Gender and ICT Projects Database

In recognition of the Gender and ICT initiatives all over the globe, we have created this projects database and made it available online. The database is a repository of Gender and ICT projects which were nominated and had qualified for the GICT Awards 2003 screening. This will be enriched by each award year. We are hoping that these efforts will inspire others to network, advocate and mobilize ICTs for women's empowerment and gender equality.

A. PROJECT INFORMATION
1. a. Project Name or Title:	Putting ICTs in the Hands of the Poor
b. Project URL, if any:	http://www.datamationfoundation.org/economic.htm
a. Utilizes ICTs to promote women's economic empowerment
a.1 What types of ICT tools do you use?	The Seelampur Community ICT center project based on the theme "Putting ICTs in the hands of the poor" focuses on the innovative use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to empower people, specifically women, and address the issue of urban poverty. The Foundation uses a combination of ICT tools for poverty reduction, which range from computers (including NT Server, Proxy Server), modem and other networking equipment which ensures robust Internet connectivity, email, regular telephony, scanners, digital web cameras, hand held computers, laser printers to the use of various multi-media CDs. NIC's local community browser eNRICH (http://enrich.nic.in), which is a generic, customizable, web-based solution designed to facilitate Seelampur women's knowledge and communication requirements, without requiring any special technical skills, has also been set up at the centre. The various vocational and life skills CD based modules developed under the project are also being cable cast in the community. Announcements and information of various kinds is communicated to the community by the way of verbal dialogue, at the time of religious gathering.
a.2 How does the application of these contribute to the promotion of women's economic empowerment and gender equality?	Under the project, ICTs are used as enablers in empowering the Muslim women to deal with age-old social problems such as the denial of equal status to the women in the society, dependence on the family for all decisions ranging from various personal decisions viz. reproductive rights, career and vocational options. Towards this end effective multi-media training, learning and counseling materials in empowerment; basic literacy and vocational skills enhancement has been imparted to the women. The Foundation developed more than 50 self-paced, interactive multi-media empowerment and skills development CDs, ranging from health, nutrition, life-skill topics; apart from empowerment; rights, duties and responsibilities of the women; life skills, adolescence, confidence-building and personality development. Consolidating on the 'innate' design, arts, crafts and workmanship of most of the Seelampur women, the project deployed over 40 different skills and vocational modules ranging from tailoring, embroider, candle making, liquid soap, management of courier and tiffin centers, stationary items, paper bags etc. The Foundation enabled formation of the Self-Help Groups after the women had completed the learning on the modules. eNRICH is being utilized enthusiastically by the participants to express themselves and voice their concerns. A need based information data bank is being created by the participants. eNRICH coupled with Internet has opened new vistas which are being explored and utilized by the beneficiaries innovatively. Many women speak and record through eNRICH, about for example, diseases caused by stagnant water due to rain. Even the mothers of young girls who come to the center participate in recording messages to be communicated to community through eNRICH. These mothers had actually come to collect their daughters from the center, but got fascinated when they saw the girls recording messages and expressed a desire to record. Many of the women who attend the computer training are also desirous of getting jobs especially in computer firms. These jobs are held in high esteem in the community. The training also provides them an opportunity to learn English, which again brings a lot of prestige. Many women state that they feel very happy coming to the ICT center, and want to stay here for longer periods. Some women have profusely thanked the team at the center for providing them an opportunity to "constructively" interact and socialize. Now, older women and men in these families also support them in this interest. Several opportunities have been created such as picnics and other visits to facilitate their mobility even outside the area. The center has begun to create, work and income opportunities, along with gender equality for the women.
