Communication, both its tools and processes, has long been recognised as being central to the women's movement. It is a vital tool for activism as it ensures that the issues get heard, discussed and acted upon. Women's organisations across the world play an active role in ensuring that women are able to communicate with each other in a meaningful way and that they are able to communicate their issues, concerns, views and ideas to the right audience. This work is now further highlighted, as Isis International-Manila prepares to launch Collective Journeys, a website on women's information and documentation work in the past 30 years. Join us as we celebrate women's contributions in information and communication work and the women's movement through the launch of Collective Journeys at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, Switzerland on 09 December 2003.

Isis International Manila is organising the Panel Presentation "Globalised Media and ICT Systems and its Intersection with Globalisation, Fundamentalism and Militarism" as part of its active engagement in the WSIS process. The Panel Presentation will be conducted within the parallel WSIS space booked by the NGO Gender Strategies Working Group (NGO GSWG) on 10 December 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland.

The NGO Gender Strategies Working Group (NGO GSWG), a coalition of women's information and communication organisations active in lobbying and policy advocacy on gender and ICT issues successfully launched a t-shirt campaign during the first week of the third and final Preparatory Committee Meeting (PrepCom-3) of the World Summit on the Information Society.

As part of the Capacity Building activity of the WSIS Gender Caucus to ensure that the lobbying and advocacy geared to mainstreaming gender in the WSIS process is increasingly more effective, an Orientation Session was held last Saturday 13 September 2003 in Geneva, Switzerland.

Some 375 participants representing non-governmental organisations, government agencies, intergovernmental bodies including the United Nations, international donor institutions, and private sector came together for the 2003 Forum on ICTs and Gender held from 20-23 August 2003 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

An urgent action alert is being circulated by women advocates involved in the WSIS process.