1. Introduction

1.1 Themes and schedule

18 - 24 July 2005: Internet Governance - What are the issues?

25 - 31 July 2005: Financing ICT4D in Uganda - What strategies?

The outcome of the discussions will be summarised thematically, and posted on the WOUGNET website, http:// www.wougnet.org, under the section of WSIS-Uganda.

1.2 How to participate

To participate in the email discussion, please send an email to ictpolicy@wougnet.org indicating your interest to participate in the WSIS online forum.

We would be grateful if you could help us disseminate this call for participation to your network, organisations or individuals that may be interested to engage in this issue.

2. Background Information

In April 2005, WOUGNET in collaboration with OneWorld Africa hosted a multi-stakeholder consultative meeting under the theme, "The role of ICT in Socio-Economic Development" (click here for workshop report - WORD format). The specific thematic focus of the meeting was on ICT in Health, Agriculture and Education, as well as the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) and its relevance to Uganda as a developing country. The primary objective of the workshop was to develop strategies for mainstreaming ICT for Development (ICT4D). Mainstreaming ICT4D is the systematic placing of modern information and communication technologies in efforts and strategies designed to realize important development goals. The meeting was attended by over 50 participants drawn from government ministries and autonomous bodies, civil society, private sector, development partners and United Nations agencies. The meeting also discussed priority issues for Uganda within the WSIS process, strategies and mechanisms to improve participation in the WSIS, strategies for promoting the sustainability of ongoing ICT initiatives, and the role of the media in awareness/sensitization campaigns about the WSIS and ICT policy processes in Uganda. Participants observed that there was need to conduct regular consultative meetings as well as conduct public awareness campaigns on how ICTs can be sustainably applied to address the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs).

In the first World Summit on Information Society (WSIS), gender was very nearly dropped out of the language in the declaration. Multi-national profit driven companies were given the edge in setting the agenda and powerful governments in the economic 'North' are facilitating this imbalance of power (for an overview, Bridge ICT & Gender Pack: http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/reports_gend_CEP.html#ICTs). Now that we are in the process of preparing for Phase II of this Summit, to be held in Tunis later this year (http://www.itu.int/wsis/), it becomes all the more urgent that gender and how ICTs impact on women's rights issues are rendered visible and vocalised as a concern.

Further, the recent 49th Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) that sought to reaffirm and reassess the Beijing Platform for Action (BPFA) was conspicuously silent on the issue of women and the media. Section J of the BPFA, which deals with women's participation in the media and issues of representation, was not highlighted in the discussions prior to or indeed, rendered visible during the event. This demonstrates a worrying lack of political consciousness or will to view communication and information rights as urgent and critical issues for the women's movement. Women largely being in the poorest sections of community are much affected with regards to the issue of access to infrastructure, skills and information communities, particularly in new ICTs.

We call for your participation to create a collective understanding to the two WSIS issues, from the particular perspective of Uganda, and also to strategise for actions that can be taken. WOUGNET is actively engaged with policy advocacy in the field of ICTs, and your views, expertise and experience are important to mutually enrich each others' work in addressing ICT for Development in Uganda. On World Telecommunications Day, May 17, 2005, Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) in partnership with the Ministry of Works, Housing and Communications (MoWHC) and WOUGNET hosted a symposium under the theme Creating an equitable Information Society: Time for Action. The objectives of the symposium were to:

• Raise awareness of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) process and consider ways to incorporate the targets for universal access as outlined in the WSIS Action Plan
• Raise awareness of the state of telecommunications in Uganda and assess the problems that stand in the way of achieving the connectivity goals set out in the WSIS Action Plan
• Promote awareness of ICTs as a tool for economic and social development

• Creating an enabling environment for the information society: A critical Analysis of Laws and Polices in the ICT Sector
• Coordination and Implementation framework for the National ICT policy
• Realizing WSIS Objectives: Actions taken (by Government)
• The Role of Civil Society in the Information Society
• The Media and the Information Society
• Private Sector Initiatives in Enhancing WSIS goals

For further information about the WSIS 2005 online forum, please send e-mail to ictpolicy@wougnet.org. For more information about WSIS preparations in Uganda click here.