a.3 How was the achievement of women's economic empowerment and gender equality assessed/determined?	Women who come to the center talk of a transformation in their lives - they feel more confident to interact, to learn and talk about new things and to deal with their problems. Some of the girls who visit the center, have after sharing among themselves, decided to marry only after completing their education or after becoming capable of earning an income. The status of these women has also been enhanced within the family and community as they move out of the house for the first time, and are well informed and are able to articulate their problems. The Foundation also started the process of identifying commercial opportunities for the beneficiaries of the project. Participation in various exhibitions, events apart from direct marketing of the arts and crafts produced by Seelampur women was organized. Recently a portal (www.seelampurmart.org) has been set up for the marketing of Seelampur arts, crafts and services. Several universities have carried out impact assessment studies including One World South Asia, Development Gateway, Outlook Magazine and Indian Express. Findings of the evaluation and impact assessment studies point out that ICTs have had a cascading effect on the lives of the women of Seelampur, and even their families, in not only empowering them and building their self-esteem, confidence but also in enabling them to enjoy a more equitable and productive life. Most importantly what is visible is that women, who were not allowed to step out of the house are not only learning a new skill computers, but are also using it for gainful employment and have moved out of the boundaries of their household and even Seelampur. The community on the whole has become more conscious of the importance of education, and is increasingly willing to educate girls as well. In cases it is seen women who have been married and divorced and have been leading a life of humiliation and disrespect, have come to enjoy a respectable position in the community. Families with no earning male members have allowed their daughters to go out to work and make a mark for their own selves.
a.4 Which cultural, traditional and religious gender-biased notions and beliefs were challenged, if any?	Over 95 per cent of the population in Seelampur is predominantly Muslim, both of Shia (in majority) as well as Sunnis (in a minority) denominations. Majority speak Hindi and an Indianized form of Urdu language. People in the area lead a life of abject poverty and under-development. All those who are unable to afford expensive Public or Govt. schools and do not have the means even to feed their children, are sent to the religious learning and training institutions called "Madrasas" (especially the boys). The families observe an orthodox, traditional religious life-style based on the teachings of the Holy Quran. The CMC has been set up within the premises of the Babul-Uloom-Madrasa with the cooperation of Maulana Zafruddin Ahmed, instead of a public place. The project is a unique experiment wherein a modern ICT center is set up in the premises of an orthodox Muslim religious school. Prior to the setting up of the center here, the women were prohibited from entering the Madrasa. Now, though women are provided a separate entry into the institution, there is flexibility to use a common entrance for both boys and girls at times of need. Extensive community mobilization was done with the help of a "Mentor Mother", who reached out to the community for enrollment of the women in the ICT center. Also the community's proponents and stakeholders specifically the "ulema" (religious leaders) have been involved to ensure wider participation of women in the project. Traditionally the women have remained confined to their homes, where education and awareness is restricted and they have been deprived of their rights and livelihood opportunities. Early enough in the project, it was evident that the ICTs have given the women of Seelampur a "voice"for expression. Belonging to conservative families; leading claustrophobic existence where stepping out of the ghetto unaccompanied and without "purdah"; the role of ICTs in providing a "voice" for their expression and creativity is undisputed. The center is enriching the lives of Seelampur women. Their knowledge and awareness levels have increased. The participants' computer literacy has given a rise to their status. Consequently, their self esteem and self confidence has been enhanced. The center has become a platform where social information and communication networks are developing.
a.5 In what ways is your project different from others in enabling women's economic empowerment and gender equality?	This intervention can be called the first ever organized attempt for ICT diffusion in reaching out to the Minority community, that is the Muslims, and specifically the women folk. The formation of women's SHGs and linking them to markets are some of the innovations, apart from extensive use of local content development for skills development. The project entails twin focus - technology and its innovative use to empower the poor women with tools to change their circumstances. A crucial aspect of the project is that research and documentation has been built into the project from the very outset, using Ethnographic Action Research methodology. There has been intensive participatory interaction with the community by conducting surveys, interviews, group discussions, feed back mechanism and by on-going informal dialogue. Field notes, bulletin board, participants diaries, and poll on eNRICH are some of the other tools that have been utilized. Based on the continuing research, dialogues and needs of the people, the project keeps taking shape. Alongside, the teaching-learning process is being facilitated by a CD based program. Interactive multi-media modules have been developed in-house with the active participation of the beneficiaries, and the collaborative effort of the subject matter experts. These cover a diverse spectrum like health issues, women's rights, vocational skills and personality development. The project took another major step when Internet and eNRICH became operational. These project features and objectives mark it as unique and outcome based, and effectively enables women's economic empowerment and leads towards gender equality.
