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IFUW Discussion on Communications
Week
1 - Effective Use of the IFUW Internet Networks
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Do you believe that networks like the IFUW Connections Network
are an effective tool for connecting with women around the world?
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Do you have any suggestions for improving their use?
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What kinds of issues and topics would you like to see addressed
on the Networks?
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How can we increase the number of members who use the networks?
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| Kathleen
Laurila (IFUW Vice-President - Summary of Week 1 Discussion
5
October
Dear Friends,
The last week
we have had some interchange about the value and use of the IFUW
Networks. This was week one of a month of discussions about communication
issues.
As a review
of the first four questions asked, I briefly summarize:
1. Value of the Networks:
- Everyone who responded believes that the Networks are an effective
tool for connecting with women around the world and would like to
see the activity on the networks increased.
- We have only begun to use the potential of the Networks.
2. Suggestions
for improvements of the networks:
These included the thought that a network could be established in
the Spanish language. I believe the IFUW board would welcome such
a network, as we welcome any that center around a particular focus.
In order to establish one, however, requires at least one volunteer
to be the coordinator/moderator as the networks operate member-to-
member, rather than Geneva-to-member. We do recognize that our Spanish-speaking
members are not always as involved in IFUW activities and committees
because of the use of English as our official language.
3. Issues
and Topics:
A women from the US commented how useful it is to learn about the
roles and challenges for development that women have in developing
nations, and are spreading the word among their own members about
the value of contributing to the Bina Roy Fund.
Future discussions
are encouraged because they have proven so useful, but it does take
effort on the part of someone to start the discussion. This can
start with any member so it does not need one of the IFUW leaders
to generate. As more members participate, there will need to be
more volunteers to be moderators, as we do want to maintain quality
control over the messages in order to prevent "spam" to
go through.
Several topics
for discussion were suggested
4. Increasing
the number who use the Networks:
Word of mouth at the local level seems to be the primary method
suggested.
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Maria-Elisa
Zorriqueta (Spain) - Communications Discussion 7
October
My name is María-Elisa
Zorriqueta and I live in Bilbao, in the Basque Country, North of
Spain.
I joined Connections when I thought to start a group of graduate
women in my home town. I expected:
- To know as much as possible about IFUW, besides all the information
I had found in its web site and through my attendance to the Ottawa
Conference.
- To know as much as possible about what other associations and
federations were doing around the world.
- To know more about other graduate women in the world.
- To feel that I belonged to an international organization.
Answer to the topics suggested by Kathleen Laurila for 3-9 October
2005
1. Do you believe that networkd like IFUW connections are an effective
tool for connecting with women around the world? Yes, I do, and
I've experienced it. Since I introduced myself at the beginning
of 2003, our group has received support from friends as far away
as North Vancouver, Canada, which has been an extraordinary help
for the survival of our small association, and I've been exchanging
messages with other members around the world.
2. Do you have any suggestions for improving their use? Language
is a huge difficulty. Could it be possible to create a network for
Spanish speaking members? This would perhaps encourage our members
to use the internet, to join the connections and to know more about
IFUW.
3. What kinds of issues and topics would you like to see addressed
on the Networks?
I support all the suggestions that have been made by the different
members who have answered the questions. I also would like to know
more about the activities small associations like ours carry out.
4. How can we increase the number of members who use the networks?
Talking about it in meetings, for example. Suggesting close friends
to join it. For us this is very difficult. Computers and internet
connections are
still very expensive in Spain. More public places are needed where
our members could go to receive and send their messages. As I mentioned
before, language is a huge incovenient.
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Alison
Booth (New Zealand) Communications Discussion 7
October
My
name is Alison Booth I live in Auckland NZ although in this global
age I was born in San Francisco.
We have a low
density population (1 million +) spread throughout our city which
is said span the space of London.
Our membership
embraces a wide age span.
