T-Shirts to Web Links: Women Connect!

Table of Contents


Introduction

The Birth of the Idea

Pilot Project: Women Linking

Women Connect!: The Project Design

Case Studies from Zimbabwe, Zambia and Uganda

Results: Accomplishments and Acheivements

What Was Learned: Guidance for Future Work

The Way Forward

References



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A major sociological and political phenomenon during the past two decades has been the coming together of women worldwide to work for greater rights for women and girls. This movement has produced thousands of women's non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Each such women's group has a mission and goals centered on improving some particular aspects of women's lives. To achieve these goals, it engages in communication to others. Whether reaching out to community members or to politicians, legislators and the media, communication skills are absolutely central to the organisation's success. Today the communication strategies of many women's NGOs span abroad range, from slogan-bearing t-shirts to the Internet and websites. However, many if not most women's NGOs know they still have much to learn about communication -- be it traditional media, mass media or modern information technology.

This essay presents a case study of Women Connect!, a five-year effort designed to support the desire of women's NGOs in developing countries to communicate more effectively. Women Connect!, including its pilot project, was carried out collaboratively between 1997 and 2002 by two organisations, the Pacific Institute for Women's Health and the Annenberg Center for Communication at the University of Southern California, both based in Los Angeles. The goals ofWomen Connect! were: (1) to contribute to women's empowerment through collaboration, communications capacity-building and information-sharing with women's organisations; and (2) to help women strengthen their organisations and their ability to achieve their own objectives, especially in the areas of women's health and well-being, broadly defined, including reproductiveand sexual health and rights. Our operating hypothesis was that it is only by strengthening a broad range of communications capacities that an organisation will be able to maximise its impact. We knew that women's organisations are an important force for women's empowerment and reducing inequity; surely strengthened women's organisations could make even greater contributions. Our desire for Women Connect! was to was to help women's organisations use the power of informationand communication tools to change women's lives. [1]

Women Connect! assisted women's groups in using traditional media (e.g., t-shirts, posters andbrochures), mass media (radio, newspapers, magazines and television) and information communication technology (ICT), including e-mail and the Internet, to communicate and advocate for the causes they believe are important – for example, women's reproductive and sexual health,inheritance rights for women, and the reduction of all forms of violence. [2] The initiative combined training, technical assistance, and small grants. The small grants were instrumental in allowing theparticipating groups to carry out activities that put to use information gained during our training.

Women Connect! was carried out with 30 NGOs in Africa (Zimbabwe, Zambia and Uganda), but the lessons learned apply to communications work with women's groups throughout Africa, Asia and Latin America. This article shows how these organisations are using communication tools and strategies to become more effective in disseminating health information, delivering services and advocating for the improvement of women's lives. It presents highlights, results, lessons learned about women's NGOs and their use of communications, key findings from an external evaluation, and recommendations for future efforts to support women's NGOs. [3]

This case study also addresses three other important issues: the empowerment impact on women of women's organisations; how northern organisations can best work with southern (developing country) NGOs; and where women's health fits among priorities of women's NGOs.

2 Women Connect! did not focus on interpersonal and counseling skills.

3 Primary funding was provided by the Annenberg Center for Communication at the University of Southern California and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Additional funding was provided by the Wallace Global Fund, with institutional support from and John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.