a.6 What added value does your project bring to the ICT for development fora?	The project rightly signifies and is based on the theme "Putting ICTs in the hands of the poor". ICTs have come to represent new dimensions through the Seelampur ICT center project. The focus is not only on technology itself, but also on its innovative use to empower the poor women with tools to change their circumstances. The project focuses on, but is not limited to, the immediate circle of beneficiaries participating in the project; their families, friends and the religious, political leaders. Alongside, an attempt is made to constantly understand how the project is overall fitting into the lives of the Seelampur people, and how they have been carrying out their work as well as life prior to the commencement of the ICT Centre. Research and documentation has been built into the project from the very outset, using Ethnographic Action Research methodology. A new dimension in the arena of ICT4D has been the facilitation of a teaching-learning process through a CD based program. ICTs have been effectively deployed for the restoration of traditional arts and cultural practices of Seelampur such as Naat, Ghazals and Shero-Shaiyari. It is not simply religious arts and cultural practices being restored with the help of ICTs; but even basic skills such as tailoring, embroidery and handicrafts too are getting restored with the help of ICTs. The centre uniquely serves as both training and counselling centre.
b. Upscales initiatives and community-centred technologies
b.1 Please narrate specific innovative or new approaches employed by the project, if any, that contribute to its development and its relevance to the community it is serving.	Seelampur being a Muslim minority ghetto marked by extreme poverty, the project focuses at training Muslim women in the application of ICTs for their income and vocational skills enhancement, the overall objective being poverty reduction and economic empowerment of women. It is ironical that the ICT center has been set up in the "Madrasa" itself, where prior to this initiative women have been prohibited entry. Moreover, the initiative has the support of the community's religious himself; Maulana Zafruddin Ahmed. Datamation Foundation, working in the area since 2002, felt that by deploying ICTs into overall education, life skills and vocational skills enhancement, the awareness of the Seelampur Muslim women towards education and their attitude towards life and work would improve substantially. In the narrow congested lanes, where the basic amenities are inadequate, people are involved in professions like tailoring, embroidery making of handicrafts, kites, paper bags and assembling parts for consumer durables, the ICT center has come as a boon for the women of Seelampur. With an intention to tap and nurture this innate talent of the community, the project deployed over 40 different skills and vocational modules ranging from tailoring, embroider, candle making, liquid soap, management of courier and tiffin centers, stationary items, paper bags etc. Development of innovative and interactive multi-media packages to support vocational and life-skill training and provide rights-based information to women, has been one of the satisfying and useful activities of the project. The action researchers have been increasingly involved in providing vocational training to women visiting the centre. Activities include making purses, necklaces, photo frames, jewelry boxes, dairies, coasters, make up boxes, holders and show pieces. Another initiative was organizing a multi-stakeholder workshop, where the producers from the community were brought in contact with buyers, besides the bank representatives giving informational talks on getting finance. One of the participant women has gone ahead along with her husband to open a similar ICT centre at Deoband (Uttar Pradesh). e-Commerce has been facilitated to show case local talent and products, to gain buyers world wide. It is not simply religious arts and cultural practices being restored with the help of ICTs; but even basic skills such as tailoring, embroidery and handicrafts too are getting restored. The Foundation identifies commercial opportunities for the project beneficiaries, and facilitates their participation in various exhibitions and events, apart from direct marketing of the arts and crafts produced by them. The inherent traditional skills of these women are getting creative expression through computer tools such as paint brush and adobe illustrators, learners use a mouse and Paint Brush program to make fairly intricate and innovative designs and pictures. Literacy levels being very low in the area, the ICT center is seen as a boon for the community. The women have been searching English newspaper sites on the Internet, since they usually get Hindi papers at home. Thus, due to the keen desire of the participants to learn English, they have been searching various sites on the Internet to learn English.