I see Virtual
Communications a vital communication link for our members. Our older
members have made an awesome contribution to the Federation giving
us a solid economic base from which to give awards to women in need
of educational assistance. What we lack is an easy way for our working
and studying members to have access to the world. We are lucky our
main language of communication is English although Maori offers
a unique flavour to our culture.
Communications
Networks are a blessing we have not even begun to take advantage
of.
A big thanks
to you for opening up communication pathways!
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Alice
Anugrahanm (India) Communications Discussion 7
October
My name is Alice
Anugrahanm and I teach French and live in a small town called Vadodara,
on the Western side of India (400 kms. north of Mumbai).
I joined connections as I wanted to be in touch
with Graduate Women around the world. I also wanted to know about
IFUW, that was 2 years back and today we have a newly formed chapter
of it Associated to the Indian Association of Univ. Women in our
town itself.
I would also like to know about what other graduate
women are doing around the world and if possible get to knowing
them. This way I am glad I belong to an International Organisation
and we have reached beyond the narrow confines of our boundaries
to others accross countries, seas and continents. It's a wonderful;
and powerful feeling.
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| Linda
Bly (USA) Discussion on Communications 7
October
My name is Linda
Bly. Four years ago we moved to rural Vermont, USA (where there
is no AAUW branch near-by) Before moving I was active in AAUW in
Delaware - as a branch president and state public policy chair.
My reason for
joining Connections is to participate in discussions of policy issues
with women from different countries in order to understand different
perspectives on issues of common concern so we can better support
each other.
For instance
recently I received an email from someone who is forming a coalition
in the US to require that 2/3 of US Government funds dedicated for
malaria control by the US Agency for International Development be
used to kill the mosquitos that carry malaria. He believes that
the most effective strategy against malaria is to use DDT for indoor
residual spraying which he says results in zero-to-negligible external
environmental residue (DDT should never be used for aerial or any
other form of outdoor application.) Indoor residual spraying would
be in accordance with the UN Stockholm Convention on Persistent
Organic Pollutants.
Evidently in
some African countries persons in rural areas are discouraged from
using any DDT at all. Is that really true? My understanding is that
malaria kills over 1 million African children and parents every
year -
three times a many as are killed by AIDS.
DDT was used
in the US to eradicate malaria. I asked my daughter-in-law who was
born in Taiwan about this initiative and she said that she thought
that Taiwan wouldn't have been able to develop as it has if they
hadn't sprayed to get rid of the mosquitos.
Is malaria prevention
an issue of concern to women living in Africa? Is supporing the
limited use of DDT in malaria ridden areas of Africa until the breeding
areas of the mosquitos are destroyed something that we in the
United States should support?
I am hoping
that a network such as Connections can give me a better understanding
of this issue.
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Mary
Scott - Moderator, Connections Listserv - Discussion on Communications
5
October
This has been
an interesting first step in IFUW facilitating a discussion on the
Communications Listserv. I wanted to send a message to everyone
to say that I supported the idea when Kathleen advised me that it
was to proceed this week. There have been some minor bumps in the
process but I think that the discussion is proceeding well and hopefully
providing Kathleen and Leigh with some insight as to the future
direction and structure of the listservs. Certainly there are no
end of topics. You may want to consider communicating directly with
those who are responding Kathleen, or having a summary at the end
of each week's discussion.
Listservs are
a wonderful opportunity to share information, and to build relationships
for organizations. Usually though, they work best when folks already
know each other, or are working towards a common goal. For me, the
major benefit of the various listservs of IFUW is that they provide
information. But secondly, they also provide very important and
moving stories of members' projects, work activities, or learnings.
I find that the most significant aspect. As the recipient of many
e-mails every day, I know there are a growing number of excellent
sources of international news, but what makes IFUW special is to
hear from our sisters around the world who have a story to share
- in their own voice. For example, after the Tsuanami. We all share
the common value of education for girls and women, and that is what
make us unique.
With respect
to the questions for the week:
1. Are IFUW listservs an effective tool for connecting women around
the world? Yes they are an effective tool, but like many "new"
processes, we are still at the learning stage. They could be better.
