Backdrop

A regional workshop to establish the African e-network for national machineries and its support mechanism was organized by the Division for the Advancement of Women, UN DESA and the African Center for Gender and Development (ACGD) of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). This was preceded by a series of capacity building activities undertaken as part of a project aimed at strengthening the capacity of national machineries through the effective use of information and communication technologies (ICT). Attached is the attendance list to the Regional Workshop

Objectives of the E-network

•  To enhance knowledge management and communication strategies of national machineries

•  To strengthen networking between national machineries at the sub-regional and regional level

•  To enhance the capacity of national machineries to utilize ICT to implement their roles as advocates and catalysts for the achievement of gender equality and;

•  To directly link national machineries to information on and processes connected to important intergovernmental bodies and the united Nations

Structure and Activities of the E-network for National Machineries

The e- network is made up of the following:

(i) Information Portal : provides a central hub for sharing information and integrates existing but disparate systems, resources and repositories. The portal administrators or users who provide the most relevant information can customize the contents of the portal.

The information portal is the central hub of the e-network for national machineries. National machineries use the portal to share and access relevant information and resources, including information on national machineries in and on information relevant to national machineries. National machineries are the primary contributors to the portal and are expected to submit resources, case studies, news and events.

The portal include:

•  Access to information

Information on national machineries

•  Contact details of national machineries in Africa ; a resource center of information provided by national machineries, including reports from recent research or projects

•  Regular highlights of news from national machineries

Information of relevance to national machineries

•  Regional and global inter-governmental processes including the Committee on Women and Development (CWD) and the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW);

•  Information on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and the African Protocol on the Rights of Women;

•  Information on innovations and good practices from national machineries in other regions

•  Interactive activities

Discussion list for national machineries : is an electronic method for a group of people to share information and discuss such issues as challenges and good practices within an area of common interest. It is an electronic mailing list that offers the opportunity for members to post information, make suggestions or post questions to a large number of people at the same time through the use of a group email address.

One general discussion list for national machineries has been established, with contributions in French and in English, for continuous exchange of information between national machineries. National machineries can use the discussion lists to share information, raise questions with other national machineries and exchange ideas. It can also be used to galvanize National gender machineries around a particular theme such as the preparation for such intergovernmental processes as the Commission on the Status of Women.

Access to the discussion list is e-mail based and participants can send and receive messages directly from existing e-mail accounts. A web-based version of the discussion list can be accessed via a link on the information portal

These discussion lists will be open only to staff members of the national machineries and the relevant staff members of the UNECA and the Division for the Advancement of Women/ ECA is responsible for summarizing the main highlights of the discussion

Thematic e-discussion : is an e-discussion aimed at promoting and stimulating debates on a particular topic. It is a tool for a group of people in a geographic location, to exchange ideas and resources and is particularly useful for advocacy, understanding of key issues, sharing methodologies and good practices, and identifying common objectives and challenges

E-discussions are guided by a moderator who provides an outline of a specific topic and questions for discussion on a regular basis. The participants in the e-discussion receive questions and can respond with their ideas and thoughts. At the end of a discussion a summary is produced that highlights some of the major findings and conclusions of the discussion.

The e-discussion for the e-network of national machineries is held every four months for duration of six weeks, on the relevant topics identified by national machineries. They are open to all stakeholders including national machineries, line ministries, NGOs, donors, academics. This will promote collaboration and cooperation and encourage a vibrant and informed debate. National machineries are responsible for actively publicizing upcoming e-discussions and encourage relevant stakeholders to take part.

The thematic e-discussion can be accessed through both an existing email accounts and also through a web-based version via a link on information portal.

For Example: An on line discussion on ‘ Financing for gender equality and women's empowerment in Africa ' was organized by the ACGSD from 26 November –23 December 2007. During the four weeks period the online discussion addressed the following:

Week 1 National funding: identifying the current sources of funding, especially budget allocations; Examples of good practices in securing funds, through national development plans and budgets, to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women.

Week 2. Bilateral and multilateral assistance: Discussion on the funding status on the continent to promote gender equality and women's empowerment –impact of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness: gains and gaps

Week 3 Public resources and private resources: Efficiency and viability: what matters most?

Week 4. Wrap up: Discussion on major aspects, recommendation and discussing way forward

The number of registered individuals was 245 .Out of this only 20 participated this might be partially due to the fact that the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW) was running another e-discussion. The other reason was the difficulties faced by the users to access the forum as ECA received complaints from 40 participants.