b.2 Describe the processes or mechanisms that are in place to ensure the project's sustainability.	Despite remarkable achievements, it would not be out of place to mention that the project of this nature cannot succeed if the enabling technologies and environment are not supported by enabling role models. The ICT project certainly requires technical support and infrastructure in terms of trained people, assured power supply, phone lines and a suitable environment. It is pertinent that this women lead initiative moves on. While the initial resources were committed by UNESCO, the project is now being supported by the Foundation. Importantly, the project leverages on the skills and competence of the local women, by chanellizing these into income generation opportunities. With the help of Tele-Centre income, sales proceeds of the SHGs selling their arts and crafts apart from the fee paid by the women (very nominal); the project is sustainable.
b.3 How can your project be replicated elsewhere?	The Ethnographic Action Research (EAR) Methodology that is adopted under the project is such that it requires continuous research and feedback into the project. The strategy is such that we are able to arrive at a universal picture for the status and problems of women. Keeping that in mind, Datamation Foundation itself has started the replication of the project in Kanpur and Lucknow areas of Uttar Pradesh. However, using this methodology the replication of this project is possible elsewhere also, particularly in communities marked by utter gender inequality.
c. Promotes cooperation and social networking
c.1 Who participates in the initiative? (Please identify participants, beneficiaries, and implementation partners. Provide specific demographic (age, income, rural/urban) information about your beneficiaries.)	The Seelampur ICT centre is a tripartite alliance between Datamation Foundation, a charitable, non-profit Trust, UNESCO and Babul-Uloom-Madrasa. It is designed to create a learning space for the minority Muslim women at their door steps. These participant women visiting the training-cum-counseling centre are aged between 10 to 50 years of age. Seelampur being an urban slum, the centre sees the participation of mainly such (semi-urban) women. The project focuses on, but is not limited to, the immediate circle of beneficiaries participating in the project; their families, friends and the religious, political leaders are also affected by project interventions. Of the 160 regular beneficiaries, the majority are engaged in acquiring basic computer literacy. Integrated with the technical aspect of the project; is the ongoing ethnographic action research process facilitated by UNESCO. The project set in motion about three years back, has established its credibility and standing in the community, and has led to both economic and social empowerment of the beneficiaries.
c.2 Please identify the project's most important partners and explain their role in the project and in helping to mainstream gender.	The most important project partners are UNESCO and the religious leader Maulana Zafruddin Ahmed. While UNESCO enriches and supports the project through its regular inputs on the Ethnographic Action Research process, Maulana ji assists in drawing community’s attention to the ICT centre and encourages the participation of girls.
c.3 How does the project foster cooperation and active participation among the different sectors (government, private sector, civil society) in the community?	Multi stakeholder workshops are held at the grass root level that sees the involvement of various players, buyers and sellers, Maulana Ji of the Madarsa who is a prominent community leader, various other political and religious leaders. Visits are also made by MLAs of the area. Such gatherings give confidence to the participants and the action researchers. We have also established a resource link with the doctor for treating TB (the main illness of the community), who sits in the same building where the ICT centre is being run. The project also sees the participation of the teachers who come to the centre to learn, and take back their learning to their students in the school. News recitation is done within the Madarsa building that proves our linkage with a religious organisation of this stature. Through such interventions the project maintains and fosters cooperation and participation of various sectors of the community.
