--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- *APCNews, the monthly newsletter of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC)* - August 2001 No. 21 - --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS -- -- NEWS FROM APC -- -- APC ACTION AREA: INTERNET RIGHTS -- -- ONLINE TOOLS -- -- COLLABORATING OPPORTUNITIES - -- ONLINE EVENTS -- -- SITES OF INTEREST -- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS -- COLNODO, COLOMBIA: Partnerships are the motor for Colnodo's model community information portal Teusaquillo, one of the oldest and most traditional parts of Bogota, is host and inspiration for an innovative information and communications centre. APC member, Colnodo, has set up and supports a number of telecentres in Bogota, in general run by local women's initiatives. The Teusaquillo centre is different because it is administered directly by Colnodo and is a breeding ground for new ideas and community partnerships. http://www.apc.org/english/news/fulltext.shtml?sh_itm=d363dc7fd9b76648e48911a839c73292 ECONNECT, CZECH REPUBLIC: Czech NGOs publicize their activities in a new collective Action Agenda running free APC software Late June saw the launch of a Czech language Civil Society Action Agenda. The Agenda is a comprehensive calendar of activities, organized by Czech NGOs and other civic organizations. The calendar can be searched by theme (eg environment, human rights, social issues, regional development, etc), type of event (eg exhibition, training, press conference), by region (eg the Czech Republic and its sub-regions, Slovakia and abroad), organizer name as well as the usual date category. http://www.apc.org/english/news/fulltext.shtml?sh_itm=f90f8352290cedb93a3f8e7fabbf2103 INTERCOM, ECUADOR: Infodesarrollo.org - a Spanish language portal to support development information and collaboration is launched APC's member in Quito, INTERCOM, has launched a Spanish language portal linking Internet users to a wide range of Website and online resources related to development. "We want to make it easy for NGOs, grassroots groups, cooperation agencies and networks to find up-to-date information on a wide variety of development themes," explains Johana Beltran, Infodesarrollo coordinator. The site development followed on naturally from the success of the infodesarrollo mailing list, a development list with a strong Latin American orientation. http://www.apc.org/english/news/fulltext.shtml?sh_itm=78becc93e90240985a9eecb091d6c491 IGC, USA: One of APC's founding networks is featured in a new book on the Internet and global civil society Craig Warkentin's "Reshaping World Politics, NGOs, the Internet, and Global Civil Society" (published May 2001) examines the ways in which non-governmental organizations (NGOs) contribute to the development and maintenance of international civil society. Basing his argument on the contention that "people make politics," the author investigates eight NGOs, including APC's US member, the Institute for Global Communications (IGC) and connects their organizational activities to international civil society's constitutive dynamics and processes. IGC: http://www.igc.org LABORNET, USA: APC's newest member - LaborNet - announces labour and information technology conference for December How are corporations using media and information technologies against working people? How can working people put media and information technologies to their own use to organize in the United States and internationally? Labor Tech 2001 coordinated by APC member, LaborNet, will address these questions at the University of San Francisco, USA in December. The Labor Tech International Conferences have been held each year since 1990 in San Francisco, Minneapolis, and Madison in the US, and also Vancouver, Canada, and Russia. These conferences have played a key role in education, and in developing labour communication media and technology awareness for rank and file workers and unions. They have contributed to the formation of LaborNets (Internet networked labour communities) in the US, UK, South Korea, Germany, Austria and Japan, which have played an important role in building international solidarity in the Liverpool Dockers strike in the UK, the Korean general workers strike, and other labour struggles around the world. http://www.apc.org/english/news/fulltext.shtml?sh_itm=44e7a6c0a906d2e6a3fde1264ff9aca2 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- NEWS FROM APC -- 2001 APC AFRICA HAFKIN PRIZE: Winner trains women in rural Nigeria to use information technology for peace and poverty alleviation PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA -- The first APC Africa Hafkin Communications Prize in recognition of outstanding and creative uses of information and communication technologies was awarded at the African Communications & Technology (ACT) Summit to the Bayanloco Community Learning Centre in Kaduna State, Nigeria, an initiative of the Fantsuam Foundation led by Kazanka Comfort. Ms. Comfort's