COMING SOON

Women Claiming the Information Society (WOCTIS)
European/North American Regional Conference on Gender and the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)

Sunday, 11 September 2005, 9.30 am - 6 pm
Galerie der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Hackesche Höfe, Rosenthaler Str. 40/41, 10178 Berlin

Heinrich Boell Foundation in cooperation with WSIS Gender Caucus, WOMNET/NRO-Frauenforum, Humboldt University Berlin, TERRE DES FEMMES and APC WNSP, have the pleasure of inviting you to this event.

The WSIS process has by now been underway for about three years and will culminate in November 2005 in Tunis. From the local to the global level, many feminists have tried to direct this process towards gender equality, women's empowerment, non-discrimination and sustainable development. Meanwhile, other women's rights activists have worked in different spheres and contexts to impact the shape of the Information Society. It is high time to bring these diverse experiences together and to intensify regional collaboration in knowledge generation, strategizing and networking around gender and media/ICT issues. The goal is to stake an unequivocal claim to the Information Society in order to create a more just, sustainable and enjoyable future for all.

WOCTIS – a one-day conference - aims to bring together feminist media and ICT researchers and activists from the European/North American region as well as external advisors from other regions. One of the main tasks is to assess crucial challenges within the region, which is characterized by uneven economic and social developments. Another central task is to assess the challenges posed by this region to other regions, for instance with respect to international policy, business or consumption patterns. On the basis of these assessments, goals and strategies for feminist cooperation in relation to media and ICTs need to be identified, and ties between potential cooperation partners formed or strengthened. A concrete aim is to come up with a political statement that will be submitted to WSIS and other political fora.

WOCTIS participants include:

• Lenka Simerska (APC WNSP regional coordinator for Europe),
• Sabine Gürtner (executive director of WOMNET, Germany),
• Katerina Fialova (project coordinator of genderIT.org),
• Heike Jensen (lecturer and researcher, Department of Gender Studies, Humboldt University, Berlin),
• Lin McDevitt-Pugh (program director, International Information Centre and Archives for the Women's Movement (IIAV) in Amsterdam, the Netherlands),
• Birgit Kampmann (Manager, "Women in the Information Society and in Technology" Centre of Excellence in Bielefeld, Germany),
• Anne Turley (coordinator, Women's Programme, World Association for Christian Communication, London, United Kingdom)
• Ala Mindicanu (chief, Communication Department, Free International University of Moldova, President of the National Council of Women, Republic of Moldova)
• Elisabeth de Sotelo (professor, Department of Science of Education, University Koblenz-Landau, Germany)
• Gloria Bonder (FLACSO, UNESCO, Argentina),
• Anita Gurumurthy (IT for CHANGE, India),
• Lynne Muthoni Wanyeki (FEMNET, Kenya).

We would be glad to welcome you in Berlin for this special event!

• Conference language: English
• Conference fee: none
• Registration deadline: 28 August 2005
• Registration address: medien@boell.de
• Conference web site: www.boell.de/woctis

    | Contact

Heinrich Boell Foundation, Hackesche Höfe, Entrance 1, 5th Floor, Rosenthaler Straße 40/41, 10178 Berlin, Germany
 

Aktualisiert: 30.08.2005, hbr