Question 5 How are ICT related projects evaluated? The best way to evaluate ICT projects is to take a gender perspective. This certainly provide concrete results as to which gender benefited the most and where improvements are still needed. APC introduced the GEM tool for evaluating ICT and internet projects/programs. Like some of our colleagues, we used it when we evaluated the two telecentres; Buwama and Kawolo. It was a perfect solution to identifying the gaps that for a very long time had not been realized. All rural based telecentres focus on extending ICT to the communities without considering whether the problems that hamper women and men from accessing and using the services maybe be different and need a special approach. GEM was quick to identify where things went wrong and the telecentre operators knew how to focus their service so that both women and men benefited. It would be realistic when one talks about the outputs and outcomes of the project that don't leave any group underserved. There is no community that had ever realized development without developing women in the social, economic and political spheres of life, more so that women fill up the larger population in the rural setting. What do donors need in terms of evidence? 1.Was there any immediate change in terms of the project intervention, statistical figures may help? 2.How about the long term? 3.Were there any differences in the effects of the intervention on one particular gender compared to the other? Indicators may apply. 4.What benefits did the users report as a result of access to and usage of ICT tools for this matter, for their rural livelihoods? Use digital stories if possible. 5.Were there any unexpected results of the intervention? 6.For any upcoming projects/interventions gender should be on a high agenda. So there is need to highlight how the project will help women and men to bring about change in their lives. 7.What the project seeks to accomplish that was not accomplished that would seek additional funding for a couple of years ahead. 8.Highlight the plight of women, attaching relevancy of ICT for developing their rural livelihoods. Those are my two cents, any additions or subtractions from my contribution...are welcome. Best, Sarah UgaBYTES

First of all I would like to thank Maureen and Anupama, they have raised very important points. This leads me to one thing; that the challenges faced in rural communities are almost similar, the only changes are the dynamics that come along with them. To add on what was highlighted... Am sharing from the experiences of the researches and GEM we conducted. 1. We found out that Lack of awareness was a major disease faced by the implementers. Like I said earlier, there was no single activity that was shared for the communities. Most of the work done went unnoticed. It was very severe for the women because most of the time they were at home and on their gardens. Most of the men engaged in informal groups where they usually engaged in lousy talks that eventually became a security concern. 2. It was very difficult to raise a sizeable number of women who would act as show cases for the rest of the women in the entire Sub Counties, for the ICT training. The training was provided to a few women who managed to visit the telecentres. It was proved though that the small number of women who attended trainings used ICTs; computers, radios to make their business adverts on mostly their agricultural produce, to improve their livelihoods. However, there is still a very big challenge as regards to access and use of especially the computers. They failed to get spaces to do all that they wanted, which led them to accessing expensive cafe's, where they could never financially sustain their expenses. 3. There is still another challenge to the ICT providers regarding outdated types of computers that have very slow processing speed. These computers are still used in the telecentres. It was very difficult for the women to hang on for the services, as most of them had other house cores to accomplish hence, they were denied the chance to use the services. 4. A number of women had to travel long distances, given the fact that every Sub County had one telecentre and they are widely covered by very huge number of villages. This complicated the mode of services delivery. It was agreed though by the telecentre manager that maybe satellite telecentres be introduced at parish level, so that the distance women have to move is reduced. However, this program is hampered by the finances for it to be implemented. I always hate long emails. Will come back later. Sarah UgaBYTES

Let me thank you Analia for the link you provided to the discussion forum yesterday, but I might be mistaken, as I cannot access the previous discussions, am sorry for that if it is another person who did it. However as I was still going through the posts, power went off. Am working from the field where connectivity is a very much problem. Regarding the full GEM report, I hope Angela will provide the link because we submitted it to APC. If it is not possible I will provide the PDF which we have, in all we are experiencing a very slow connectivity problem here. Qn.2. When we talk about the role of gender in implementing ICT4D projects, what are some of the first steps that could be taken? 1. The entire process should be involving; women and men and girls and boys 2. Make them participate in identifying their roles according to gender or a mixture of it 3. Even when the project is still in its initial stages, they should all be involved. This would help them to easily identify with the project and also identify their roles easily even when the project starts. 4. It is important to understand the gender issues and integrate them in planning for any ICT4D project that would certainly bring about equal opportunities in the output and outcomes of the project. Sarah

