WOMEN AND NGO EFFORTS AT THE WSIS: AN UPDATE

With PrepCom 2 just around the corner, it would be best to assess just how far women's groups and non-government organizations have done so far in their objective of including gender strategies in the WSIS process.

More NGOs and women's networks are still encouraged to create new efforts and participate in or contribute to existing ones. A summary of what has been done is as follows:

  • WSIS Gender Caucus

    A WSIS Gender Caucus was formed during the African Regional Preparatory Conference to contribute to ensuring that gender dimensions are included in the process of defining and creating a global Information Society that contributes to sustainable development and human security. A multi-stakeholder group composed of women and men from national governments, civil society organisations, NGOs, the private sector and the UN system created the caucus.

    To learn more about the WSIS Gender Caucus, please contact Gillian Marcelle at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

  • The WSIS NGO Gender Strategies Group (WNGSG)

    The WSIS NGO Gender Strategies Group (WNGSG) was formed as part of the Civil Society Coordinating Group (CSCG) at the PrepCom 1. Groups under the WNGSG are: Isis International-Manila, International Women's Tribune Centre (IWTC), Association for Progressive Communications - Women's Networking Support Programme (APC-WNSP), Agencia Latino Americana de Información (ALAI), and the African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET-Africa).

    The WNGSG's tasks are:

    • to raise awareness on the issues and processes around the WSIS
    • to encourage women's participation at all levels of WSIS discussions
    • to conduct capacity-building training and network-building to ensure links between national, sub-regional, regional and international initiatives around WSIS

    The group is currently conducting substantial dialogue on the WSIS at the electronic mailing list called the . Interested parties can join this group to learn more about putting forward gender strategies in the WSIS. To join, please get in touch with the facilitators:

    Mavic Cabrera-Balleza
    E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    Karen Banks
    E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

  • CRIS Campaign

    An integral part of the CRIS (Communication Rights in the Information Society) campaign strategy is the inclusion of a gender perspective in discussions on information rights.

    The CRIS campaign was launched on November 2001 by the Platform for Communication Rights, a group of communication researchers, practitioners, writers, and policy-makers, which was created in 1996. The CRIS campaign serves as an umbrella group of international NGOs active in media and communication, which are generally representative of the developed world. Further information about the CRIS campaign can be found on its website at http://www.comunica.org/cris/.

    The point persons for the CRIS campaign are:
    Bruce Girard
    Comunica
    E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

    Sean O'Siochru
    NEXUS
    14 Eaton Brae, Shankill, Co.
    Dublin, Ireland
    E-mail:
    Tel: (353-1) 473 0599
    Fax: (353-1) 473 0597

More information about other NGOs participating in the Summit can be viewed at http://www.wsis.info/