PRESS RELEASE

July 22^nd 2008

First Lango Forum on e-Agriculture:

Integrating innovative ICTs and Information Communication Management techniques in Agricultural and Rural Development

Women of Uganda Network and Kubere Information Centre (KIC),  with support of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP – EU (CTA) and Hivos, will hold the first Lango Forum on e-Agriculture in Apac district on 31^st July 2008.  The forum will take place in Omodi Hostel located in Apac town. The purpose of the forum is to sensitize rural women and the community at large on the role of ICTs in rural and agricultural development. Forum participants will share knowledge on how ICTs have been or could be applied in agriculture and rural development within the region, highlighting both the benefits and the challenges. Participants will include farmers, district leaders, civil society organisations from Apac, Gulu, Lira, and Oyam districts, and stakeholders from other areas of Uganda.

In Apac District, Northern Uganda, WOUGNET is also participating in an e-Society programme that seeks to foster collaboration between local government and civil society through the use of ICTs. The e-society programme aims at improving service delivery and creating a transparent political environment by using ICTs as a tool to improve co-operation between stakeholders. Funded by Hivos and IICD, it involves local government at the district and sub-county levels as well as CSOs active at district and community level. One of the major activities of the programme is the collection, management, storage, packaging, re-packaging and distribution of information to beneficiaries and stakeholders of the programme and vice versa.

Women of Uganda Network is a non-governmental organization established in 2000 by several women organizations in Uganda to develop the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) among women as tools to share information and address challenges collectively. Supported by CTA, HIVOS, UNESCO, WOUGNET’s mission is to promote and support the use of information and communication technologies by women organisations as well as individuals, so as to improve the conditions of life for Ugandan women, through enhancing their capacities and opportunities for exchange, collaboration and information sharing. WOUGNET reaches out to its audiences through its website www.wougnet.org, e-mailing list, bulk SMS and Kubere Information Centre (KIC) which is a multi media Information centre located in Apac, and is an active participant in the e – society programme.

For more Information, please contact

Ms Nora Odoi,

Senior Program Officer, Information Sharing and Networking

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Tel: +256-(0)41- 4532035