The South African copyright law is up for reform and access-to-knowledge (A2K) advocates led by the National Council for the Blind have seen some important gains in their engagement with the Department of Trade and Industry. In support APC has commissioned a paper on model A2K legislation. The paper looks at the South African case but is a useful document for anyone anywhere in the world who wants to strengthen access-to-knowledge provisions under a revised copyright law.

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) capital city of Kinshasa, dubbed the “capital of rape” by the UN special rapporteur Margot Wallström, is a city fraught with violence and remnants of a war-regime. But women in the city are taking charge of their lives and demanding for more security, more services to help women survivors of violence, and an end to the impunity for those who rape, torture and kill women. Si jeunesse savait, a local organisation that works with youth and women in the DRC will be training four organisations in the use of ICTs to help prevent further atrocities and end violence against women (VAW). Seed grants of 5000 US each will go to four organisations, to support their work to end violence against women. The grants are being distributed by the APC’s Women’s Networking Support Programme (WNSP) as part of its Take Back the Tech! to end violence against women project, which addresses the third millennium development goal, violence against women.

Women in Uganda’s rural areas will learn about domestic violence against women through the use of different ICT tools to build awareness around the issue, but they will also learn to report and prevent it – and the mobile phone will be playing a big part in their campaigns – from frontline SMS, to around-the-clock hotlines. Other tools being used include web 2.0 and online publishing tools, as well as radio. Four organisations that work with women and ICTs are being awarded with small grants to implement these projects through the APC Women’s Networking Support Programme’s (WNSP) Take Back the Tech! to end violence against women project, which targets the third Millennium development goal on equality for women.

As part of its work on the third millennium development goal to end violence against women (VAW), the APC women’s programme is giving out seed grants to grass roots organisations in 12 countries. South African partner and coordinator Women’sNet is implementing the small grants and distributing them to four innovative projects that are as varied as the communities they will be working in. From working with rural paralegal offices to improve service delivery by the criminal justice system, to teaching young black lesbians to use tech to speak out and document incidences of violence against them, to teaching young women in townships to become watch dogs on violence against women, to video diaries for survivors of violence.

Five different organisations in the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville) are receiving small grants as part of the APC Women’s programme’s – Take Back the Tech! to fight violence against women project. Female students, women and girls who have survived violence and abuse will learn how to use different technologies to signal cases of abuse, build awareness around their experiences and help support others victims. Read more about these innovative projects, which will be taking place until March 2011.