work on a women-led peace initiative in the villages, where women act as detectors of potential flash-points of communal violence and as peace brokers, made her realize that fast communication among the rural women could mean the difference between life and death in an emergency situation. She had seen email in action while abroad studying and felt it could be a solution. However, the villages she was working in were poor and rural, in many cases without electricity, let alone computer equipment. More about the Hafkin Prize winner: http://www.apc.org/english/hafkin APC BETINHO PRIZE: "Betinho" Prize to recognize the use of the Internet for social justice launched for the second year JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Once again, in 2001, the Association for Progressive Communications (APC), thanks to support from Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC), is offering the $7,500 USD APC Betinho Prize. This prize is offered to non-profit organisations, community-based groups, coalitions, working groups or social movements anywhere in the world that have successfully used information and communication technologies (ICTs) as an essential ingredient in their development work. Nominations for the Prize will be accepted until September 24, 2001. Last year, over 160 inspiring projects were nominated for the prize including projects such as a Website recruiting and orienting volunteers to participate in the reconstruction of ex-Yugoslavia; an information networks between indigenous communities in Mexico; and a child's rights data gathering initiative in Mozambique. The inaugural winner, the Max Foundation, is a life-saving online support network functioning in English, Spanish and Portuguese for the families of children suffering from leukaemia and host of Latin America's first online bone marrow tissue registry. Detailed eligibility criteria and a nomination form are available from: http://www.apc.org/english/betinho APC ACTIONAPPS: APC's free software is the basis of a new interactive site for community radio operators just launched by AMARC Since the late 1990s, APC and AMARC (the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters), an international coalition of over 2000 community radio stations and producers, have been working together to develop tools that will help community radio producers share scripts and audio files over the Internet. In early July, the MoebiuS_PlanetRadio Website was launched. Community radio stations and other production groups can go to the Moebius site to find resources for their programming and other work and interact in program and news exchange. Remarkably, the sites can be accessed in any of four languages: English, French, Spanish and Portuguese! Interactivity and database technology are fundamental to the AMARC site. This interactivity is provided on most of the sites* by APC's free software, the APC ActionApps, which was customized for AMARC's special needs by APC, and two APC members in South America: Colnodo and INTERCOM. http://www.apc.org/english/news/fulltext.shtml?sh_itm=76f66e0eaa0f9dbbe5e526ee7bdd225d APC's Executive Director takes her seat on the Panel of Advisors to the United Nations ICT Task Force MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay -- In June, the Department of Economic And Social Affairs (ECOSOC) of the United Nations approved the composition of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Task Force and APC's executive director, Anriette Esterhuysen, was welcomed to its Panel of Advisors. http://www.apc.org/english/news/fulltext.shtml?sh_itm=f116c06fc3ac85d56d3b8979e952404f --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- APC ACTION AREA: INTERNET RIGHTS-- ASIA: Internet Censorship - The corporate challenge censoring a parody site set up by sacked workers is defeated in the courts Seoul, South Korea -- Freedom of expression on the web has won a small battle in the Seoul District Court. In a country where the national government has just passed legislation instituting an Internet content rating system and legally banning online demonstrations (a tactic previously used to great success by activist groups protesting heavy-handed government policies), the result came as a refreshing surprise. On July 23, the Seoul District Court found in favour of the Anti-POSCO Website, a parody site modelled on the POSCO site, to express their rightful claims and publicize their plight. In early 1997, POSCO, a South Korean multinational, bought part of the Sammi Specialty Steel Co., and ignoring a collective agreement to rehire Sammi workers, forced two thousand out of a total workforce of 2,342 onto the street. The Anti-POSCO Website was a tool of their campaign for reinstatement, however, POSCO tried to halt the online protest through costly legal action, claiming that the Anti-POSCO website violated intellectual property rights. http://www.apc.org/english/news/fulltext.shtml?sh_itm=1bfd32ae7b10c4c6a234b49b61e8d02e The Anti-POSCO site and