This handbook for development practitioners offers 10 case studies from southern Africa in an attempt to bridge policy and practice in the use of ICTs to confront issues of gender inequalities, schools with limited resources, and harsh environmental realities. It also features five toolkits to help civil society organisations deepen their capacity to apply ICTs and forge their path in the information society. One of the toolkits featured is APC WNSP’s Gender Evaluation Methodology for Internet and ICTs (GEM).

This paper sets out to look at the question to information and communication technologies (ICTs) in relation to women’s development in Africa. The emphasis is on current issues and the paper highlights key issues and challenges faced by women in Africa and to a smaller extent, globally. The paper provides examples of good practice and includes recommendations to civil society organisations on how to create an enabling environment for women to access and use ICTs for development. The crucial link between understanding the gender dimensions of the information society – in terms of what women’s needs are and a thorough understanding of conditions of access, policies – and the potential ICTs have of boosting the economic, political and social empowerment of women, and the promotion of gender equality is explored. An extensive resource list and examples of successful initiatives form the field are included in appendices.

This paper presents a review of African participation in the first phase WSIS process (i.e. the Geneva summit held in December 2003 and the preparatory process leading up to it). It is not intended as a comprehensive analysis, but to stimulate discussion about ways in which African participation – particularly that of African civil society – can be more effectively structured during the second phase of the summit.

This discussion paper, commissioned by the APC, aims to raise the profile of e-waste issues in developing countries so that the implications of information and communications technology (ICTs) for development initiatives can be better understood – particularly in the context of the increasing flow of old technology from developed to developing countries.