Communicative Mechanisms for Sharing Gender Information in Africa
1 INTRODUCTION
This report of the proceedings of a workshop held in March 1997 at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa tries to reflect the discussions, process and contributions of participants as faithfully as possible. Although the entire workshop, including the small group discussions and exercises, were transcribed, we felt that incorporating all the documentation would make this report long and difficult to read. The valuable inputs and debates have been edited and we have attempted to reflect the process and outcomes accurately.
The enthusiasm, commitment and dedication from a wide range of participants representing non-governmental organisations, tertiary institutions and research units in Africa, all working towards gender equity in Africa, ensured a lively, challenging and memorable five days.
The African Gender Institute (AGI) would like to thank participants (see Appendices for a list of participants) and the organisations they represent for their participation and on-going work in ensuring that information on women and gender in Africa is valued, promoted and distributed to all sectors of our diverse societies.
We would also like to acknowledge those who could not attend and to recognise that because of inadequate communication technologies, historical disparities and colonial boundaries, many valuable contributions were lost. Our hope is that this workshop has contributed to pan-African conversations on the importance of sharing voices, experiences and achievements and that it will go some way in dismantling the boundaries that hamper communication in Africa.
AFRICAN GENDER INSTITUTE
The African Gender Institute was established at the University of Cape Town at the beginning of 1996. The idea to establish a formal site capable of nurturing the work of those involved with gender equity issues in Africa arose much earlier in 1993. Following a pan-African consultancy process and a workshop for key stakeholders in mid-1995 which reflected on the feedback from this process, the AGI staff embarked on a comprehensive planning and preparatory phase during 1996. Since the March 1997 workshop for documentalists the AGI has become a department within the Social Sciences and Humanities Faculty at UCT.
The AGI has implemented the following programmes and projects
Practice into Theory
- Tertiary Education and Teaching
- Associate Programme
Theory into Practice
- Gender-based Violence in Education
- Organisational Transformation
Communications, Linkages and Information
- Documentation Centre
- Gender in Africa Information Network
- Electronic Gender Resources
Broad Goals of the African Gender Institute
- To develop a better understanding of equity in Africa, and of the mechanisms for its application in different contexts
- To contribute to the development of educational excellence in South African tertiary institutions through a focus on the importance of gender in the process of transformation
- To contribute to the fulfillment of the University of Cape Town's mission statement
- To provide support for gender sensitive research, teaching, and policy development/implementation
- To provide support to African women and men who have the potential to influence and effect change towards equity in Africa
- To increase the limited pool of African women who would be able to take up leading roles in academia or in society more broadly
- To develop a responsive gender information and networking resource base supportive of AGI goals and objectives
Background to the workshop
When the African Gender Institute was first conceptualised by Dr Mamphela Ramphele in 1993, it was envisaged that one of the central components would be a documentation and information centre. One of the tasks proposed for the centre was to host and facilitate a workshop for documentalists on the continent.
The reasons for the AGI hosting an information workers' workshop were:
- to gain an understanding of the issues faced by documentalists working in the area of gender justice in Africa
- to link the AGI documentation and information centre to existing centres and build co-operative relationships
- to identify where collections on gender justice issues are held in Africa
- to build up a database of centres in order to refer researchers to appropriate resources
- the AGI has resources which we want to commit to African-based information collections with a particular focus on gender
These issues came out of a pan-African consultancy process undertaken by staff of the Equal Opportunity Research Project (from which the African Gender Institute grew). Some of the issues raised in the consultancy process which relate directly to the work of the documentation and information centre are:
"The absence of adequate information and documentation around gender issues in Africa makes the process of undertaking research that much more difficult... networking amongst documentation centres focusing on gender appeared to be a need that can and should be met."
"Strong concerns were expressed in all countries about the importance of avoidance of duplication of existing programmes. Quite a number of regional and country research institutes already exist, and it was felt that it would be necessary to link up the African Gender Institute with such existing institutions to avoid duplication and to strengthen each other."
