Call for Proposals: Know How Conference, Kampala, Uganda

(French and Spanish versions available. An English information package is also available for download.)

Isis-Women's International Cross-Cultural Exchange (Isis-WICCE) assisted by the International Information Center and Archives for the Women's Movement (IIAV) in Amsterdam, organizers of the Know How Conference Kampala, call on women's media, Internet managers, information and advocacy organizations -as well as researchers- to submit proposals for the Know How Conference, to be held at the Makerere University campus, Kampala, Uganda, 23-27 July 2002.

Your proposal should address the Conference's mission, which is

To build and consolidate powerful relationships between participating organizations, in order to create new programs to make information on the position of women, and for women, highly accessible and visible.

The idea is to share information on best practices and common difficulties in the field of information activism, and to develop a work plan facilitating cooperation in future. The conference will be a combination of group sessions (sharing learning experiences), capacity development workshops, and a market place where our organizations and new developments in our profession will be on display. Preliminary ideas include:

Group sessions:

We are very interested in good practices and/or new ideas for national/international cooperation. And we want to pay special attention to:

Making information from the village level available at national, regional and international policy levels (and vice versa); and generating and sharing information by/with rural women activists:
The role of women's information centres in knowledge sharing to give women access to their full human rights, to eliminate violence against women, and to eradicate poverty;
ICT-possibilities as an instrument for collecting and disseminating women’s information.

Oral presentations will form the basis for debate on:

Cluster/Track One
1. Using ICTS and Traditional technologies to make information relevant to women and on the position of women accessible, visible and available;
2. Making information from the village level available at national, regional and international policy levels,
3. Developing a plan of action for generating and sharing information by/with rural women activists;
Cluster / Track Two
1. Developing an information centre in a digitized world;
2. The role of women's information services on the World Wide Web;
3. Presentations of new developments /innovations
Cluster / Track Three (Women's Movement)
1. The role of women's information centres in knowledge sharing to give women access to their fullhuman rights, to eliminate violence against women, and to eradicate poverty;
2. Developing the philosophy of women's information and positioning ourselves in the owlrdof information services;
3. Evaluating progress made in the field of information collection, processing and dissemination, as well as sharing best practices
Cluster / Track Four
1. The professional development of women's libraries, archives, documenttation centres and information centres and evaluation of ...
2. Political, financial, technical and other prerequisites
3. Policy within the collections

Capacity development workshops:

Several workshops will be organised to equip more women activists with Information Communication Technology skills. The following needs to be addressed:

Training in running a listserv in order to share knowledge and develop information
Management training in using Internet applications to operate international teams
Training in using Internet to participate in international teams.

African flavour:

Since the conference will be held in Uganda, participants will be exposed to African experiences and challenges of information services. The objectives of this session are:

To increase and improve the visibility of African women's issues, concerns and progress made in the information centres, archives and services;
To establish and strengthen links between women information specialists in Africa and the rest of the world.

Marketplace:

This is the place for all organizations to show their colleagues who they are and what they are doing. The marketplace gives you the opportunity to display posters, brochures, videos, etc. on your work.

If you feel you can contribute to any of the above issues, we would be happy to hear from you. We need plenty of contributions in the form of presentations, information stands and art pieces. In addition, we are looking for facilitators for the workshops and keynote speakers, chairpersons and reporters for the group sessions and plenary sessions. In your outline/abstract indicate where you would like to contribute and the language you will use in delivering your product. Also, please indicate your country of origin. Please make your abstract concise; and brief; it must not exceed 200 words.

Arrangements are being made so participants can follow the workshops in English, French and Spanish. Kindly indicate in which language your presentation will be.

In your proposal, also indicate the technical equipment you need for your contribution. If you apply for an oral presentation, please create the presentation in a manner not to exceed presenting time of 20 minutes.

Send your proposal to: criss@edsamail.com.ph or griet@infocom.co.ug, attention: Kampala Know How Conference 2002.

First deadline: January 20th, 2002

Proposals due: February 1st, 2002

Background:
KNOW HOW CONFERENCE ON THE WORLD OF WOMEN'S INFORMATION

The first Know How Conference (Amsterdam 1998) created a worldwide community of women's information and media organizations. A concrete and measurable product of which was the creation of the International Cooperation Department at the International Information Center and Archives of the Women's Movement(IIAV), at the request of the participants in the Know How Conference. Another product was the commitment of the organizations to continue working together, to develop their expertise in a spirit of sharing thereby creating a Permanent Committee responsible for developing future Know How Conferences.

