In August, the Sixth Regional Preparatory Meeting for the Internet Governance Forum took place in Argentina and showed that women are making headway in the Latin American forum. The involvement of young women in internet governance discussions about privacy and security and freedom of expression, gender analysis remains absent.

APC member in India SPACE Kerala and the Ms Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSFR) are building a free-software-based, community computing centre in the rural village of Kolagappara.

On 20-21 September, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) held a regional dialogue and workshop on “Freedom of expression in cyberspace” in Johannesburg. The event explored how to empower human rights defenders in Southern Africa using the internet. Discussion brought to light issues of intermediary liability, surveillance, human rights, and internet governance.

The International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT) is a network of 400 women working in television, film, radio and web-based journalism across 56 countries to overcome barriers by challenging gender-based stereotyping in the media. IAWRT Kenya chapter is partnering in “End violence: Women’s rights and safety online” along with Kenya-based partner KICTAnet. APCNews interviews Racheal Nakitare, IAWRT Kenya Chair.

The Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF) and the Public Interest Registry call for nominations for the 2013 eNGO Challenge. The Challenge seeks to recognise, salute and honour best NGO practices using ICTs worldwide. The deadline has been extended to 25 September 2013.

APC member Pangea, as one of the founding partners of the CONFINE project, coordinated by the Technical University of Catalonia, announces a new open call for participation in a research project on community networking. Apply before 19 October 2013.

The Argentinian city of Córdoba hosted this year’s regional preparatory meeting for the Latin America and Caribbean Internet Governance Forum. APC was an organisers of the event with Lacnic, Ageia Densi, Internet Society, ICANN, NIC.br, CGI.br and Google, and also provided comprehensive news coverage.

A mini-survey conducted by APC member Foundation for Media Alternatives in the Philippines revealed that more than half of those who have experienced some form of online violation did not do anything about it, showing that many still consider tech-related violence as trivial. To counter this situation, FMA takes action as a partner in APC’s project “End violence: Women’s rights and safety online.”

One of the outcomes of APC’s project “End violence: Women’s rights and safety online” is to strengthen in a sustainable way the institutional capacity of women’s rights organisations to address technology related VAW. As part of this work, between January and August 2013 over 100 women’s organisations were trained in how to use technology safely through secure online communications workshops and more than 600 women and men participated in awareness raising events.

The APC network is enthusiastic about its newest member from India, SPACE Kerala. SPACE’s membership comes at a critical time when APC has renewed its commitment to implementing and promoting the use of Transformative Technologies. To mark this occasion and introduce SPACE, APCNews interviewed Executive Director Arun Madhavan.