Hi folks,
FYI.
Katim
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [GKD] ICTs and gender sensitivity in Senegal
Date: Tue, 19 Jun 2001 11:21:59 -0400
From: Frank Elbers <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To: [log in to unmask]
To: [log in to unmask]
Dear members,
Below is interesting article in the recent issue of Reports on-line
magazine about ICTs and gender as part of International Development
Research Centre (IDRC)'s Acacia strategy.
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Source: Reports
July 12, 2001
URL: http://www.idrc.ca/reports/read_article_english.cfm?article_num=735
Gender Sensitivity and the Acacia National Strategy for Senegal
Facilitating access to, and exploitation of, information and communication
technologies (ICTs) for marginalized communities, especially women and
youth: this is the main objective of IDRC's Acacia Initiative, which has
launched a project to ensure massive representation of women in all aspects
of the program, and to incorporate gender sensitivity into the design,
implementation and evaluation of projects that are part of the Initiative.
Facilitating access to, and exploitation of, information and communication
technologies (ICTs) for marginalized communities, especially women and
youth: this is the main objective of the International Development Research
Centre (IDRC)'s Acacia Initiative, which has launched a project to ensure
massive representation of women in all aspects of the program, and to
incorporate gender sensitivity into the design, implementation and
evaluation of projects that are part of the Initiative.
The project, coordinated by Fatoumata Sow, a journalist by profession who
specializes in gender issues, is designed to make gender sensitivity a
permanent characteristic of the Acacia National Strategy using studies,
consultation, and information activities to raise awareness — paving the
way for adoption of a plan of action to support women in the process of
making ICTs a part of community life. The project is the first stage in a
process designed to reverse the trend toward marginalization, ensure
equitable access to ICTs, develop tools and mechanisms tailored to the
needs and characteristics of women and their position and role in society,
and strengthen their capacities and power.
Women and ICTs
In Ms Sow's view, "ITCs can be a great thing for women, in the sense that
they can help them get the information they need on subjects as varied as
health, education, income-producing activities, the environment, human
rights, and so on. In Senegal and in Africa in general, most women are
handicapped by illiteracy and ignorance, which severely curtails their
ability to access the information and skills that could help them improve
their situation, speed their emancipation, and expand their participation
in development. We must enable women to enjoy the benefits that ICTs bring,
by placing them at women's disposal in ways compatible with their social
context and their individual needs."
According to Sow, the first step in the strategy for implementing the
project was to set up a scientific committee consisting of experts in
development, in ICTs, and in gender issues drawn from a number of sectors
to advise and assist IDRC on its implementation. At the same time, a team
of women consultants familiar with women's issues, development, and ICTs
were developing work methods that were discussed with the scientific
committee and incorporated the latter's suggestions.
Two stage process
All the work was done in two stages. "The first involved field studies
carried out by the women consultants in seven of Senegal's ten regions.This
provided the basic data which was then used in the second part, namely the
development of grids and tools for the integration of gender sensitivity
into the Acacia Strategy."
The field studies included: assessment and analysis of experiments and
projects in the field of women and communication; assessment of structures
involved in ICT and gender issues; qualitative and quantitative assessment
of women's needs with respect to ICTs; and finally, outlining ideas for
pilot projects. The main points of the action plan were as follows:
- inform women and raise their awareness of ICTs and related issues, and of
the importance of their being involved in all activities in this area;
- set up community information centres offering access to ICTs, which are
responsible for providing equipment and training women to use the
technologies;
- set up servers to provide information on women and development, to
contribute to the sharing of knowledge and experience, and to produce local
programming that meets the needs of the target audiences;
- make the argument for the education of women, especially in the
scientific and technical areas.
Source of power
The IDRC Working Group on Gender and Development has identified access to
information as a source of power: those who have it can monitor policy
applications, join pressure groups, learn, cooperate, militate, and react
to proposed legislation.
To sum up: the main activities carried out in the first phase of the
project include field studies, the production of a report on Women,
Communication and ICTs: Needs and Prospects, and two devolution workshops
in Dakar with representatives from the regions of Thiès, Saint-Louis,
Louga, and Dakar. The second workshop was held in Kaolack and attended by
people from Tambacounda, Kolda, Ziguinchor, and Kaolack. The workshops
provided an opportunity both to sensitize participants to the Acacia
Strategy and ICTs, and to discuss, enrich, and validate the findings of the
report. Following this initial consultation, the project moved into a
second phase, which concerns methods and tools to ensure that women are
involved in the process from start to finish. To provide follow-up and
evaluation of future actions, a study using the analytical grids for gender
as applied to ICTs has been launched. According to sociologist Marie Pierre
Chaupin, who will be leading the study, "taking gender issues into account
from the start of the project is important inasmuch as this factor will
have a major influence on the orientation and content of project activities."
Expected outputs
As Sow points out, to assist IDRC and its Acacia partners, the national
mechanisms in place and the project participants, "the project is expected
to produce a number of guides or tools (analytical grids, in particular)
that can be used at various stages of the project, from design through
implementation to evaluation, to get a handle on the position and
activities of women and men, their respective responsibilities in the
various processes, their particular needs and desires, both immediate and
strategic, the impact of relations between men and women in the activities
to be carried out, and the benefits and spinoffs from ICTs for women and men."
The study now being finalized proposes a number of grids, such as the
Harvard grid and the contextual analysis grid, and identifies indicators
specifying that they must be precise and measurable. "It is important to
note the innovative nature of this study, which is one of the first to
specifically target tools and grids that take gender into account in
projects involving ICTs," says Ms Chaupin. "We know that work has already
been done on gender and environment, gender and health, and so on, but
nothing had yet been done on gender and ICTs, and in particular, on the
design of appropriate grids.Very little has been done so far in this area."
Rokhaya Diop in Senegal
For more information:
Fatoumata Sow, c/o West Africa Regional Office, IDRC, BP 11007 cd annexe -
Dakar, Sénégal; Tel: (221) 864-0000; Fax: (221) 825-3255
Copyright © 2001
International Development Research Centre
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