--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- *APCNews, the monthly newsletter of the Association for Progressive Communications (APC)* - July 1999 No. 1. - --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- NEW SERVICES AND RESOURCES FROM APC -- -- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS -- -- SECRETARIAT NEWS -- -- TECH TIPS -- -- SITES OF INTEREST -- -- CONTRIBUTING TO FUTURE EDITIONS -- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --NEW SERVICES AND RESOURCES FROM APC-- NEW RESOURCES: MISSION DRIVEN BUSINESS PLANNING TOOLKIT Looking for ways to sustain your organization while staying true to your mission? With the support of International Development Research Center (IDRC) and Carnegie Mellon University, APC and our member networks have put together a kit of articles, issue-specific presentations and ready-to-use forms that address the various business planning processes for Mission-Driven organizations. We're using them to do our own strategic business planning here at the Secretariat. http://www.apc.org/english/ngos/business/busplan/index.htm NEW RESOURCES: Y2K INFORMATION KIT To get civil society ready for the Year 2000, APC provides your organization with a global systems and end-user strategy to ensure your online information and communication technology systems remain stable as we move into the new millennium. Check out APC's Year 2000 strategy for non-profits, which your member can use and also promote as an APC service to your users. http://www.apc.org/english/ngos/tech/y2k/ --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- APC STAFF -- CHANGES IN APC SECRETARIAT: EDIE FARWELL, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR After almost 8 years, Edie Farwell will be leaving APC as of July 15. A global search for a new executive director is in process, and Edie will be available until the end of 1999 to help with the leadership transition, information flow, and training. Edie's tenure with APC has seen substantial growth in both APC and in the use of the Internet. Edie joined the APC International Secretariat in 1991 with a mandate to facilitate member collaboration, growth, diversity and strength, and to build the capacity of APC as an organization in it's own right. Since then, APC has grown from 7 member networks and a staff of one, to 25 member networks, 40 partner networks, and a diverse international team of staff and consultants. On behalf of all at APC, we'd like to say a huge THANK YOU to Edie for all her hard work over the years, and good luck for the future! CHANGES AT ECONNECT: JAN HAVERKAMP Jan Haverkamp will be leaving Econnect, APC Member in the Czech Republic, on August 31. Hnuti DUHA - Friends of the Earth CZ (http://www.duhafoe.cz, the largest Czech environmental NGO) has offered him the international coordination of the International Energy Brigades program and of the International Anti-nuclear Campaign. Jan will however continue to work with Econnect in APC-related areas. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS -- FROM c2o - OUR MEMBER IN AUSTRALIA - WENT 99 http://www.isiswomen.org/aworc/went99/index.html Asian Women's Resource Exchange (AWORC) conducted the Asian Women's Electronic Network Training Workshop (WENT'99) at Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul, Korea, June 21 - 26. c2o's Justina Curtis was a participating resource person and trainer with AWORC. - Rengah Sarawak Coming soon to c2o, Rengah Sarawak. This site contains stories and information about and related to the various struggles in Sarawak, one of the two East Malaysian States in the northern part of the island of Borneo. Rengah Sarawak is produced by Toy Satellite in collaboration with c2o. FROM INTERCOM - OUR MEMBER IN ECUADOR - New Website for INTERCOM http://www.ecuanex.net.ec/index.html INTERCOM is developing the first portal focused on development issues in Ecuador which will include an annotated directory of development-related NGOs, foundations, and public and grass-root organizations in and about Ecuador. There will also be links to international sites dealing with development, constantly updated by staff dedicated to searching out the best of the Internet. [Editor's note: Why don't you contact webmaster@ecuanex.net.ec to suggest a great APC-supported site?] The site has detailed information on the wide range of services that INTERCOM offers, including its training courses and projects. You'll also be able to find information regarding every Website hosted on the Ecuanex server. FROM NICARAO - OUR MEMBER IN NICARAGUA Nicarao (together with Universidad Catolica "Redemptoris Mater", IBW Communications, INCAE, Universidad Americana, Universidad Politecnica and the Central American Committee for Electronic Communications) is holding the VIth CENTRAL AMERICAN WORKSHOP AND FORUM ON ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS on 13 - 16 July 1999 in Managua, Nicaragua. The main objective is the strengthening and development of academic networks through training and the exchange of experiences across the Central American Region. For more information, see http://viforored_ca.org.ni --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- TECH TIPS -- RESOURCES PerlHoo 1.1 PerlHoo is a Yahoo-like Web directory developed in Perl. It's currently being developed in a series of tutorials at Mother of Perl - http://www.webreference.com/perl/. The goal of PerlHoo is to provide a free Yahoo alternative and to utilize the RDF dump from the Open Directory Project. It's still in its infancy and doesn't provide many features yet, but it does work and is easy to setup. In the last week, an ASP VBscript alternative has been added [what??!!@#??]. Macmillan, Computer Information Publisher - http://www.mcp.com/ At the Macmillan Publishers site you can access up to 5 full text online books free of charge. Access to each book remains active for 90 days and there are lots of good programming and Web development books to choose from including : chapters from 'Red Hat Linux 6 Unleashed' to preview in http://www.mcp.com/betabooks/ --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- SITES OF INTEREST -- [All of July's sites are produced by APC members! Please contact any site directly to request permission to link to it.] BALKAN SUNFLOWERS provides psycho-social and community-building assistance to refugees of the Balkan crisis and Econnect staff-members are part of the coordination group of Balkan Sunflowers in the Czech Republic. In response to the return of most refugees to Kosov@, preparations are well underway to becoming active in rebuilding Kosov@ and soon steps will be taken to become active in the new Serbian refugee camps in Montenegro and Serbia as well. Balkan Sunflowers builds upon the experience of the successful Suncokret initiative in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, which was also the cradle of the Croatian APC member ZaMIR. (http://www.zamir.net) The campaign is completely organized over the Internet, involving a large number of volunteers working individually or for civil society computer networks. The Czech APC member, Econnect, is responsible for the Czech language Web-sites of Balkan Sunflowers, the picture database and most of the involved mailing lists. More details about this project can be found on http://www.balkansunflowers.org, http://www.ecn.cz/soc/kosovo/news.asp or http://www.ecn.cz/soc/lidska_prava/texts/slunecnice-1.html. [Czech language Website] [Produced by Econnect, APC member in the Czech Republic] ECOLOGY ACTION (Accion Ecologica) is dedicated to developing strategies, together with affected communities, to counteract major environmental conflicts in Ecuador. The Website contains information about the destruction of the mangrove swamp ecosystem on the Ecuadorian coastline, the depletion of diverse biological and cultural sectors of the Amazon region, deforestation, mining in vulnerable habitats, urban air pollution, and others. http://www.ecuanex.net.ec/accion/ [Spanish language Website] [Produced by INTERCOM, APC member in Ecuador] The NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR WOMEN (CONAMU), Ecuador advocates equal opportunities, and has carried out a number of initiatives based on generating discussion and actions by women from various social levels, and on how to improve women's participation in the power structure. This site contains crucial information regarding the situation of women in Ecuador today, as well as many other resources. http://www.conamu.gov.ec [Spanish language Website] [Produced by INTERCOM, APC member in Ecuador] --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- APCNews, in English, and APCNoticias, in Spanish, are distributed the first week of every month. Copyright c.1999 Association for Progressive Communications (APC). Permission is granted to use this document for personal use and for training and educational publications and activities by peace, environmental, human rights or development organizations, provided an acknowledgment is given to the Association for Progressive Communications (APC).