corporate attempts to censor Internet content through intellectual property claims is the subject of an APC Internet Rights Censorship Case Study: http://www.apc.org/english/rights/censorship/cases/ ASIA: Compulsory filtering by government decree is not the way forward June 27, 2001 -- APC received a request from JinboNet, our partner network in Korea, for support and solidarity for a 72 hour "website strike" from June 29th to July 1st. This action is being widely supported by progressive organisations in Korea and is being taken in protest against the Korean government's introduction, from July 1st, of a compulsory filtering system for "PC Bangs" (Cybercafes), schools and public libraries. The system will block access to websites that the Korean government considers to be "harmful to minors". Websites are being selected for blocking by means of robot keyword searches. The initial list contains 120,000 websites. Included in the list are many mainstream lesbian and gay websites. APC Internet Rights Alerts: http://www.apc.org/english/rights/alerts/index.htm LATIN AMERICA: APC presents the APC ActionApps at the first Latin American Workshop on Open Software for Education, Science, Culture and Society held in Cuba Havana, Cuba, 27 June -- The first Latin American Workshop on Open Software for Education, Science, Culture and Society sponsored by UNESCO and organized by the Cuban Information for Development Agency included presentations of free software developed by APC and APC member, Colnodo. At the three-day conference, organizations and individuals discussed a variety of policies proposed to assist the development of free software. Roberto Roggiero, APC's Latin American Internet Rights coordinator presented a paper on the strategic importance of open source software for Latin American civil society. Recently developed tools, such as the APC ActionApps - collaborative Website publishing tools for non-profits - which are available with English, Spanish and Czech interfaces, and Colnodo's free Spanish language Community Telecentre Access Registration software (see Online Tools) were showcased. http://www.apc.org/english/news/fulltext.shtml?sh_itm=0561216b5e59c9df0ccf69cda2d6c77a --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- ONLINE TOOLS --- APC ActionApps: publishing tools for NGOs APC ActionApps provide NGOs with simple cut & paste publishing for their own Websites and increased publicity through the 'aggregation' of information onto issue-based Web-based portals. At the level of the individual NGO Website, the APC ActionApps are simply a high-impact/low-cost way to automate the publishing of press releases, job listings, events and other types of information. But the real power of APC ActionApps comes at the level of collective publishing and aggregation. Each news item or resource added to an individual organisation's site can be automatically fed to a 'community-wide' portal. Spread-out coalitions can quickly put together a campaign site. The result is greater outreach, more speedily, to a wider audience. To find out more about this free software visit: http://www.apc.org/actionapps/ APC ActionApps in Spanish: http://www.apc.org/actionapps/espanol/ APC ActionApps Manuals User manuals for Website administrators, content editors and authors are now available online or to download. The Spanish manual is almost complete. http://www.apc.org/actionapps/english/manual/download.html I CONNECT I Connect is a new web magazine covering knowledge and ICTs for development, including the work of APC and its members, published by the International Institute for Communications and Development (IICD). I Connect is a product of the 'Bridging the Digital Divide' Programme funded by DFID (UK) and DGIS (Netherlands). I CONNECT: http://www.iconnect-online.org/ [in English] I TRAIN Itrain, the popular site for NGO-oriented Internet training materials, is now online in French. The site is now fully bilingual (English-French) and includes 7 newly updated subjects in French. ITRAIN: http://www.bellanet.org/itrain/fr [in French] http://www.bellanet.org/itrain/ [in English] TechKnowLogia Vol. 3 Issue 4 (July/August 2001) The theme of this issue is technology for social action and includes articles on: Children's television in Macedonia for violence prevention; e-volunteerism; Internet learning in unlikely places; and a report on Mistica, an initiative researching the social impact of ICTs in Latin America and the Caribbean. TechKnowLogia http://www.TechKnowLogia.org [in English] Spanish Language Community Telecentre Access Registration Software Developed by APC member in Colombia, Colnodo, this no-cost, easy-to-use, electronic registration system allows the capture of information to measure and assess the use and impact of public telecentres based in urban/marginal zones and used for development purpose (such as education, democracy and citizen participation, human rights, conflict resolution, environmental protection, etc.). The system runs on both LINUX and