A Voice For the Voiceless

MISSION

The Advocacy Project seeks to help community-based advocates produce, disseminate and use information, and so become more effective advocates for human rights and social justice

Integrated Information Capacity Building

AP's work with the Kosova Women’s Network (September 2001 – May 2002)

AP's first experiment in providing integrated information support for a network was undertaken between September 2001 and May 2002 with the Kosova Women's Network (KWN). During this nine-month period, AP helped the KWN to expand its use of information technology, produce a website, and publish a regular newsletter.

Women’s civil society in Kosovo was forged by opposition to the Serbian regime in the 1990’s. In 1998, four women’s organizations came together to form the Rural Women’s Network. Following the 1999 war, the network expanded and was renamed the Kosova Women’s Network. By 2001 KWN had grown to thirty-two different organizations that represented over 90% of women’s civil society in the province. Members included representatives from Kosovo’s ethnic minorities.  This diverse membership gave the KWN considerable credibility and authority in post-war Kosovo.

One of the driving forces behind the network was Igballe Rogova, a former journalist who co-founded the women’s group, Motrat Qiriazi, in 1995. The Advocacy Project told her story in 2000, and it was thus understandable that she should seek AP’s support in developing the KWN’s information capacity. AP received support from the ICT’s for Civil Society Program of the Open Society Institute (OSI), and the project began in the fall of 2001.

IT support: The first goal was to help the KWN’s 32 member organizations make better use of computers and communicate through e-mail. This, it was hoped, would strengthen the network. The second objective was to help the network produce a web site and newsletter. With these tools, it was hoped that the KWN would find it easier to campaign around the issues of concern to its members and better inform the international community about their work.

The first component of the package was IT support. AP hired a Kosovar techie, Heroina Telaku, who then trained three more local “eRiders,”or roving IT assistance-providers. Their task was to move around the network, addressing the IT needs of its members. See our for more on Ms. Telaku and our roving IT support.

This aspect of the project was extremely successful. Over 20 of the 32 KWN members are now computer literate and connected to each other via e-mail and to the Internet. All 13 members of the executive board of the KWN are communicating via e-mail. This has made it possible for them to plan meetings in Prishtina every 3 months, and develop several joint campaigns on violence against women, women’s contribution to economic development, women’s political participation and literacy.

Newsletter: The KWN newsletter has been harder to produce and sustain on a regular basis. The KWN hoped to produce monthly newsletters during the first six months of the project. Instead it produced three issues, and some of the material had to be written by AP. Part of the problem was logistical - network members found it extremely hard to meet in the winter months (this was before they were able to communicate by e-mail). The KWN hired an information officer, but she was also working for another group. This left her with insufficient time for the KWN.  The province was also plagued by poor electricity provision making computer work difficult.

Like many new networks, the KWN found that it requires discipline, resources and training to produce regular material to a deadline. KWN members found that it took time to develop common positions on controversial issues, let alone write joint articles. Some members also had trouble writing to a deadline. Ms Rogova had hoped to publish profiles on their website of all 32 members, but some of them have still not been produced after nine months, delaying the project.

In spite of this, KWN members consider the newsletter a success, because it forced them to work together and also understand the demands of developing a disciplined, professional information strategy. They have decided to hire a professional journalist to produce future issues of the newsletter and take on the public relations work of the network.

AP has concluded that in helping a new network to produce a newsletter, it is also important to provide training in writing, editing, production, drafting press releases and developing contacts with the media. Newsletters need not be sophisticated, but they do require a sustained commitment and professional skills that may be difficult for a young network. If a newsletter can only be maintained by outsiders, it will not serve the long-term interests of the network.

Website: The third element of the KWN package was a website. It was clear from the start that this would be a valuable tool for the KWN and important that it be designed locally. AP asked the Internet Project Kosovo (IPKO) to design the site. The KWN produced the content, and the site was unveiled in March 2002. The KWN Executive Board has yet to make full use of the site in its campaigns, but as the letter below shows, it has already proved its value.

The Advocacy Project
1326 14th Street NW
Washington DC 20005
phone: +1 202-332-3900
fax: +1 202-332-4600