Some of the recommendations were :

•  For ECA to acquire proper soft ware as the participants should ideally been able to register themselves through an automatic system

•  ACGSD to liaise e with its partners for them not to run discussions on the same issue

Management of the E-network

At the National Level : e-network teams from national machineries (2 gender specialists and 1 ICT specialists working with the national machinery

The national gender machineries nominate individuals representing the network

Responsibilities

The national E-network team:

•  Collect information and prepare material for dissemination on the portal and the discussion list

•  Encourage other staff to join the discussion list

•  Communicate upcoming and past activities of the e-network to other staff and stakeholders

•  Publicize the information portal

•  Take charge of planning and budgeting for the e-network at the national level

•  Train replacements for the team as necessary

•  Build list of expertise of national machinery staff, as well as other experts in the country, and share this as needed with the e-network

•  When staff members leave the national machinery notify ECA to remove them form the discussion list

•  Submit quarterly reports to the relevant sub-regional coordination and management group

At the sub-regional level: 10 sub-regional coordinators from national machineries (2 per sub-region+ ECA sub-regional gender focal points) The sub regional coordinators for 2007 include:

North Africa Egypt and Mauritania

Central Africa Republic of Congo and Sao Tome Principe

Western Africa Nigeria and Senegal

Eastern Africa Burundi and Tanzania

Southern Africa Botswana and Zimbabwe

Responsibilities of Sub -regional Coordinators

•  Liaising with the e-network Teams in their sub-region and encouraging their participation by sending out regular reminders

•  Participate in meetings of the management Group to represent the needs of their sub-region

At the Regional Level: Management Group will consist of 10 sub-regional coordinators, 5 ECA sub-regional focal points+ ECA Head Quarters and Division for the Advancement of Women, UNDESA

Roles and Responsibilities of ECA and DAW

•  Hold quarterly electronic e-discussion on overall management issues through a discussion list with restricted access

•  Posting summaries of quarterly discussions on the general discussion list for national machineries

•  Develop monitoring and evaluation mechanism for the e-network, including the development of indicators

ECA and DAW

•  Play the role of advocacy and lobbying around the e-network, including raising awareness among other UN agencies at the headquarters and country level

•  ECA is to provide technical support for the information portal and discussion list

•  DAW is to provide substantive support to the e-network, including the preparation of a supporting manual for national machinery staff, including user friendly manual

Support to the e-network

•  In 2007, ACGSD identified , based on priority needs and sub-regional representation, 12 national machineries that should receive equipment and equipment was provided to Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Liberia, Lesotho, Madagascar, Niger, Togo, Seychelles, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe

•  10 additional national machineries are identified by ACGSD to receive equipment with remaining project funds. These include Burundi , Central African Republic , Democratic Republic of the Congo , Djibouti , the Gambia , Mali , Mauritania , United Republic of Tanzania, Senegal and Zambia

Impact –to- date

•  Increased awareness of and involvement in ICT policy processes at the national level

•  Facilitated the sharing of good practices in using ICT for advocacy, information sharing and as a resource for gender equality work

•  Strengthened understanding of and commitment to networking among national machineries and sharing of experiences . lessons learned and good practices , and established an e-network of national machineries for the advancement of women in Africa

Way Forward

The institutional capacity of the national machineries should be strengthened in order to:

•  Systematically use ICT to;

•  disseminate national data on gender issues among all government agencies and civil society partners; improve advocacy and mobilizing efforts in relation to other government agencies , civil society organizations and the general public;

•  access relevant research findings at regional and global levels and disseminating them at the national level

•  influence policies related to access to, and use of, ICT in order to reduce the gender digital divide

•  sharing experiences , good practices, and planned activities with other national machineries

•  developing and participating a regional e-network of national machineries

Planned Activities 2008

•  Disbursement of ICT equipment to 10 additional national machineries mentioned above

•  Information portal will be updated and populated with:

•  Information on national machineries

•  Contact detail of national machineries

•  Information on national policies, programmes, research and/or projects

•  Highlights of news form national machineries updated monthly

•  Ongoing discussion list will be used to share information and resources and facilitate partnerships and cooperation

•  E-discussions will be held to facilitate the sharing of information and exchange of views between national machineries and other relevant stakeholders on specific themes

•  An end of the year self-evaluation will be conducted via closed e-discussion with all members of the e-network, including national machinery staff, ECA and DAW