Questionnaire on African Women and ICT's

Five Years After Beijing

Background

APC- Africa-Women has undertaken to conduct research to provide qualitative and quantitative information on the changes in African women's use of ICTs since the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing 1995.

The research forms part of a holistic APC-Africa-Women's programme of activities related to the Bejing Plus Five process in Africa and internationally.

The research will review and report on changes in African women's organizations access to and use of ICTs in the five years since Chapter J of the Beijing Platform for Action was declared, with particular reference to NGOs.

The research will have a strong focus on the practical impact and applications of ICT's using examples and case studies wherever possible. Methodologies employed will include a literature review, drawing on online and offline resources; participation in, and analyses of online discussion forums eg Flamme; E Mail interviews making use of the attached questionnaire; as well as face to face and phone interviews. Respondents are kindly requested to:

Return the attached questionnaire to Colleen Lowe Morna at colleenm@wn.apc.org by 6th of March.

Indicate if they would be willing, in addition to responding to the questionnaire to be part of a more in depth phone interview.

The research is a collective and participatory process. All interviewees will be appropriately acknowledged. The researcher is simply a vehicle to pull together the rich resources that exist on this subject, but in scattered places. The research will be launched at the Beijing Plus Five Review in New York. Thank you for your time, input, and most of all for the wonderful work you are doing!

NB: For the purposes of this research ICT's refer to computer based networking, including E mail, the world wide web and electronic mailing lists.

Questionnaire

1. Name and particulars
A. Name of individual
B. Organization
C. E Mail address
D. Physical address
E. Phone number
F. Are you willing to be interviewed by phone in addition to filling out the questionnaire?
G. When would suit you?

2. Personal usage of ICT's
A. Please describe
* how and when you personally came into contact with, and started using ICT's.
* whether you felt or still feel inhibited by ICT's.
* whether you have access to these facilities at home or only at work
* If you received formal training in the use of ICT's
* If so how valuable the training was as compared to on the job experience, trial and error.

B. How and to what extent do you make use of/participate in the following
* E Mail
* The world wide web
* Electronic mailing lists.

C. Please list any electronic mailing lists focusing on African women's issues that you are a member of or you are aware of. What value have these been to you personally or to your organization with regard to:
* New information
* Lobbying/advocacy,
* Peer support,
* Any other way in which these networks have been helpful.

D. What difference has the use of ICT's made to you with regard to the following. Please give examples where possible:
* Personal growth and development
* Practical information- eg jobs
* Any other difference you feel ICTs have made to your life.

3. Use of ICTs in Organisations
A. What does your organization do? Please could you answer this within the framework of the twelve critical areas of the Beijing Platform for Action, indicating in as much detail as possible in which of these areas, and in what ways your organization is advancing these objectives:
* Women and poverty
* Education and training
* Women and health
* Violence against women
* Women and armed conflict
* Women and the economy
* Women in power and decision making
* Institutional mechanisms for the advancement of women
* Human rights of women
* Women and the media
* Women and the environment
* The girl child

B. Please describe
* What computer and phone facilities your organization has access to
* Who your internet provider is
* How reliable the service is
* What training has been provided to staff

C. How are ICTs used in your organization to interact with
* Other members of the organization
* Your constituents
* Governments
* Other NGOs
* Funding agencies
* International organizations and networks.
* Any other groups

D. How are ICTs applied in your organization with regard to the following:
(please give concrete examples where possible).
* Basic communication (replacing phone,fax, courier,mail)
* Lobbying
* Advocacy
* Research
* Information sharing
* Repackaging
* Any other function

E. What difference have ICT's made to your organization with regard to the following:
(please give concrete examples where possible):
* Improving communication, internally
* Improving communication externally
* Cutting costs
* Flattening the hierarchy within the organization
* Empowering staff
* Improving service delivery
* Any other way that you can think of

4. Outreach
A. To the extent that your organization interacts with the public, how has it attempted to make ICT's accessible to those who may not have access to ICT's, and especially to women as
* An information broker
* A skills broker
* A provider of hardware and/ or software
* Any other way

B. What have been
* the successes
* challenges of your outreach programme?

C. What suggestions do you have for making ICT's more accessible to poor and illiterate women.

5. Policy issues
* Have you or your organization been involved in any of the policy debates regarding telecommunications and ICT's, and especially the gender dimensions of these?
* Describe the nature of your involvement.
* What has been achieved?
* What is still out standing?

6. Case studies
Can you share information on any project that you are aware of or have been involved in that you feel is a particularly a) good or b) bad example of the way in which ICT's are being used for developmental purposes; and especially for advancing the status of women.

7. Assessment
A. What is your overall assessment of the possibilities offered by ICT's for advancing gender equality in Africa?
B. What do you see as the main constraints?
C. What recommendations do you have to make with regard to making ICTs more accessible to women directed to
* NGOs
* Governments
* International agencies
* The private sector
* Any other body

D. Are there any issues not raised in this questionnaire that you would like to comment on?