What does a director of a Paraguayan women’s organisation and a rural Colombian teacher have in common? For APC member in Colombia, Colnodo, the answer is clear. It is their capacity of using information and communication technologies (ICTs) as tools to empower women. This is the reason Colnodo celebrated the Women’s Month, in March, with courses, workshops and seminars aimed at making ICT accessible to women from different regions and realities.
Introductory course to ICT and knowledge management
Colnodo coordinated the Virtual “Introduction to ICT and Knowledge Management” course, offered within the framework of the Progeo programme (Gender-focused Organisation Management Programme). Approximately 15 women from Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, among other countries, participated in this course.
The Latin American and Caribbean Network of Women in Organisation Management coordinates this programme, which is currently in its third version.
The course focused on discussing and confronting in a practical manner, the challenges posed by ICT use in education and development projects that involve women organisations and groups. The use of technology in learning processes and in the development of projects from the gender perspective was also discussed.
The communicative experience involving ICT and women
Colnodo offered a seminar during the third national “Communication Training Project for Lead Teachers” workshop. The workshop was organised by the Colombian Federation of Educators (Fecode) and took place the 17 and 18 of March 2006.
During the seminar, they shared the experiences of women’s groups and networks that use ICTs in social management processes with the objective of raising awareness on the importance of the usage and appropriation of ICTs by women. Union teachers from the departments of
Guaviare, Meta, Córdoba, Putumayo, Guainía, Chocó and the rest of Colombia, attended this workshop to receive training on alternative communications. Community radio, television and print experiences were also shared during this event.
Rural women and new technologies workshop
On March 18 2006, the Colnodo team carried out the “Rural Women and ICT” workshop, which was attended by teachers from all of Colombia’s regions.
This event, which was also held within the framework of the third national “Communication Training Project for Lead Teachers”, aimed to train the participants in the use of new technologies. Efforts were made for the participants to become knowledgeable about the internet so that this knowledge could be applied to their local contexts. Thought was also given to the work of women and the importance of their political participation as citizens.
The content and services rooted in a webpage were evaluated during this workshop, directed towards women living in rural areas. This page is one of the products of the “Regional Training Model via Internet, for Rural Women in Citizen Participation” project, developed by Modemmujer, a Mexico-based electronic communication network.