c.4 How does the project strengthen the capacity of those who are involved in its implementation?	The action researchers have adopted the role of the socio-cultural animators, whereby they guide as well as encourage the project team to engage in constant interaction with the local people at the field level as well as facilitate the action research process via a number of structured and unstructured processes through field notes, participatory discussions and demonstrations. Through such interventions the confidence level of the participant girls has tremendously gone up, leading to the enhancement of even their leadership and management skills. Acquiring computer knowledge and skills have made the participants friendly and innovative, allowing them to explore and develop indigenous ways to utilize technologies. The beneficiaries have also come to realize and understand what is good for them. Some of the participants have managed to take lead in organizing an out station trip to Agra (Uttar Pradesh), which for some marked the first stepping out of Seelampur. Many women state that they feel very happy coming to the center and like staying for longer periods. Some participant women have profusely thanked the team at the center for providing them an opportunity to constructively interact and socialize. Women after acquiring computer skills desire and try to take up jobs in computer firms. Training also gives them the opportunity to learn English, which again brings a lot of prestige. Datamation Foundation endeavors to feedback the findings of this grassroots intervention into other projects. This helps not only the outcomes of other projects, but on the whole it also sharpens the Foundations replicability skills. The various CD based content/modules that are developed under this project are shared, used and disseminated elsewhere as well. The various exhibitions that are held help the buyers demand more and spell out their needs with more clarity. For UNSECO the entire intervention is both a learning and sharing, wherein numerous experiences and findings arise.
3. Learning Lessons and Sharing Strategies
a. Why, when, and how did the project begin?	The conception of the project is based on the baseline survey for this area that pointed primarily four things: one, urban poverty is worse that rural poverty, two, there is no other intervention in this area by any other organization, three, women in this area are accorded particularly very low status, four, penetration and availability of knowledge and information in this area is very low (just about 1%-2% people in the area were reading the newspaper). Moreover, Mrs. Sarita Sharma, the project leader and animator, and trustee Datamation Foundation, was deeply concerned about the well-being of the marginalized women. These findings and this thinking kicked off the "Seelampur ICT center project". The baseline that was conducted in 2002, finally led to the setting of the ICT training-cum-counseling center in 2003. It was felt important that the people in this Minority community, particularly women are allowed and are able to access information, using ICTs which is the growing and modern source of information. Once the center was in place and the Ethnographic Action Research had started, the project started taking shape and including other components as per the need of the community.
b. What are the goals of the initiative?	Goals of the initiative are: --To innovate and research combined technological and social strategies to put ICTs in the hands of the Muslim minority women --Using ICTs to help in overcoming Muslim women's perpetual cycle of poverty, social exclusion and low bargaining power by building their capacities and vocational skills. --Development of innovative, interactive multi-media packages to support vocational and life-skills inputs and to provide rights-based information to women --Establish market linkages for participant girls for income generation --Directing and shaping the project as per the needs of the community --To provide appropriate ICT enabled support mechanism viz. capacity-building, marketing and financial linkage for the women engaged in informal sector of the economy encompassing small and petty businesses. --To test if ICTs could play an enabling role in empowering the Muslim women to deal with age-old social problems such as the denial of equal status to the women in the society, dependence on the family for all decisions ranging from various personal decisions viz. reproductive rights, career and vocational options.
c. How are decisions being made in project implementation?	Decisions are jointly made by Datamation Foundation, UNESCO and Maulana Ji. Moreover, looking at the community needs and the probability of success of interventions, decisions are taken. The action researchers and the participants as well contribute and assist in taking decisions as they bring back to us the needs of the people.
d. What mechanisms are in place to ensure transparency and accountability in implementing the project?	A group of volunteers from among the participants hold quarterly meetings with the community, where they discuss and provide feedback to the Foundation. Also, the team members take regular field notes which are matched with the needs of the people. Reports of these meetings and field notes are checked regularly by the project leader. Capacity building workshops are held occasionally to inculcate greater understanding of the project and its requirements among the researchers and the participants. At such occasions the field staff openly shares their work with the Foundation project leader and experts from UNESCO. Moreover, daily visits are made by the project leader to the site and timely visits are made by UNSECO experts to keep a tab of the work progress and status.