Windows, though it was written for primary use under LINUX, a non-proprietary operating system. Fully-annotated instructions entirely in Spanish take the user step-by-step through the installation process of the necessary software. Colnodo tells us that the installation should take approximately two hours. After that, telecentre owners should be able to: - Gather statistics on telecentre use - Control access to the machines in their centre - Collect visitor profiles - Offer and bill for promotions offered in the centre (to help with financial sustainability). It is expected that the user-friendly interface and software will be translated into other languages soon. For more see: http://www.apc.org/english/news/fulltext.shtml?sh_itm=cb1ae55cfcc785161ce99609edcc3bf5 Telecentre Registration software: http://www.colnodo.apc.org/registro/index.html [currently in Spanish only] UNESCO Community Telecentre Cookbook for Africa July 13, 2001 - UNESCO has just published "The Telecentre Cookbook for Africa: Recipes for Self-sustainability". The publication freely downloadable from their Website is a step by step guide on how to implement community-based telecentres in an African environment complete with examples of telecentre infrastructure, baseline questionnaires, business plans, etc. The Cookbook's author is Mike Jensen, creator of the code that first connected APC members online. The project to produce the Cookbook was based at APC's South African member, SANGONeT, in 1999, and involved the co-operation of telecentre practitioners and experts in Africa and abroad. Printed copies will be available from UNESCO field offices in Africa. The French version will be published shortly. Electronic version of the Telecentre Cookbook: http://www.unesco.org/webworld/news/2001/010713_cookbook.shtml [in English, French coming soon] -- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- COLLABORATING OPPORTUNITIES - LaborMedia 2001, Seoul, Korea: Sponsors, coordinators and presenters needed Held to coincide with the fifth Seoul International Labour Film and Video Festival, the third international LaborMedia conference is one of the most important events for labour communication activists worldwide to discuss the broad issues related to the challenge and the potential of new communication technologies. LaborMedia organizers, APC partner network, JinboNet, NodongNet (South Korean LaborNet), and sponsors, KCTU (Korean Confederation of Trade Unions), ask you to help define the conference agenda through their participatory organizing process. Collaboration wanted includes the identification of official sponsors (financial support) and endorsers (institutional support), and presenters. To find out more, or to volunteer support rm, contact NodongNet (LaborNet South Korea): lmedia@jinbo.net and see: http://www.apc.org/english/ngos/calendar/01_11.htm To take part in the labour film and video festival, contact the festival organizer: Labor News Production, Myoung Joon Kim, e-mail : LNP89@chollian.net --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- ONLINE EVENTS -- Civicus Fourth World Assembly: Putting People at the Centre: Voluntary Action Shaping Social and Economic Change Vancouver, Canada 19-23 August, 2001 (22 August 2001: Plenary "Breaking Barriers: Can Civil Society Work Together?") LaborMedia 2001 Seoul, South Korea 12-14 November 2001 ICT for Development and Social Changes hosted by Bytes for All Online, Ongoing APC Online Events: http://www.apc.org/english/ngos/calendar/ --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- SITES OF INTEREST -- ASFADDES (Association of Family Members of Disappeared Detainees), Colombia This Colombian Website, hosted by APC member Colnodo, provides a variety of online support services for the families of people who have been forcibly "disappeared" in Colombia. The Website documents the follow-up of cases of disappearances of loved ones and facilitates the registration of complaints against the authorities for illegal actions by the State. Depending on the case, at times the organization has been able to move the legal process in a disappearance case forward enabling punishment of the perpetrators and/or reparations for the families affected. Legal assistance and documentation is also available, as well as educational material for children and teenagers. ASFADDES: http://www.asfaddes.org.co [in Spanish] IPS - Inter Press Service News Agency IPS, the non-profit news service, has launched a new web site with a new look, easier access to the news stories, and selected articles on the front page. The core of the new IPS web site is coverage of the events and global processes that affect the economic, social and political development of peoples and nations. IPS: http://ipsnews.net [in multiple languages] --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 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. 2001 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 organisations. Please provide an acknowledgement to APC.