I would like to see a report with the numbers - how many do we have?
How many members are registered on each? What is the average traffic
per month? Generally the communication for IFUW is between IFUW
and the NFA, not to individual members. Listservs do give us the
opportunity to have communication between members, and that is quite
different.
2. Suggestions
for improving their use? It seems that traffic is increased where
there is time for preparation for an event, and views are being
sought. The wayforward discussion was great. I think it is very
important for the moderator to do just that - not to edit, or intervene
in any way with the discussion. Put out questions yes, but not to
make comments on others responses. I do wonder if we really need
all the listservs that IFUW is presently supporting. Or maybe we
need to have a digest format.
3. What kinds
of issues and questions? This could be a question that a member
is dealing with in her personal or work life. It could be related
to an event at the UN - possibly posted by one of our UN reps -
What will our position be at the upcoming WSIS conference - or what
should it be? Do we have resolutions/policy that is pertinent to
that meeting?
4. How can
we increase the membership? Increasing membership will likely occur
as the discussion increases and is on topics members find interesting.
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| Marian
Ennis (Canada) Communications Discussion 5
October
I'm Marian
Ennis from North Vancouver Canada. I joined the Connections network
because it was the natural outgrowth of the old email network that
I helped Leena-Maija Lauren set up in 1995. Now that I serve on
an IFUW committee, I'm also on some other IFUW email networks, and
find the information disseminated there very useful. In the past,
I've used this network to respond to other members' queries, offer
support to new NFA's, and to meet new members via email (and hopefully
later in person at the triennial conferences).
I think more
members would contribute to the network if there were items being
discussed that were relevant and interesting to their lives or their
NFA's. Sometimes it takes an activist person or moderator to keep
throwing out new topics when the traffic dies down, to stimulate
more input. And of course, some of our UW members don't have cheap
and easy access to email, so it's not possible for them to participate,
much as they might like to. Once, a member from a less developed
country asked if my branch could sponsor the purchase of a computer
for their branch. I replied that it wasn't possible, as all our
fundraising efforts are already committed for bursaries, the Bina
Roy Fund, and local women's charities, and we already have two "sister
branches" in other countries. However, it is a topic worthy
of discussion on this network. We couldn't send them a donated second-hand
computer and modem because the electrical systems are different
in that part of the world. And even if we raised the cash for them
to buy a computer, there would be the ongoing cost of paying for
a connection to the Internet, which the local NFA would have to
find. I'm glad to see that Kathleen's efforts have generated thoughtful
responses from individual UW members on this network.
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Joyce
Lockard (USA) Communications Discussion 5
October
I joined Connections
when it first started because at that time I was IFUW Liaison for
AAUW of Oregon in the USA and for my own Beaverton Branch of AAUW.
I expected to find useful information, and I have.
I am particularly
interested in education of women in developing countries and the
profound impacts that educating those women have on their families,
communities, and nations. Women and especially education of women
are some of the best channels for development in poor countries,
but are often neglected when there are many competing needs. We
in IFUW should give more support to Bina Roy type projects that
reach to the grassroots where women are living and working. The
appropriate technology level is in my opinion the most effective
level for helping the poorest of women and girls. Warm regards -
Joyce
Kathleen
Laurila, IFUW Vice-President - Response to Joyce Lockhard
- 5 October
Thank you Joyce,
for your "testimony" about the use of Connections. I would
be interested to know if members of your branch and/or state of
Oregon have been encouraged to use the IFUW website and the Connections
Network. "Word-of-mouth" within each Branch is the best
selling tool we have on a local level. The Connections is the same
thing, it is just one-to-one around the world.
For those you
not familiar with Bina Roy Fund that Joyce mentions, please go to
http://www.ifuw.org/brpid/index.htm for information about how your
branch might help with grassroots projects in other countries.
