repackaging/redistribution problems by language region.

Occurrence	Anglophone Africa	Francophone Africa
Most frequent	Financial	Financial
Second:	Lack of skills, Lack of access	Cultural/language problems
Third:	Cultural/language problems; Reprocessing	Lack of access; Technical
Fourth:	Technical; Legal	Lack of skills
Fifth:	-	Reprocessing
Sixth:	-	Legal

Table 4: Repackaging/Redistribution problems by language region

 

 

7. Skills set

Respondents were questioned on their knowledge in the following areas considered for productive and effective use of the Internet of today: English, Computer, Email, WWW, HTML, Email discussion lists. Table 5 presents a rough overview of the average knowledge of members of the respondents' organizations by language region.

Skill	Anglophone Africa	Francophone Africa
English language	Very much	Little
General computer usage	Reasonable - much	Reasonable
Email	Much	Reasonable
WWW	Little - reasonable	Little
HTML	Little	None
Electronic discussions	None	None

Table 5: Overview of average knowledge by language region

 

8. Training and Support required

23 of the respondents indicated that they need training and support in one or more areas. A need for both technical and non-technical training was indicated.

 

8. Training

In as much as there was a large demand for technical training, there was an even higher demand for non-technical training. Following is a list of the training requirements (in descending order of choice):

• Organizational, e.g., knowing how to use the Internet for Beijing+5 or how to coordinate with other NGOs on the Internet
• Information management, e.g., knowing where to find relevant Internet information, search strategies, and data/information classification
• Training of trainers or facilitators
• Technical training
• Using chat groups; Making web pages and discussion groups.

It was observed that only those organizations that represent grassroots organizations indicated the need for training of trainers (TOT), organizational, and information management training.

8. Support needed

The following types of support were requested by more than half of the respondents, and in this order:

• On-line training tools
• Information management support and technical support via electronic help desks
• On-line technical documentation and ready-to-use web templates
• Discussion group training and technical training

It was observed that the support needed was fairly similar among the language regions. However, it was noted that in the fields of information management and technical support via the electronic help desk, the support demand was greater among the small-sized organizations compared to the medium-sized organizations. For instance, for an electronic help desk, the support demand by small organizations (85.7% of them) almost doubled the demand by medium-sized organizations (42.9%).

 

5. Recommendations for practice and policy

Based on the results of the survey, the following recommendations to support computer networking and to encourage participation in WomenAction by women's organizations in Africa are made. Where deemed necessary, the recommendations are explained or illustrated.

This section addresses professionals and policy makers - not only the ones working on computer networking but on gender and development issues as well. Whenever we feel that certain recommendations may be taken up by specific organizations, we put these in brackets; e.g. ‘recommendation X [donor organizations]’ calls for donors to take action on recommendation X.

 

• Multi-disciplinary support/conditions

[WomenAction, donor organizations, training institutes, (inter)governmental organizations, NGOs working on ICTs, gender and development, technical assistance organizations]

The manifold problems experienced by many respondents in all aspects of computer networking, demand the creation of conditions and the availability of support from a multi-disciplinary stance. Only through joined efforts will organizations in Africa more readily enjoy the benefits of WomenAction for their Beijing+5 activities, and more generally computer networking.

In particular, support should concentrate on the availability of computer network facilities/connectivity, training, money, and technical assistance. The strong relationship between financial and technical problems suggests that financial support may decrease technical problems.

• Extra support for organizations, functioning as intermediaries in the fields of communication, information and media

[WomenAction, donor organizations, (inter)governmental organizations, NGOs]

Since it is unrealistic that most African NGOs/women’s organizations are connected to the Internet, intermediary organizations play an important role. These intermediaries not only involve the WomenAction facilitators, but also other NGOs that facilitate/work on communication, information, ICTs and media in general.

It is thus a likely strategy to emphasize support and conditions for intermediaries. Special needs among these groups are training of facilitators and financial support to redistribute information to other organizations.

• Extra support for small organizations

[WomenAction, donor organizations, (inter)governmental organizations, NGOs]

• Availability of sufficient support (tools), in particular to ease/speed up working with the Internet

[WomenAction]

To a large extent, the success of WomenAction for African women seems to depend on the availability of support. The focus is on on-line available services, for instance on-line training tools, an electronic help desk and on-line technical documentation. Further, there is a great need for (time-drudgery) tools that make using WomenAction, and the Internet in general, easier. Suggestions are ready-to-distribute summaries, information dissemination through mailing lists instead of web pages, multiple search options for Web information, a Web-based interface for electronic databases, and the frequent distribution of overviews of new information and where to find it.

• Sufficient training, especially non-technical training

[WomenAction, training institutes]

The most requested training concerns how to use the Internet for the Beijing+5 process. There is also much demand for information management skills, with extra attention for information dissemination/ repackaging & redistribution. Technical training should focus on the more complex applications (use of the World Wide Web and electronic discussion groups; and may be HTML programming)

• Ensuring the women-friendliness of the system, training and information [WomenAction]

• Attention for disparities and respect for differences between Anglophone and Francophone users

[WomenAction, donor organizations, (inter)governmental organizations, NGOs]

In some areas including computer network needs, use and problems, distinct results are obtained from Anglophone and Francophone Africa. This requires distinct strategies and contents, for example, through separate, appropriate web sites and distinct information (re)distribution applications/media. As another example, in East Africa there should be more attention to financial problems, while in Francophone Africa the emphasis needs to be on connectivity and language problems.

• Appreciation of other applications than the World Wide Web, particularly mailing lists and electronic discussion groups

[WomenAction]

• Links between the computer network and other media

[WomenAction, general media, ICT organizations, NGOs]

Since many grassroots/community-based organizations (and other recipients) lack computer network devices/connections, links between the WomenAction platform and other media such as radio and fax, are of utmost importance.

For example, when putting information on the WomenAction site, it is useful to keep in mind that it will likely be redistributed and thus should be easily adjustable/compatible.

• Dissemination of a wide variety of information through WomenAction

[WomenAction, (inter) governmental organizations]

The African users ask for a huge variety of electronic information on Beijing+5, and ever more detailed in the course of the process. The national government’s evaluation is very important. In addition, the women value general information on the Beijing+5 process (such as the agenda) and experiences of other women as important as they value official documents.

• Emphasis on text-based information

[WomenAction, (inter) governmental organizations]

The use of complex application features like graphics, frames or multi-media should be minimized to make the information accessible for the widest (African) audience as possible.

• Disseminating/archiving information in an accessible way

[WomenAction, (inter) governmental organizations, NGOs]

• Raise the necessary resources to materialize the above recommendations

[WomenAction, donor organizations, (inter)governmental organizations, NGOs]

Most of the proposed recommendations require a lot of resources in terms of human resources, money and time. Unless these conditions are met, African women’s organizations will not have full and easy access to WomenAction and consequently to the Beijing+5 process. This also highlights the state of computer networking among women's organizations in Africa.