--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- *APCNews, the monthly internal newsletter for all of the APC* - August 1999 No. 2. - --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS -- -- PROGRAMME NEWS -- -- SECRETARIAT NEWS -- -- COLLABORATING OPPORTUNITIES -- -- ICT EVENTS -- -- SITES OF INTEREST -- -- CONTRIBUTING TO FUTURE EDITIONS -- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- NEWS FROM THE MEMBERS -- FROM GREENNET - OUR MEMBER IN THE U.K. - GreenNet Users, IWPR, win Award for Web-based Reporting on Kosovo The Institute for War and Peace Reporting, IWPR's path-breaking reporting with regional journalists throughout the Balkans has been recognised in the U.K.'s first online journalism awards. At a ceremony at London's City University, IWPR Online won the award for Best Overall Journalism, in competition with the BBC and other major services. The judges, all senior British journalists, cited the Balkan Crisis Reports for their "passion" and ability to "cut through the war-weariness of ordinary reportage" and called IWPR's online journalism "a beacon to our new industry". http://www.iwpr.net FROM IGC - OUR MEMBER IN THE U.S.A. Patti Mallin writes: "The month of July brought big changes to IGC. In order to devote more resources to and focus more closely on providing information and tools for activists, IGC partnered with other service providers to provide access and mailing lists. Mindspring (http://www.mindspring.net), the best Internet Service Provider in the US, will now provide access to our many members. Likewise, Topica (http://www.topica.com) will now provide and support mailing lists for our member organizations for free. IGC is also creating partnerships for tools and content for our new, soon to be released, progressive portal site. We are working with E-the People (http://www.e-thepeople.com) to provide action alert and petition technology until the Toolkit is ready to go, Entango (http://www.entango.com) for online donations, and Meta-Events (http://www.metaevents) for our calendar. Content-wise we are working with Idealist/Action Without Borders (http://www.idealist.org) to provide non-profit job listings, and with ProtestNet (http://www.protest.net) to provide activist event listings for the calendar. IGC's new Website was previewed at the Non-profits and Technology Conference in San Francisco July 22-23, 1999, which IGC co-sponsored. IGC staff Andy Alm, Mike DeBeer, Debra Floyd, and Steven Shults all led workshops or presentations at the conference." For more details on any or all of the above, check out the information at http://www.igc.org/igc/transition FROM SANGONET - OUR MEMBER IN SOUTH AFRICA - Funding for Training SANGONeT has been granted around $30,000 by the Mott Foundation to invest in improving and expanding training services. - Portal Development Partnership SANGONeT has formed a partnership with the international, US-based Internet media company, Orientation, to develop a Web portal for South Africa. It will be a gateway to information about, and in, South Africa. In addition to the generic Orientation portal topics, SANGONeT will be developing a development and social justice subsection of the portal that will platform civil society and development issues. - SANGONeT and Women'sNet at the Zimbabwe International Book Fair Women'sNet (South African member of APC Women's Network Support Programme APC-WNSP http://womensnet.org.za) will have a stall in the technology tent at the ZIBF during the first week of August. They will launch a publication directed at women's organisations on the benefits of the Internet, in partnership with the 'Gender in Africa Information Network', and will run a training workshop on using the Internet for lobbying and advocacy. http://www.zibf.org FROM WAMANI - OUR MEMBER IN ARGENTINA Carlos Alvarez writes: "Finally, on July 17, Wamani installed a new primary server. We have a new direct connection to the Internet for the first time, as well as new software and the new server. It took us a full day to change over all the equipment and modems, tweak software, and inform our users of the changes. Now, we are ready to take up the challenge of providing content and new services to NGOs in Argentina!" --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- PROGRAMME NEWS -- [Read about APC's six programmes at http://www.apc.org/english/about/program/] FROM APC WOMEN'S NETWORKING SUPPORT PROGRAMME AND APC-WNSP MEMBER, ISIS MANILA OF THE PHILIPPINES - WENT 99 The 1999 Asian Women's Electronic Network Training (WENT) Workshop was held on June 21-26 1999 at the Sookmyung Women's University in Seoul, Korea. ISIS Manila co-ordinates AWORC which organizes the global WENT initiative. The APC Women's Programme is providing AWORC with some technical and training support. A report containing background information about the organizers, trainers and hosts of WENT '99, as well as the workshop training modules, reading materials, and the participants' Web projects can be found at: http://www.jca.apc.org/aworc/went99/ http://www.isiswomen.org/ict/1999/com00009.html --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- SECRETARIAT NEWS -- - Edie Farwell, APC Acting Executive Director leaves APC Edie officially finished working at APC, after eight very productive years, on July 15. She is now taking summer leave with her family. Edie will be back at the San Francisco office part-time in September till December to assist with the transition process as APC plans for a new E.D. SOMETHING FROM DON (APC MEMBER AND PARTNER SERVICES) [Don Anderson is APC's new Member and Partner Services Director. Since the Prague APC World Techie Meeting in May