In his closing remarks at the end of the Second Annual African e-Gov Forum 2008, Hon. Dr Ham Mukasa-Mulira, Minister of ICT, identified a gender-responsive ICT enabling environment as a key issue that will need to be addressed by the Ministry in its ICT policy priorities and in implementing eGovernment in Uganda.

The Second Annual African e-Gov Forum 2008 was held from 4 - 6 March 2008 at the Serena Hotel in Kampala. The event was organised by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) in collaboration with the Ministry of ICT and the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC). Following on from the successful inaugural event in Accra, Ghana, in March 2007, which was attended by 150 key ICT decision makers from both the Private and Public Sector, the CTO is building support for this vital conference.

The 2008 topic of "Utilising ICT for more efficient, effective and inclusive governance" was selected by the CTO for these key reasons: (1) good governance is critical in any nation, principality, or community; (2) the CTO firmly believes that connectivity and harnessing the potential of ICT is the enabler to make rapid improvement in this; and (3) to achieve this improvement it is vital that the Public and Private Sectors develop understanding and partnerships so that real benefits can be felt by both administrations and the citizens they serve.

The official opening of the Forum on Tuesday 4 March was graced by the presence of Hon. Dr Ham Mukasa-Mulira, Minister for ICT, Hon. Patricia Kaliati, Minister of Information and Civic Education of the Republic of Malawi, and Dr. Daftari, Deputy Minister for ICT of the United Republic of Tanzania. Opening presentations were also made by Mr. Patrick Masambu, Executive Director, Uganda Communications Commission, Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, Chief Executive Officer, Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation, and Mr. Houlin Zhao, Deputy Secretary General of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The presentations provided the Ugandan experience and context as well as an international and global perspective by illustrating the role of the CTO and the ITU respectively in providing support in the development of effective public policy frameworks for e-Governance. Later in the day, a welcome message from H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, President of Uganda, was read by Hon. Henry Kajura, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Public Service. President Museveni reminded participants of the need to provide not only efficient and effective but also inclusive e-Governance.

Women of Uganda Network (WOUGNET) was an official supporting partner for the event and together with CTO organised a session dedicated to "Overcoming the challenge of engaging women with e-Governance through harnessing ICT" on the afternoon of the second day of the Forum (Wednesday 5th March 2008). This session comprised of presentations from Dr. Dorothy Okello and Mr. Aramanzan Madanda on the need to engage women through gender mainstreaming of ICT policy processes in Uganda and was followed by an extensive panel discussion on this essential topic area for the future of African governance. The CTO also offered complimentary registration to WOUGNET members and partners which enabled the invitation of representatives from Collaboration on ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA), Council for Economic Empowerment of Women in Africa (CEEWA - Uganda), East African  Sub-regional Support Initiative for The Advancement of Women (EASSI), Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE), ICTARD, Open Society Initiative - East Africa (OSI-EA), Uganda Women's Network (UWONET), and Uganda Women's Parliamentary Association (UWOPA).

One of the main conclusions from the e-Gov Forum was that efficient, effective and inclusive e-Governance requires not only technological input but also political will, human resources and the ability to manage change in the public sector. In his closing remarks on Thursday March 6, Hon. Dr. Mulira noted that the need to set the legal and regulatory framework for an ICT enabling environment. He added that enforcement and capacity building for public and enforcement officers would be key. He then concluded with seven key issues that will need to be addressed by the Ministry in its ICT policy priorities and in implementing e-Government:
1. Gender-responsive enabling ICT environment
2. Gender disaggregated data (GDD) when generating and reporting information on ICTs
3. Need to address other socially marginalised societies, e.g, those with disabilities
4. Inclusion of e-government in school curricular
5. Strong Public-Private Partnership is crucial
6. Need to address the question of relevant and timely e-content
7. Need for e-leadership to champion the process for change in the public sector and to promote eGovernment

WOUGNET believes that it is indeed key that the number 1 & 2 issues identified by the Minister of ICT are both gender-related issues, and that we must continue together with our local and international partners to support, collaborate and engage with government in order to make the necessary actions for inclusive eGovernance.

WOUGNET members and partners at the event welcomed the opportunity to participate, and the interventions to include gender and youth concerns. Hon. Dr. Ham Mulira-Mukasa, Minister of ICT together with other governments present were commended for their active engagement in the conference right up to its conclusion. The pre-conference workshop was highlighted as a good intiative as it imparted skills directly to the participants. The interactive workshop was held on  Monday 3 March by Mr. Jacques Bouchard (Senior Policy Advisor for the Canadian ePolicy Resource Centre), and focused on sharing experiences and lessons learnt in the implementation of e-Governance projects in Canada and in Africa.

Participants also recommended that future fora should have a format that allows for discussion in smaller work groups. Some of the technical material presented would have been better 'digested' in such work groups. In addition, such groups would have allowed for further knowledge sharing among the diverse stakeholders from government, private sector and the civil society from Uganda and from abroad. Furthermore, there should be more presentations from countries where e-Gov works quite well so that we can learn from them. Lastly, participants also called for increased engagement of civil society organisations in the planning and preparation for such events.