--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- *APCNews, the monthly newsletter of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC)* - April 2002 No. 24 - --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS -- -- APC ACTION AREA: BUILDING INFO COMMUNITIES -- -- APC ACTION AREA: INTERNET RIGHTS -- -- APC ACTION AREA: MOBILISING PARTICIPATION - -- ONLINE TOOLS -- -- IMPORTANT DATES -- -- SITES OF INTEREST -- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS - BLUELINK, Bulgaria: Environmental NGOs in the Balkans ready to cooperate online Environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in South-Eastern Europe (SEE) have reached the point of starting electronic networks in their countries, and linking them regionally. This was the conclusion drawn by the First Meeting of Regional SEE NGO Electronic Networks held on 28-29 March 2002 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The meeting brought together nascent environmental NGO networks in the Balkans region for the first time to meet face-to-face, share experiences and find solutions to the challenges of working together online. During the working part of the meeting in Bistrica - an area close to the oldest national park in the Balkans - the participants from the regional networks discussed the challenges and difficulties they encounter in setting up electronic networks and looked for solutions. The meeting organisers, BlueLink and Strawberry Net, networks with experience stretching over various years, shared lessons learned to the fledgling networks from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Yugoslavia and Moldova. http://www.apc.org/english/news/fulltext.shtml?sh_itm=6973745a3a587a17b96cb70d20fcf2c9 COLNODO, Colombia: Interactive site allows Colombian children from different regions to show their reality to compatriots elsewhere Colnodo, APC member in Colombia, has developed a brightly-coloured interactive Website that will be used by children between the ages of five and twelve living in diverse municipalities around Colombia and their teachers to collect and publish information about their local and regional customs, history and geography. The final result will be a lively multicultural online atlas, build by the children for children. The project is an initiative of the Colombian government to celebrate Children's Day and recognising the importance of fostering the acceptance of diversity in children, tomorrow's agents of change. Children's Atlas of Colombia: http://atlas.mapas.com.co/ Colnodo: http://www.colnodo.apc.org PANGEA, Spain: Almost half a million Barcelonans march against the war on terrorism and the domination of capital On March 16, 2002, in Barcelona, the Campaign against a Europe for Capital and War, a coalition of over a hundred local organizations, led a demonstration against the European Union Heads of Government Summit being held in the city. Despite extraordinary security measures, warnings of violence, and attempts to sully the demonstration by linking it to terrorism, the march was peaceful and attended by 400,000-500,000 people. Pangea, APC member in Spain, was part of the coalition, and contributed the creation of a Website and a special online calendar. Campaign against a Europe for Capital and War: http://www.pangea.org/campanyaUE Campaign calendar: http://agenda.pangea.org/antiue --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- APC ACTION AREA: BUILDING INFO COMMUNITIES -- Strengthening information networks around the world: APC brings together social justice content specialists from over twenty countries Building on the needs expressed by APC members and partners using the Internet to promote development and social justice in an online consultation undertaken in early 2001, APC brought together twenty six information specialists from around the world to a meeting in South Africa to strengthen the information community within and beyond APC, and identify and develop resources to promote effective online content work. "The most valuable thing for me was learning about the kinds of work in the field of ICT development being done the world over and finding answers to some specific questions I had," said Ambika Sharma of Development Alternatives, India, a non-profit that sets up multimedia kiosks and content projects with communities in rural areas in three states in India. The experience was echoed by Graciela Selaimen, information coordinator at Brazil's popular Third Sector Information Network (RITS), "I learned that although we were people from all over the world, with different realities and cultures, we have much to share and collaborate with each other". http://www.apc.org/english/news/fulltext.shtml?sh_itm=6d50b085c06893d028a268a061074c5e --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- APC ACTION AREA: INTERNET RIGHTS - CRIS: The Communications Rights campaign takes off in Latin America; mainly European NGOs to meet at consultation on the World Summit on the Information Society in Paris in April The new Communications Rights in the Information Society (CRIS) campaign is taking off in Latin America. In Brazil, a national campaign has started up, and another is being planned in Bolivia. A number of regional communication organisations have taken an active interest in CRIS and are making plans for both regional and thematic consultations. APC does not have information regarding specific plans at the moment, however an online discussion list has been set up for exchange of information about CRIS activities in the region and will be active in Spanish and Portuguese. CRIS is a campaign to ensure that communications rights are central to the information society. Part of its work will be to lobby for civil society participation and recognition at the upcoming World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). The campaign is sponsored and supported by the Platform for Communications Rights, a group of NGOs involved in media and communication projects around the world, including APC. http://www.apc.org/english/news/fulltext.shtml?sh_itm=4eb94fb935c622cde0c03988a13b91f9 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- APC