he has been almost constantly on the move meeting APC members, partners and forming strategic partnerships with other large organizations. He's finally back home in New Zealand. His email is .] - Global Knowledge II From July 13 to 15, 1999, a GK2 preparatory meeting was convened in Kuala Lumpur with Don representing APC. APC is a member of the Global Knowledge Partnership, a grouping of 47 of the main actors in ICTs and development. GK2 events will be held from 7-10 March 2000, in Kuala Lumpur. GK2 will be a year-long process with APC participating in the planning and design of this process and leading the Access track alongside the World Bank. - Interdoc Asialink and Women's Networking From 18 until 23 July 1999, Interdoc Asialink held a regional networking conference near Jakarta, Indonesia. A diverse range of participants from 16 countries attended, including APC members and partners. APC and Interdoc have a long history. At the Jakarta meeting there were suggestions that Interdoc and APC might look for ways work together more in Asia. There was a sense of transition at this meeting where Roberto Verzola, from the Philippines who has been the Asialink coordinator for 10 years, and Jagdish Parikh, based in the United States, were looking to hand on coordination responsibility for Interdoc Asialink. A new management committee was chosen and Leo Fernandez of India is the new Interdoc Asialink Coordinator. APC is interested to promote regional networking and Don proposed that he could assist by providing up to $1200 to produce a history of electronic NGO networking in Asia with a focus on Interdoc's Asian activities. This information will be useful in planning Asia regional activities. Marsanti Setyowati (Shanti) from Indonesia is being engaged to undertake the research. She has a background in human rights, the pro- democracy movement, community development work, education and a degree in anthropology. She has full support of Interdoc, and they have agreed to supervise and assist Shanti with the work. Don will retain regular contact and receive regular progress reports. - Women's Networking in Jakarta The Jakarta meeting agenda included half a day of Women's networking. These sessions promoted an enhanced consciousness of the barriers and difficulties that women face and encouraged all participants to actively engage to overcome these. The history and profile of the APC Women's Programme (APC-WNSP) were impressive. APC received frequent mention as a prime mover in assisting women's networking in Asia. Although Karen Banks (APC-WNSP coordinator) was unable to attend the meeting, her work in Asia is highly regarded. MORE FROM MAUREEN (APC FUNDRAISING AND PROJECT DEVELOPMENT) [Maureen James, APC Fundraising and Project Development, is based in Toronto, Canada. Her email is .] - APC Betinho Communications Prize Wins Funding To mark APC's 10th anniversary in May 2000, the APC Herbert de Souza "Betinho" Communications Prize of US$7,500 will be awarded for the first time to an APC member network user which best exemplifies strategic use of the Internet. APC member/partner networks may also be nominated. This Prize is especially oriented to bringing attention to affordable and replicable Internet uses, so that benefits will be shared not only by the winning institution but also by NGOs seeking similar attainable Internet solutions. The Prize has been funded for APC by the International Development Research Center (IDRC) for the next two years. APC has chosen to name this prize after Herbert 'Betinho' de Souza, a visionary Brazilian social activist. We will document his life and achievements as part of the information strategy for this project. Betinho founded the Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analysis (IBASE), which embraced new technologies and gave rise to one of APC's founding member networks, Alternex. Maureen will be convening a Prize Working Group to help with the nomination process this month. - APC Invitation to Kuala Lumpur Conference Maureen has been invited by the International Development Research Center (a frequent sponsor of APC projects!) to participate in the IIC (International Institute of Communications) pre-conference workshop organized by Fredrich Ebert Stiftung in Kuala Lumpur, 4-6 Sept 1999, as well as in the IIC conference itself. Maureen will announce the IDRC-funded Betinho prize and use the IIC events to promote it, as well as have a chance to meet with other funders/potential collaborators and other IDRC-sponsored projects. The workshop is on "Converging Responsibility: Broadcasting and the Internet in Developing Countries". http://www.comunica.org/kl/index.html The main theme this year for the mostly high-level, corporate IIC meeting is: "The Emerging Knowledge Society: Commerce, Culture and Communities in Development". http://www.iicom.org/services/conferences/kl99/index.htm --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- COLLABORATION OPPORTUNITIES - NEWS FROM PANGEA AND COLNODO - OUR MEMBERS IN THE SPANISH STATE AND COLOMBIA - Collaborative Fundraising Precedent Set! Chris Nicol at Pangea writes: "Pangea presented a project written by Colnodo to Barcelona Solidaria, a local funder in the Spanish State, for a Third World Aid grant. Pangea acted as the NGO and Colnodo as the local counterpart. The result was that Barcelona Solidaria granted us about $5,000 which doesn't finance all of the project (it finances about half) but it's a start. Now Eusnet are investigating if it's possible to get funding with a local funder in the Basque Country. We also presented the South Africa Business Planning Workshop proposal to Barcelona Solidaria, but only one project