This paper focuses on a research project that aims to help rural Kenyan women increase their participation in the democratic process. Nairobi-based Family Support Institute Executive Director Shanyisa Khasiani is implementing the research project with funding from the International Development Research Centre to help rural Kenyan women. The project, which involves the Makueni and Kakamega districts, will eventually see up to 30,000 women learn how to access information via computers, with the key goal of promoting civic education. Rural women's groups provided the project's entry points into the subject communities and presented the civic education needs of these communities to the project team. Aside from the main issue of political representation, other concerns emerged such as domestic violence, transportation needs, and employment of women to promote development. In view of these issues, the slogan "Be educated in politics!" was formed. The next phase of the project is to "train the trainers"--the women's group leaders--in computer skills. Each community will be provided with a resource center that is equipped with two computers and civic education reference materials. Teaching these women computer skills will enable them to communicate with one another, exchange ideas and learn what other nongovernmental organizations are doing about women's empowerment. The project will also enable rural Kenyan women use technology to help improve their economic status.
After Zarah Yacoub made a film denouncing female genital mutilation, an imam in Chad issued an order to have her executed. Yacoub had to go into hiding until international pressure caused the government of Chad to force the imam to withdraw the edict. This incident shows the impact of laws on women's lives and explains the challenge faced by "Women Living Under Muslim Laws," a movement founded in 1985 by nine women seeking an effective way to respond to women's right violations in Muslim countries or communities. One of the main projects of the movement is to decipher and reinterpret Muslim law through a research project involving female research teams in 26 countries. The researchers are using a common methodology to trace the evolution of the laws, identify contraindications, and point out gaps. The results will be publicized to help women understand their rights and influence legislation. The notion of "Muslim law" varies from one country or context to the next and has been based on male interpretation. While some of the "laws" are relics of custom, tradition, or old colonial laws with no basis in Islam, they often have more power than formal laws over women's lives. The ultimate goal of "Women Living Under Muslim Laws" is to help Muslim women break out of their social isolation.
Field trials conducted in the fall of 1995 by the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) and the Micronutrient Initiative in Indonesia introduced Ultra Rice in areas plagued by vitamin A deficiency. Rice is a staple food for most of the populations in 23 developing countries where deaths and blindness follow a lack of vitamin A. Ultra Rice is a blend that combines vitamin A fortified and reconstituted rice with natural rices. PATH is using a concrete mixer to produce the fortified rice blends, which must be available at nearly the same cost as unfortified rice to be accessible to the families that are most in need. The fortification of foods is rare in developing countries, but PATH and the Micronutrient Initiative hope to change that situation by offering patent-free technology transfers to any interested developing country.
Through International Development Research Center's Pan Asia Networking program (PAN), some of the least developing countries in Asia are acquiring the means to access information residing on the Internet. Most importantly, the program helps Asian nations share their information resources among them and the world electronically for the first time via the Internet. The PAN program will carry a number of content-based subnetworks which addresses biodiversity, natural resource management, social and economic policy, environmental technology, human health, and information and communication technology. The broad range of development-related issues provided by PAN will benefit researchers, development workers, academics, teachers, students, decision-makers, and people interested in Asian development. As PAN grows and matures, many more people in developing countries of Asia will have the opportunity to tap into the accumulated wisdom in the Internet.
This article presents a profile of Jai Haravu, head of the library and documentation services at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in Patancheru, India. With over 30 years of experience in the information field, Haravu believes that professional librarians have a critical role in promoting the benefits of new information technologies in developing countries. Since 1964, Haravu has been designing and implementing computer-based tools to improve information services for scientific and technical users of libraries in India and globally. At ICRISAT, Haravu coordinates the Semi-Arid Tropical Crops Information Service (SATCRIS), an innovative program that applies computer-based tools to provide information retrieval and dissemination services. The program, partially funded by the International Development Center, provides information on 5 crops, and based on the needs of the users, the ICRISAT team developed various information products. Among these are an automated selective dissemination of information service, and a sophisticated information retrieval service. Although proud of SATCRIS, Haravu sees the service as a short-term solution in meeting information needs in developing countries. Accordingly, the ICRISAT team has developed products including information storage and retrieval software, specialized databases, and locational tools to help libraries in the institution of the national agricultural research systems expand their roles.