In May 1995, the AGI hosted a pan-African consultative workshop in Cape Town. The workshop's main objective was to begin the process of cross-continental networking and dialogue between a wide range of potential stakeholders and users of the Institute. The workshop was an acknowledgement that the AGI needed to receive direction and on-going project analysis from the voices of other African colleagues.
At the workshop participants re-motivated that the Institute host a workshop for documentalists in order to build effective communications and linkages between the AGI and other institutions collecting and disseminating information on gender justice issues in Africa. Participants also emphasised the need to avoid duplication by linking in with existing networks, organisations and institutes currently active in the area of gender justice.
Selection of Working Group
It was decided that the AGI would need assistance with the workshop content and agenda and selection of participants and would benefit from the knowledge and experience of information people based outside of Southern Africa. As one of the aims of the workshop was an ongoing communicative mechanism, the Working Group would then become regional focal points for the development of the mechanism/network. The following people were approached and accepted our invitation to become Working Group members:
Ruth Ochieng - ISIS Women In Cross Cultural Exchange, Uganda
Salma Ginwala - Zambian Association for Research and Development, Zambia
Abou Moussa Ndongo - CODESRIA, Senegal
Buhle Mbambo - University of Botswana, Botswana
Jean Mandewo - Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre and Network, Zimbabwe
Jennifer Radloff - African Gender Institute, South Africa
Mebo Mwaniki - African Centre for Women, Ethiopia
(Ms Mwaniki assisted in the process up to the workshop but could not attend the workshop or participate in the follow-up)
On-line process of the Working Group
The Working Group (WG) met on-line for three months prior to the workshop, using electronic mail to discuss the workshop content, agenda and the selection of participants. This proved to be an effective means of communicating quickly, efficiently and at a minimum cost and enabled the Working Group to get to know each other and begin the collaborative process. It was also an indication of how electronic mail can be used as a communicative mechanism in Africa.
Strategy for selection of participants
The WG compiled a list of 35 organisations in Africa who were sent a questionnaire to fill in and asked for a motivation as to why they should be selected to participate and how they and their organisations would benefit from participation. The questionnaires, as well as the selection criteria, assisted the WG in selecting participants and enabled it to structure the content of the agenda. The information was then captured on a database and sent to all those who applied as a potentially useful networking and referral tool.
Criteria for selection: (participants to meet all criteria)
- Working as a librarian, documentalist, archivist or information worker in Africa
- One area of information work involves gender & women's issues
- Committed to resource sharing and networking on the continent
- Has an interest and commitment to actively participate in a continent-wide initiative to collect and share information on women and gender issues
- Has the support of their organisation to participate in the workshop and follow-up work
Twenty participants (including the five WG members) were invited and accepted the invitation to participate. Funding was provided, which covered the costs of an air ticket, accommodation, meals and a per diem.
South African participation
The AGI has a National Programme which includes linking into and contributing to information networks on gender equity issues in South Africa. Because of our location in South Africa, and given the objectives of the National Programme, we are planning a national workshop on information sharing for South African role players in November 1998. However, the possibility of linking up with other African gender information specialists would be an exciting prospect for South Africans and we therefore also invited five strategic South African participants who will be able to take the national workshop process further.
Methodology and Process
An experienced facilitator, Ms Colleen Crawford-Cousins, was employed to facilitate and guide the workshop. She worked with the AGI staff person, Jenny Radloff, for a week before the workshop, drawing up and interrogating the agenda. This agenda was then presented to the WG who met three days before the workshop and were taken through the agenda. The workshop itself was designed to be participatory with limited input in the form of presentations. Participants worked mostly in regionally representative small groups which were facilitated by the WG.
Goal & Aims of Workshop
Goal
To work towards sustainable and appropriate communicative mechanisms for documentation centres and libraries committed to the collection, management and dissemination of information on women and gender justice in Africa.
Working Objective
Process of sustaining communicative mechanisms
Aims
- To identify regional challenges to collecting and sharing information
- To review previous initiatives with similar goals
- To explore effective channels of communication
- To find ways of resource sharing, partnerships and non-duplication
- To identify "critical areas of concern" which active communicative mechanisms could address
- To establish the types and content of existing gender information and where it is located on the continent