is fundable per NGO, and Colnodo's fitted the selection criteria better. It's modest start, but it's a precedent and could be copied by other members of APC." Project Description To provide the communities of Suba, Bosa and San Cristobal in Colombia with information about the cultural and other resources available in their neighbourhoods as well as the needs currently not being met in each neighbourhood. Each of these neighbourhoods already has a public information centre with Internet connections which is community-run. The information will serve to allow future planning at a local level with the principal products cementing the generation of development whilst at the same time, taking advantage of the infrastructure already in place in the Unidades Informativas Barriales (Neighbourhood Information Centres) and their links with local planning offices. The main objective of the project will be to systematize the information collected using free geo-reference programmes (GNU Licensed) which require minimum hardware and software maintenance. For more about the project, contact Sylvia Cadena and visit http://www.colnodo.org.co/uib/index.html/ KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED - by Econnect, APC member in the Czech Republic Donor Information In April 1999, Econnect launched a new Czech-language database for Czech NGOs, which gives an overview of several dozen grant program deadlines. This database grew out of the Econnect fundraising pages where we collect information on how and where to look for funds, as well as the economic situation of NGOs in the Czech Republic. The new database gives a good overview of donors already active in the Czech Republic. However, we lack information on programs and activities of foundations in other parts of the world - especially from the United States - which focus on the Central and East European region. If you can help, please write to : fundraising@ecn.cz. Visit the database at: http://www.ecn.cz/nno/fundraising/granty.asp --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- ICT EVENTS -- September 6 - 11, Johannesburg, South Africa: SANGONeT's Women'sNet is hosting: "Beijing +5 in Africa - Building a Web Site Together" Jointly organised by FEMNET and APC-Africa-Women. Twelve participants are invited, representing the main women's NGO networks in charge of the 12 critical areas of concern. Contact: Marie-Helene Mottin-Sylla, APC-Africa-Women Coordinator and Rebecca Holmes, Women'sNet Coordinator Women'sNet are looking to put together a Beijing +5 in Africa Website in the near future, but until then some available updates can be found at: http://womensnet.org.za/news/globalnet124.htm and http://womensnet.org.za/news/globalnet126.htm 29 September - 1 October, Victoria, Australia: Engaging Regionalism: 4th Australian Community Networking Conference c2o, our Australian member network, will be giving a presentation about c2o and APC activities at this conference in Ballarat, one of Australia's most important regional centres for information technology. http://communityconference.vicnet.net.au. September - October, Australia: Media Circus A gathering of people who create, critique and distribute media content that challenges, questions and expresses our culture, our society and the way we live. Activities planned around Australia from September to October. Media Circus will feature keynote presentations from Franny Armstrong (UK) and Geert Lovink (Holland). You can join the online forum and announcements list by sending a blank email to . http://www.antimedia.net/mediacircus/ --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- -- SITES OF INTEREST -- LOUDSPEAKER Nodo50's collection of information on freedom of expression and freedom of communication. http://www.nodo50.org/altavoz [Spanish language Website] [Produced by Nodo50, part of IPANEX, APC member in the Spanish State] PINOCHET BEHIND BARS Information on the detention of former Chilean military dictator, Pinochet. http://www.nodo50.org/entrerejas [Spanish language Website] [Produced by Nodo50, part of IPANEX, APC member in the Spanish State] SAVE OCALAN'S LIFE opposes the death sentence currently faced by Kurdish leader, Abudllah Ocalan. http://ww.nodo50.org/ocalan [Spanish language Website] [Produced by Nodo50, part of IPANEX, APC member in the Spanish State] TRENDS IN FUNDING IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE Published online by Econnect and written by the Regional Environmental Centre (REC) and Milieukontakt Oost-Europa, 'Trends in Funding...' familiarizes the general public and people active in the NGO area with the funding situation in East and Central Europe. The publication includes an overview of domestic and international funds in 15 East and Central European counties. http://www.ecn.cz/fundraising/podpora/tif/index.htm [English language Website] [Produced by Econnect, APC member in the Czech Republic] UNDERCURRENTS/JUNE 18TH VIDEO Undercurrents are producing a limited number of PAL VHS videos available for J18 screenings. "This video, produced from 9 various camera angles, is an insight into what happened before the police decided to run people over and beat people up. The carnival against capitalism was not reported in the media so it is up to alternative media to put out the images and voices of the ignored." The Undercurrents "June 18th London action video" is available from Undercurrents for £5 (apx. US$8). Please contact underc@gn.apc.org. http://www.undercurrents.org [English language Website] [Hosted by GreenNet, APC Member in the U.K.] --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- 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).