Projects and partnerships resulting from the 1998 Know How Conference include the global WomenAction 2000 network, the Mapping the World of Women's Information Services and Centers database and book, the Global Gender and Water Alliance- an Indian regional Know How Conference, and an initiative to build a virtual library in Eastern and Central Europe and the Newly Independent Nations. Japanese partners are using the European Women's Thesaurus, presented at the Know How Conference, as the basis for their indexing systems. Plans are underway for a global URL database, an initiative of our Korean partners. In Bolivia, indigenous women leaders are developing programs to use ICTs to increase the access of their communities to information, and as a way of bringing information on their communities to the world.

Background

In July 2002 two important conferences will take place in Uganda, for the first time on the African continent. The 5th conference of specialists in the collection and dissemination of information relevant to women will take place at the same time . Entitled the Kampala Know How Conference 2002, it is organized by Isis-WICCE (Women's International Cross-Cultural Exchange) which is based in Kampala, assisted by the International Information Center and Archives for the Women's Movement (IIAV) in Amsterdam and Isis International-Manila.

The 8th International Interdisciplinary Congress on Women, entitled Women's Worlds 2002 Congress will be held from 21-26 July 2002. The Department of Women and Gender Studies at Makerere University in Kampala organize it in collaboration with NGOs and Civil Society active in gender-focused research.

The two events have much to contribute to each other. Women's Worlds 2002 brings together the creators of knowledge: researchers. Kampala Know How Conference 2002 brings together specialists in getting information to where it is needed, whether to the grass roots, researchers, policy makers or the media. By bringing the information specialists to the Women's Worlds conference and the researchers to the Know How workshops we hope to radically affect the relationships between research, activism and information flows.

A one-day conference for information specialists to plan their work for the coming 4 years will be held the day after the Women's World's Congress is completed, on July 27th.

Description of the Conference

The Kampala Know How Conference is a professional, global conference of women's information and media specialists, linking information specialists and those who need information.

Hundreds of women's information centers, our activities as diverse as our geographies, work to strengthen the position of women. Our accessibility, and the availability of our information, is essential to our work and a prerequisite to proper policy making at international, national and local government levels. One way of mainstreaming gender concerns is by investing our energies in channelling information to the "right people and institutions". Another way is by investing time in creating the opportunities for information specialists and those who need information to produce information together, that is to say, to invest in the process of making information, and partnerships).The Kampala Know How Conference is committed to creating a forum where ideas and experiences from the South, North, West and East are equally represented. Special emphasis will be placed on the information concerns of rural women and poverty alleviation.

Main organizer
Isis-WICCE in Uganda is the main organizer of the Kampala Know How Conference 2002.
Contact person is Ruth Ojiambo Ochieng, Director.
Isis-Women's International Cross Cultural Exchange
Plot 32 Bukoto Street, Kamwokya
PO Box 4934
Kampala, Uganda
Tel: 256-41-543953
Fax: 256-41-543954
E-mail: isis@starcom.co.ug
Web: Know How Conference Kampala 2002

Support, training and coaching
IIAV - International Information Center and Archives for the Women's Movement.
Contact person is Lin Pugh, Program Manager of the Department of International Cooperation
IIAV
Obiplein 4
1094 RB Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel: 31-20-6651318
Fax 31-20-6655812
E-mail: pugh@iiav.nl

ISIS International Manila
Contact Persons are Susanna George, Executive Director and Rhona O. Bautista, Resource Center Administrator
ISIS International Manila
#3 Marunong Street
Diliman, Quezon City
Philippines
Tel: 632-435-3405
Tel: 632-924-1065
Email: susanna@isiswomen.org / rhona@isiswomen.org

Kampala Know How Conference Documents

(1) Information Package
The following packages include information about the Know How Conference including information on registration and accomodation. All documents are in WORD format. Visit the Know How Conference website for additional information.

English version

French version

Spanish version

Background information (including registration and accomodation)

(2) Pre-conference Documents
Following are pre-conference documents (WORD format) for the Kampala Know How Conference. As indicated in the conference program, a number of parallel sessions and workshops are being organised. The number of participants for each room is limited. If you have a clear preference to one of these workshops contact the conference organizers before July 15, 2002. The principal is first come, first served. The available documents are:

Pre-conference document - Know How Conference: Background information on the Kampala Know How Conference; Mission of the Know How Conference; Linkage Women's World and Know How Conference; Program and Overview of the sessions; Conference Format; List of Organizers.
Report of the IIAV to the Kampala Know How Conference: Background; Taking the Declaration of the Know How Conference to the UN; Knowledge Sharing Program: Projects and Partners; Future Plans; Ideas on the future of Know How; Declaration of the Amsterdam Know How Conference; Press Release, Joke Smit Prize.
Translation and Interpretation: Translation and interpretation services available at the Know How conference.

Last update: June 28, 2002