Project Leader:  Chat Garcia Ramilo

 

Institution: Association for Progressive Communications

 

Region: Multiple regions

 

Start Date: May 21, 2008

 

 

 

Evidence has indicated that disparities in wealth and power contribute to disparities in accessing information and knowledge via information and communications technologies (ICTs). Other causes for disparities in access and use of ICTs can be traced to the disparity that exists along gender lines. Women, particularly women in developing countries, are far less able to benefit from and influence ICT development than men. Although the value of ICT for advocacy and organising has long been recognised, many women’s rights advocates and feminists are limited in their ability to use ICT due to a lack of exposure, dialogue and technical skills.

 

 

The Feminist Tech Exchange (FTX) is a three-day collaborative workshop (November 10-12, 2008), which is strategically planned to take place before the 11th AWID Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. Through skills diffusion and capacity building, the Feminist Tech Exchange (FTX) seeks to empower women’s rights organisations, advocates and feminists sidelined in the growth of the global digital commons.  The Exchange has been developed in response to the expressed needs of feminist and women’s rights movements for greater understanding of emerging ICT and applications. At the same time, the Exchange will be an opportunity to foster exchange between feminist and women's rights movements and the ICT4D community through the participation of individuals involved in ICT for development projects who are looking to get a stronger understanding and integration of gender analysis and feminist values within their work. The FTX is designed to build capacity in ICT skills - including innovative Web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, social networking tools, digital storytelling, etc. - that embrace the context of southern feminist realities and needs. Expected outcomes from the FTX include:

 

- An increased awareness and engagement by women's rights and feminists movements in communication rights issues and policy implications, particularly in the field of ICT, demonstrated through wider participation by women's rights and feminist advocates and organizations in existing gender and ICT networks, ICT policy and processes such as the Internet Governance Forum.

- Women's rights and feminist advocates and organizations possess increased capacity and understanding in using ICT in their advocacy.

- Increased presence of and dialogue among women's rights and feminist advocates and their agendas in online spaces

- Increased opportunities for exchanges between and among women's rights and feminist advocate.

 

The general objectives for this project include:

 

● To provide a key group of women's rights advocates from around the globe with essential ICT skills, enabling them to harness the potential of ICT to document abuses, build knowledge, disseminate information, mobilise support and amplify pressures for change;

● To build capacity within feminist and women’s rights movements in the creative and strategic use of ICT;

● To support the development of a community of trainers who can continue to augment knowledge and skills of women's rights and feminist advocates in different locales, advocacy areas and movements;

● To create partnerships between feminist and women's rights movements and women working in the field of ICT to sustain movement-building;

● To provide a venue for open discussions and convergence between ICT issues and women's rights agendas; and

● To create spaces where feminist politics and practices of technology are explored and discussed.