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| Dorothy
Meyer (New Zealand) - Communication Discussions 5
October
My name is Dorothy
and I am a New Zealander. I became involved with the connections
network when, with other New Zealanders, I was working on the "Way
Forward" for IFUW after the 1998 Graz Conference. We presented
the results of our 'consultations' at the 2001 Ottawa Conference
and the process carried on until the 2004 Conference in Perth. The
networks are useful when you have a specific task you are involved
in but it does depend on people responding in a timely manner to
any requests that are made.
At the Ottawa Conference
I was elected to the Status of Women Committee(SWC) and was the
Interdisciplinary Seminars Coordinator at the Perth Conference.
I used the 'connections' network to tell interested people about
the ID Seminars and the workshops. I found that it was another way
of informing people who did not necessarily have contact with their
national federation or association (NFA) or who were not members
of an NFA or of IFUW because there was no NFA in their country.
This led to a number of people who had 'happened' on the network
becoming members
If people, when they
introduce themselves on the 'connections' network, say what their
special area of interest is it helps those of us on committees to
suggest how they can become involved. My responsibility on the SWC
is with the Education theme in the Program for Action and for liaison
with the IFUW United Nations representatives, the NFAs and the Advocacy
network.
I set up a network with
the NFA Leaders earlier this year in order to prepare the IFUW contribution
to the Mid-Term Decade for Peace Report. I appreciated those NFAs
and individuals who contributed to this report and some have continued
by asking to go on a e-mail Newsletter link with the Culture of
Peace.
All
of the above remarks are positive and/or constructive. My concern
about so much communication by electronic means is whether recipients
print it off, share the information with others who are not into
electronic communication and/or take action. If you have 8-10 emails
coming in at a time it requires discipline and time to respond to
a number of requests and for those who are in full time employment
this may not be a priority.
It will be interesting to see the responses that come to the questions
posed by Kathleen over the next 4 weeks.
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| Beverley
Turner (New Zealand) - Communication Discussions 5
October
My comment on
item one of this week's topic would be :
''We / PGWNet certainly rely on e-mail to bridge our huge distances
apart....''
So please share with others who maybe live much closer together
and - at opposite end of proximity scale - individual members who
are maybe even more scattered than we are across the Pacific for
reasons other than geography.
I'm looking
forward to reading some Pacific comments!! |
| Dr
Judith Issroff (Israel) Topics for Discussion 4
October
1.
I would like to see a discussion of why NOTHING has been done internationally
about the genocide in DARFUR
[I
recommend excellent The INDEPENDENT' NEWWSPAPER UK article 'thought
of the day' by JOHANN HARI that tells it like it is - likely to
be downloadable on Google or some other search engine]
2.
also I would like a proper discussion about xenophobia- I would
suggest that the paper I gave in Perth could be posted, long as
it is, and serve as the basis for the discussion.
3.
I further think that xenophobia should be a full day specialist
seminar at the Manchester Congress, organized as Ati Blom did the
panel on refugees for the Graz Triennial meeting by inviting some
International experts who were not members.
4.
Global warming with all the disasters that generates and our inability
apparently to act against this common, and unifying natural cum
man-made 'enemy' in time, is of course, another essential topic.
It brings up the issue of nuclear power as James Lovelock (of the
Gaia hypothesis) points out this is the only realistic way in which
perhaps something might be done before it is too late- as it probably
already is.
5. A further topic may be the ineffectual nature of UN perhaps
6. terrorism and preparedness for terrorist acts: Last week I heard
a lecure by an international expert Fred Halliday,
Professor of Politicial Science at London School of Economics. He
is an Arabist with experience in Afghanistan, Sudan Iran, Middle
East etc lecture. He said (a).we should be prepared that it will
take more than 100 years for this problem to be dealt with. That
it is several decades old with Bin Laden etc aiming for a world
caliphate with sha'aria enforced- the extreme form of woman-denigrating
Islam that has de-AFRICAN-IZED AND ARABIZED DARFUR.