Dear all, Thanks Anupama for this introduction into the discussion. At some level, all of us believe, based on the nature of our work that the intervention we bring about with our projects become better solutions to reducing gender gaps, even to some extent before we get feedbacks into our work. From the telecentre view, where majority of the telecentres are rural based, and agriculture is the common activity, we owe to possibly focus on the problems that may hamper the success of the good projects for improved rural livelihoods while those ICTs are introduced. We see that the ICT tools once accessed and used by the most disadvantaged groups especially women, they would be the better solution to improving rural livelihoods, but how?? Then what are the gender issues surrounding the access and usage of those tools to enable both women and men equally access and use them on their agricultural projects to enable them improve their livelihood? In most rural population, majority of those engaged in agriculture are women given most rural settings. These come in different dimensions depending on where you work from. To focus this discussion, as we reflect on our ICT, gender and rural livelihood projects/interventions what are the key gender issues we identified on the projects or those that manifested later during the project takeoff? And What is the importance of considering gender issues when working in ICT4D rural and agricultural projects and programmes? Waiting to here from what happened on your projects/interventions or programmes! Cheers! Nalwoga Sarah Mpagi UgaBYTES

Thanks Analia for your quick responses into the discussions. First of all, I might sound too repetitive that from the "telecentre network level." It is not easily possible to identify the gender issues on the ground that are faced by the telecentre operators because our focus is to increase telecentre performance such that they improve their services to the end users. The researches and GEM we conducted, highlighted problems that hamper the performance of telecentres which were never communicated by the telecentre operators but were identified through research and GEM from the field. This enabled us to understand the gender issues surrounding the telecentre environment and how they could be handled for improved gender equity to access and usage of the telecentres. The gender issues highlighted from the field were no different from what Maureen and Alasow highlighted. Issues regarding access, control, usage, illiteracy, lack of awareness. However, it was found out that majority of the women used radios and mobile telephones. Then as Maureen highlighted was also our major concern, as to who would especially buy new batteries for the radios to enable the women to continuously listen to their programmes- it was the men/husbands, whether there was actual control and use on the radios, and who would buy credit on their phones. Some telecentres have community radios that have programmes targeting the rural farmers and other major activities as they present in the communities. Lack of awareness was another big problem faced by the telecentres. Many of their work and activities were never known by the communities to which they claimed to serve. I hope I will be able to share tomorrow the link for the GEM report. Am faced with slow connectivity. Best Sarah UgaBYTES

Dear all, My name is Sarah Nalwoga Mpagi and it's a pleasure for me to be part of the SME for this e discussion forum on gender, ICTs and rural livelihoods. More so that we will not be able to see each other but, share experiences and learn from each other that will help all of us to shape the ICT sector and rural development for equitable access and usage of ICTs. These discussions help all stakeholders; the implementers, activists' e.t.c. come up with better solutions to gender equity in the use of ICTs and rural development. Am also delighted to see some people I know who will also be part of the SME team. My regards to all of you, not to mention you by your names, and this includes other people I will be sharing with for the first time in this forum. It will be a pleasure getting in touch on particular issues for the first time that I hope, will not be the end after the closure of this e-discussion. Am not new with these kinds of discussions though, am new on this forum. But I hope that this will highlight experiences and lessons to learn, for all of us, while we learn from each other for the effective gender integration in ICT and rural livelihoods. Coming basically from telecentre network level, we have been able to help telecentres so that they improve their performance; to enable them effectively reach out to the grassroots communities. When I refer to telecentres, I mean a place where all ICT tools are supposed to be accessed and utilized by the disadvantaged from the rural communities. That has also been enriched by the researches we conducted in the telecentres and the user communities, and the GEM evaluation we conducted in the telecentres, to enable us understand the gender issues regarding accessibility, usage and relevancy of telecentres to the user communities. I hope that the experiences that we will share and learn, will help to improve the gender access and usage of ICT for rural livelihoods. I look forward to the e discussions. "Imagine putting all those ideas together." the future would be bright. Thank you. Cheers, Sarah [img][/img]