ACTION AREA: MOBILISING PARTICIPATION - APC is Building Civil Society Capacity: Training journalists at the African Development Forum The UNECA, UNESCO and APC offered a course at the African Development Forum held in Ethiopia in March to empower African journalists to use ICTs to gather and produce content that is informed by a deeper understanding of some of the key development challenges to Africa. Participants came from eleven different African countries, most from media institutions - both governmental, community and private - and six independent journalists. The five-day course built the skills of the journalists to produce content in digital formats, use the Internet to research issues, share and disseminate information, as well as to inform journalists of the major issues or themes behind the ADF. http://www.apc.org/english/news/fulltext.shtml?sh_itm=44397584b95616cc69e40cc799632077 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- ONLINE TOOLS --- THE COMMUNICATION INITIATIVE: PULSE POLLS The Communication Initiative's polls are "an attempt to quickly gauge and communicate opinion within the international development community on contemporary issues that we all face". Recent themes include the Internet and cultural diversity, and new technologies as funding priority. The results of these polls are shared widely through the Initiative's popular The Drum Beat magazine with a wide range of local NGOs, national NGOs, governments, campaigning groups, bilaterals, foundations, the UN system, academics, media, journalists and many others. Pulse Polls: http://www.comminit.com/pulse_archives.html [in English] ONLINE JOURNALISM REVIEW: THE RISE OF THE INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTER (IMC) MOVEMENT Two years on from the founding of the first IMC in time for the World Trade Organisation's Seattle summit, Indy Media Centres have mushroomed around the globe. Their growth presents a question the Web has been raising for years: who gets to be a journalist? Theta Pavis looks at the emergence of these 'modern day muckrakers' and how IMC reporters make no attempt to be unbiased while frequently providing significant research, statistics and interviews in their articles. Rise of the IMC: http://ojr.usc.edu/content/story.cfm?request=681 [in English] HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH WORLD REPORT 2002 The 670-pages Human Rights Watch World Report 2002 includes summaries of human rights events in 2001 in 66 countries, as well as analyses of US and European foreign policy, refugee issues, international justice, corporate social responsibility, and the weapons trade. Human Rights Watch World Report 2002: http://www.hrw.org/wr2k2/download.html [in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French] -- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- IMPORTANT DATES -- V Workshop on Networking and Internet in Latin America and the Caribbean Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, May 6-10 2002 Workshops cover basic networking, intranets and extranets, security and other technical subjects. APC member from Colombia, Colnodo, will be leading Workshop III on developing and publishing content using the free APC ActionApps software. WALC: http://www.walc2002.pucmm.edu.do/ [in Spanish and English] APC ActionApps: http://www.apc.org/actionapps [in Spanish and English] --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- SITES OF INTEREST - Betinho Prize 2001 Finalist: The NGO Network Alliance Project - an online community for Zimbabwean activists "When we started the Project we had a particular goal... to build the electronic communications capacity of our community prior to Zimbabwe's presidential elections," wrote Brenda Burrell. "Zimbabwe's media is censored... We want our partners, NGO that have considerable influence, to use email and the Internet to communicate freely and without censorship." Over 130 Zimbabwean NGOs, civil society organisations, and social justice groups highlight their work in the Project, improving the accessibility of human rights and civic information in Zimbabwe. The E-activism page encourages lobbying and action. NGO Network Alliance Project: http://www.kubatana.net Each month APC will feature some of the Betinho Prize finalist Websites. You can find out more about the other finalists here: http://www.apc.org/english/betinho/2001/bet_finalists.shtml International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) IFEX is a membership organisation of many of the world's leading freedom of expression groups. Over 50 groups - located everywhere from the Pacific Islands to Europe to West Africa - together refuse to turn away when those who have the courage to insist upon their fundamental human right to free expression are censored, brutalised or killed. One of the central components of IFEX is the Action Alert Network (AAN). Member organisations report free expression abuses in their geographic region or area of expertise to the clearing house, which in turn, circulates this information to other members and interest organisations all over the world. In addition to the AAN, IFEX members keep in contact though the Communiqué, a weekly publication on free expression violations and victories, upcoming events, and important announcements on freedom of expression issues. The Communiqué is available in English, French and Spanish. IFEX: http://www.ifex.org IFEX Action Alert Network: alerts@ifex.org [English, Spanish and French] --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- APCNews, in English, and APCNoticias, in Spanish, are distributed the first week of every month by APC, the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), the international Internet community for peace, human rights, development and the environment. APCNews Archive: http://www.apc.org/english/news/apcnews/ Copyright. 2002. Association for Progressive Communications (APC). Permission is granted to use this document for personal use, for training and educational publications, and activities by peace, environmental, human rights or development organizations. Please provide an acknowledgment to APC.