BAWo's Reflection on the situation, outcomes and actions and developing indicators

From HarambeeWiki

About BAWo and Networking for Success (NFS)

Blogs for African Women (BAWo) is a technology mentoring initiative working to encourage African women to become more active users of technology. It does this primarily by introducing them to “blogs” – a journaling and networking tool – which can act as a stepping stone to other types of technology. The initiative is supported and hosted by Pambazuka News, a tool for progressive social change in Africa, which delivers a weekly round-up of news on human rights, health, environment, social welfare, development, the internet, and arts in Africa. Pambazuka News is produced by Fahamu, an organisation that has won many awards for its use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to serve the needs of organisations that aspire to progressive social change.

Networking for Success is a project of the Blogs for African Women (BAWo) initiative aimed at facilitating collaboration between women using a combination of technologies primarily blogs, wikis and podcasts.

Oreoluwa Somolu is the project coordinator of BAWo and the Networking for Success project.

The goals of the project Women’s use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) is much lower than that of men’s. This is particularly true on the African continent, and where it exists, the level of use is often fairly unsophisticated.

BAWo ultimately aims at increasing women’s participation in the knowledge society. It aims to do this through the introduction of young women to ICTs – with emphasis on web 2.0 technologies – which are easier to use and require less of a technical background.

The participants of the project will be a group of young female students (aged 17 – 25) with a clear vision towards improving social conditions (supporting the work of various Nigerian domestic violence organisations and the activities of Nigerian children’s charity organisations and orphanages), who wish to work collaboratively using appropriate ICTs.

The objectives of this project are to:

• Enable the group members gather, organise and share information with each other
• Enable them work collaboratively towards achieving their set objectives
• Showcase their work to the larger public
• Encourage the women to report their own stories as an alternative to mainstream media
• Support the women in their use of technology and encourage them to think about its applications to other areas of their lives
• Develop a network of Nigerian users and supporters of ICTs for education

Question 1 – Situation

1a. What do I think are the salient features of the situation that I face?

• Strengthening the network of Nigerian women working in social development and community activism work and making them more aware of each other’s work and the ways they can collaborate more effectively
• Sharing of information among that network that can enable them do their work better
• Regular and fast access to the Internet and to other ICTs
• Knowledge and confidence in using these technologies and applying them collectively and individually to their problem situations

1b. Why do I think those are the salient features?

• Because building and fostering strong networks is hinged on addressing the above-listed issues

Question 2 – Outcomes

2a. What outcomes do I think are desirable in this situation?

• The desirable action is for the networks to know what each other are doing, share information with each other and be able to collaborate together in order to increase the effectiveness of accomplishing the goals of their respective programs

2b. Why do I think those outcomes are desirable in this situation?

• The need for information by the networks is great, especially in a society where a lot more information resides in peoples’ heads than is documented. While some members of the networks are aware of what some are doing and collaborate where possible, there are so many members who are working in isolation and could greatly benefit from resources and experiences that have been garnered by other members and groups within the network.

Question 3 – Actions

3a. What actions do I expect to lead to those outcomes in that situation?

• BAWo will introduce network members to ICTs and demonstrate how these can facilitate the work that they are already doing. We will show how these technologies can also help them communicate, share information and resources, and collaborate more effectively with each other.
• The intra-network discussions will be captured in the project blog. We will also share our findings with organisations and individuals who wish to increase the efficacy of their networks.

3b.Why do I think those actions will lead to those outcomes in that situation?

• Because ICTs – particularly the web 2.0 – have an enormous potential to promote networking among individuals and groups. The potential to bring geographically-disparate groups closer together is even greater. There is also a wealth of experience within the Harambee projects that we look forward to benefiting from.