e. What results and/or immediate outcomes has the initiative achieved, and what impact has it had on the beneficiaries, participants, and community?	Outcomes and impact of the initiative are: --Deploying a multi-pronged ICT enabled empowerment and skills enhancement strategy; the project has provided an opportunity to the participants/beneficiaries to interact with the external world and come in direct contact with the ultimate buyers of their products. Also, various exhibitions and events are organized for these women, for direct marketing of their arts and crafts. A portal www.seelampurmart.org has been set up to further this process. --Development of innovative and interactive multi-media packages to support vocational and life-skill training and provide rights-based information to women, has been one of the satisfying and useful activities of the project. The action researchers have been increasingly involved in providing vocational training to women visiting the centre. --Imparting computer knowledge and skills made the participants friendly and innovative and encouraged them to explore and develop indigenous ways to utilize technologies. --The project has established its credibility and standing in the community, and has led to both economic and social empowerment of the beneficiaries. --The confidence level of the participant girls has tremendously gone up, leading to the enhancement of even their leadership and management skills. The beneficiaries have come to realize and understand what is good for them. --Public figures like the local MLAs, religious leaders, local teachers and doctors are increasingly showing interest in the activities of the centre. --The mothers of young girls who come to the center also participate in recording messages to be communicated to community through eNRICH. These mothers come to collect their daughters from the center, but due to their fascination, when they see the girls recording messages, they also like to contribute. --Starting the center in the Madsara itself severely impacted the project in terms of challenging the religious and orthodox notion of girls being prohibited to enter the Madrasa. Today not only are girls allowed to enter this religious building but also interact with boys, occasionally in the same area. --Increased awareness in the community about computers and Internet. --Greater faith in the capacity of girls and the need to educate them has been generated.
f. What tools and processes did you use to monitor and evaluate the results of the initiative?	A number of tools have been deployed at various stages within the initiative. Our focus has been on tools which provide qualitative results. An ongoing methodology is maintaining field notes and conducting interviews and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) in the community to understand the project results and impact. All members or researchers are supposed to maintain daily field notes (recording of their activities). In-depth interviews of the users and non-users are an integral part of the project. Time to time training to the field staff by experts helps in enriching the output of the project. A mechanism of self-evaluation has been put in place by the Foundation, for the participants and the researchers, which tells us about the quality of work being undertaken and delivered. Moreover, external evaluations of the project have been conducted that allow us to improve and be confident of our deliverables.
B. GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Name of individual or organization	Datamation Foundation Charitable Trust
2. Address	Vimal Shree B-12 Swasthya Vihar. Vikas Marg Extn. Delhi 110092
3. Region/Country	Asia, India
4. Telephone number	91-11-22512161; 9868361328
5. Fax number	91-11-22166602
6. E-mail address	saritachetan@yahoo.com, divya@datamationfoundation.org
7. Organisation's URL (if applicable):	www.datamationfoundation.org
8. Name and designation of person submitting this application form	Ms. Divya Jain Program Officer
9. Organization's Vision/Mission	Datamation Foundation is a non-profit, apolitical, non-partisan registered Charitable Trust (Trust Deed # 3258 dated March 8, 2001) with its head office at Delhi. The Foundation has been actively engaged in advocating, designing and implementing innovative Information and Communication Technology enabled initiatives to help meet Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) defined by the United Nations. The Foundation targets women, economically and socially disadvantaged communities and youth in India and other developing countries. Gender equality, youth empowerment and poverty alleviation dovetailed with the MDGs are the main goals of the Trust. Key objectives of the Foundation are: --To render all possible help and facilities to the underprivileged and un-reached by enabling them to realize their potential. --To generate employment opportunities in the rural areas for the un-reached and economically and socially disfranchised by providing technological, social and administrative solutions for sustainable deployment of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) via Community Multi-Media Centers (CMCs) and Information Kiosks (IKs) in innovative ways. --To partner with various international development agencies and donors apart from private sector and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) for the deployment of innovative, ‘pro-poor’ ICT solutions. --To relentlessly pursue path-breaking objectives and programs targeted towards gender and youth in the areas of : --Violence against women including trafficking, bonded labor and dowry --Selective sex abortions and Female Foeticide --Poverty alleviation by ensuring livelihoods --Empowerment of women
10. Where did you hear about the GICT Awards?	Bytes for all (Yahoo Groups) newsletter