May 2005
Women Using Media and Information and Communication Tools for Empowerment This Booklink is a women, media and communication special issue featuring new books published by Gender Links in South Africa and Womenís Feature Service - Philippines. It also highlights events and resources where media and the new information and communication technologies are discussed not just as tools for women to network and communicate with each other but as issues of advocacy on their own. It is important to note that the events reported in this Booklink are crucial in ensuring womenís informed engagement in two upcoming events--namely, the Millennium +5 Summit and the World summit on the Information Society.The International Women's Tribune Centre will provide more reports on these events in GlobalNet www.iwtc.org, the organization's online news bulletin.
For further information on the new books, please visit our website at www.womenink.org. To order any of these publications, please refer to the ordering information below.
Voices and Choices: Women Write on Women
edited by Olivia Hubilla-Tripon, Pennie Azarcon-Dela Cruz, and Diana Mendoza
published by the Women's Feature Service - PhilippinesThis book is an output of the project: "Media Links: Partnering with NGOs for Women's Rights" implemented by the Womenís Feature Service - Philippines. It features the stories of women who speak about their choices in their own voice, and describe life from their own perspectives and experiences. These are the voices usually unheard of in mainstream media. The voices of the community health worker on call anytime for health emergencies, yet who gets paid a pittance; the native woman who got pregnant and found herself trapped in untimely motherhood; the indigenous women proudly performing their rituals and holding on to their fading culture.This is a book about choices. Sometimes the choices are limited, even harsh and unforgiving. Sometimes the choice is not even for the women to make. How do they make their choices? How do they live with it? This book gives the women precious space to speak about their choices.
2005. ISBN 971-92427-4-4. 204 pages. WE 702. $8.00
Getting it Right: Gender and Media in Southern Africa
edited by Colleen Lowe Morna
published by Gender LinksThis book is a compilation of the ideas, strategies and tools shared at the historic Southern Africa Gender and Media Summit which brought together 184 gender and media activists from across the region. Over 50 experts and practitioners from across the region contributed to the rich insights and examples that stand as testimony to the groundswell of support for a media that is more representative of and responsive to the women and men of Southern Africa.This resource is targeted at all those who have a role to play in promoting gender equality in and through the media including media decision-makers, practitioners, trainers, regulators, collaborators and analysts. It includes a CD-Rom which, in addition to the case studies provided in the book, allows users to access actual artefacts, tools and outputs that are described.
2004. ISBN 0-620-33492-4. 248 pages. WE 703. US$19.98
My views on the news! The Southern African Gender and Media Audience Study - Part I
edited by Kubi Rama and Colleen Lowe Morna
published by Gender LinksThe Gender and Media Audience Study is both the first ever major regional study on media consumption patterns generally in Southern Africa as well as the gendered dimensions of this. The first part of the study covers six countries: Botswana, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland and Zambia.If the Gender and Media Baseline Study opened the eyes of media decision-makers to their gender blindness, this research will jolt them to the reality that their audiences, especially women, are ready to be served up a new menu. The book is a must read for those involved in the production of news; for those who are tired of being passive media consumers; and those committed to strengthening democracy by making every voice count.
2005. ISBN 0-620-33705-2. 128 pages. WE 704. US$13.95
The "I" stories. Speaking out on gender violence in Southern Africa
edited by Colleen Lowe Morna and Janine Moolman
published by Gender LinksThe "I" stories. Speaking out on gender violence in Southern Africa features the writing of women and men who have been affected by gender violence - as survivors and rehabilitated perpetrators. The stories - from five Southern African countries -provide insight into the lives of ordinary people who have with extraordinary strength, dignity and courage, spoken out against gender violence.The booklet is a unique compilation of the authentic voices of those who have spoken out and in so doing so, opened up the way for others to do the same.
2004. 88 pages. WE 706. US$6.95
Events and Related Resources
IWTC Organizes Gender and ICT Meeting
Taking advantage of women academics and activists coming to New York for the ICA conference, the International Women's Tribune Centre is organizing a gender and ICT meeting on May 27, 2005. The meeting aims to provide a space for a lively exchange of information on various research initiatives on gender and ICT policy and the Information Society and to explore the landscape beyond the WSIS.The specific objectives of the meeting are:
1. to examine the absence of gender and feminist issues in each version of the political chapeau generated by the "Group of Friends of the Chair" of WSIS;2. to discuss the response from the WSIS Gender Caucus as well other responses that may have been generated;
3. to assess whether there are other points that we need to stress as women's organizations in the WSIS, and strategies that we can identify to ensure gender perspective and analysis in the second phase of the WSIS;
and
4. to identify strategic points for intervention and participation by women in ICT policy-making processes and fora in the post-WSIS era.
Representatives of UN agencies working on gender and ICT issues including Carolyn Hannan, Director of the UN Division for the Advancement of Women; Radhika Lal UNDP Policy Advisor on Information and Communications Technology for Poverty Reduction and Millennium Development Goals; and Letty Chiwara from UNIFEM will participate in the meeting. Vicki J. Semler, IWTC Director and Anne S. Walker, IWTC Special Projects Coordinator will also be in the meeting. Eva Rathgeber from the WSIS Gender Caucus will join the meeting via teleconference.
55th International Communication Association Conference
The International Communication Association, an academic association for scholars interested in the study, teaching, and application of all aspects of human and mediated communication is organizing its 55th annual conference at the Sheraton Hotel in New York city from May 26-30.2005. The theme of the 2005 conference is Communication:Questioning the Dialogue, influenced by the events of 9/11 and those public and private decisions made in response to that tragic event.
The Feminist Scholarship Division of the ICA has listed a number of sessions that explore the relationship of gender and communication within the context of feminist theories, methodologies and practices. One such session is the ìFeminist Dialogue on the World Summit on the Information Society organized by Lisa McLaughlin (Miami University - Ohio, USA and will be participated by Mavic Cabrera-Balleza of the International Womenís Tribune Centre and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters. The Dialogue which will be held on May 28 aims to provide a space for constructive (or deconstructive) criticism of the WSIS in respect to gender issues.
To learn more about the 55th ICA annual conference, visit:
http://www.icahdq.org/events/conference/2005/conf2005.aspGlobal Alliance for ICT Development
As part of the preparatory activities in the lead up to the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) on November 16-18, 2005 in Tunis and as a response to the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's call for open consultations, members of the UN ICT Task Force initiated the formation of the Global Alliance for ICT Development.The Global Alliance is seen as an open, innovative, networked, multi-stakeholder and forward-looking platform for global policy debate on ICT policies and development. It aims to provide an open and inclusive multi-stakeholder platform for regular global fora on emerging policy issues and cutting-edge developments in information and communication technologies. The formation of the Global Alliance is particularly significant given the unique window of opportunity for all stakeholders to dialogue and debate with several strands coming together through the Millennium +5 Summit (New York, September 14-16, 2005); WSIS (PrepCom 3 and intersessional period (Geneva, September 19-30, 2005); and the actual Summit in Tunis in November.
The Global Alliance will be officially presented at a roundtable on September 13, 2005 prior to the Millennium + 5 Summit --highlighting the role of ICTs in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
The full copy of the Global Alliance principles and elements may be accessed at:
http://www.unicttaskforce.org/perl/documents.pl?id=1493If you have friends and colleagues whom you think will find the Booklinks useful, please let us know. To subscribe to Booklink, send an e-mail to wink@womenink.org and type the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
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