(b) we should be thinking in terms of Samuel Huntingdon's 'Clash
of Civilizations'
[c] he said that this has nothing to do with Israel and Palestinin
question and that if Israel were to disappear it would not solve
the problem
(d) he believed that USA's power should not be underestimated.
(e) I'll post a couple of useful news items re dealing with terrorism
and
becoming better prepared separately.
I
really do think we have to tackle these issues and become very well
informed and active in relation to all of them.
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Response
from Kathleen Laurila, IFUW Vice-President 5
October
Thank you Judy,
for your topic suggestions. You are a fine example of an IFUW member
who is highly involved with peace and justice issues, and can always
be counted upon to help raise awareness about them. The Connections
Network is a good method to use for discussing topics, and for suggesting
actions by the members -- not just by the IFUW leadership.
Connections
is about member-to-member discussion and action and is an example
of how the world truly operates today -- no longer dependent upon
top-down methods.
Hopefully there
will be members who will respond to some of the topics of discussion
you suggest.
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Mardy
Stevens - Response to Oct 3-9 topics
4 October
Thank you for
this opportunity. The Network is an effective tool because it gives
us first hand information from those who may have lived directly
with an issue. This becomes more and more vital to understanding
issues at a time when media coverage is so highly questioned.
In order to
increase numbers of users: insure privacy, maintain quality, continue
to invite and advertise. Request that those members who already
use it invite at least one more member to become a user.
Response
from Kathleen Laurila, IFUW Vice-President 5
October
Thanks you Mardy,
for your comments in regard to maintaining the quality of the Network.
IFUW uses moderators -- volunteer members and staff people -- to
monitor the Network contributions in order to prevent unwanted messages
from getting through. As IFUW adds more networks based on specific
issues, more moderators will be needed. This could be a way for
a member to be involved in the "work" of IFUW sitting
in front of her own computer! A non-profit organization such as
IFUW is always looking for members with skills, interest and willingness
to volunteer in such a way -- committees are not the only method
for getting involved!
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| Leigh
Bradford Ratteree, IFUW Staff (Geneva, Switzerland) - Communications
Discussions
4 October
I am originally from the USA, but now live in France
and am part of the IFUW international staff in Geneva, Switzerland.
Some of my work is with the IFUW website and the networks. As we
begin this exchange of ideas on communication within IFUW, it would
be interesting if each of you could send a message telling why you
decided to join the Connections Network and what you expected. This
is closely related to question three, which asked about the kinds
of issues and topics you would like to see addressed on the networks.
I really hope that many of you will take part in
these discussions over the next few weeks. It is a good way of helping
IFUW be more effective.
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Kathleen
Laurila, IFUW Vice-President - Communications Discussions - October
2005 3
October
Dear Friends,
The exchange of information and ideas is a benefit
of belonging to an organization, as well as a means to personal
and organizational growth. Within IFUW communication takes place
in many ways, and at several levels. It is an objective of the IFUW
leadership to improve the methods used by the members to communicate
with each other.
During October I will facilitate a discussion on
this network about improving communication 1) from IFUW to the Individual
Member, 2) between the national federation or association (NFA)
and the members within that NFA, and 3) among members throughout
the world, including the growing number of members-at-large. Each
week I will pose another topic. Members are encouraged to share
their views and ideas on this topic throughout the week by addressing
messages to connections@ifuw.org.
As background, please see the August edition of
the IFUW Newsflash - http://www.ifuw2.org/newsflash/newsflash_view_issue.asp?volume_code=2005-08&nyear=2005&nmonth=08
I hope that you will all take part in these discussions.
Topic for 3-9 October 2005 Effective Use of the
IFUW Internet Networks
1. Do you believe that networks like the IFUW Connections
Network are an effective tool for connecting with women around the
world?
2. Do you have any suggestions for improving their use?
3. What kinds of issues and topics would you like to see addressed
on the Networks?
4. How can we increase the number of members who use the networks?
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Communication Discussion - October
2005 