Syndicate: [Fwd: A new web page: Women's Human Rights Net]

[Zarana Papic <zpapic@f.bg.ac.yu>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: A new web page: Women's Human Rights Net
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 16:45:07 -0500
From: ihelal@ICHRDD.CA
Reply-To: Discussions on women in conflict zones <WICZNET@YORKU.CA>
To: WICZNET@YORKU.CA

We would like to bring to your attention the launching of the Women's
Human
Rights Net, an on-line information and technology project which provides
tools for strengthening women's human rights advocacy.

whrnet
women's human rights net
www.whrnet.org


INTERNATIONAL COALITION OF WOMEN'S HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS LAUNCHES
MAJOR INFORMATION AND COMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY PROJECT: whrNET

women               --        technology       --       human rights


Strengthening Women's Human Rights Advocacy through Information and
Communications Technologies

whrNET is an exciting collaborative ICT (Information and Communication
Technology) project being developed by an international coalition of
women's organizations. The project will be launched on November 13th
1999 -
whrNET (www.whrnet.org).  whrNET aims to strengthen advocacy for women's
human rights through the effective utilization of information and
communication technologies. The sponsoring organizations are part of a
global movement for women's human rights that has grown steadily since
the
World Conference of Human Rights (Vienna, 1993) and the Fourth World
Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995).

The launch takes place in Washington D.C. to coincide with an important
gathering -- the Association for Women and Development (AWID) Forum 1999
(see program bellow).  It also welcomes the beginning of the 9th annual
global campaign of "16 Days of Action Against Gender Violence" (November
25
- December 10), which links International Day Against Violence Against
Women to International Human Rights Day.

whrNET is a collaborative NGO initiative that links partner
organizations
and women's human rights advocates worldwide via the Internet.  (See
below
for a list of partner organizations).  Partner organizations in every
region are active in the ongoing development of, and the provision of
information for, this dynamic web-based resource.

The whrNET web-based project:

· affords access to reliable, timely, advocacy-oriented information
pertinent to advancing women's human rights.
· provides information in three main languages - English, French and
Spanish.
· serves as an on-line space for the exchange of information, the
development of advocacy strategies, and the promotion and provision of
resources aimed at building capacity among women's human rights
organizations and activists
· assesses and responds to the technological and training needs of the
women's human rights community

whrNET grew out of a meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe (October 1997) where
over
50 leaders in women's human rights from nearly 20 countries gathered to
develop strategies for strengthening advocacy, networking and
capacity-building within the movement.  whrNET is jointly sponsored and
supported by its partner organizations and is governed by an
International
Executive Committee (IEC) elected by the partners

whrNET Web Site Sections

The information provided through the website is organized into the
following main categories:

· Women's Human Rights Issues - provides brief introductions, facts, and
relevant web links highlighting the gender dimensions of more than 20
important human rights issues from freedom of expression, to violence
against women, and the situation of refugees.

· Advocacy/Strategies - discusses the main elements involved in advocacy
for women's human rights; provides brief descriptions, contact details,
and
relevant web links pertaining to recent women's human rights advocacy
strategies from around the world. Sub-headings are  - Campaigns, Human
Rights Education, Law Reform & Legislation, Legal, Media/Public
Awareness,
Networking/Communication and Politics & Policy.

· News and Urgent Action Alerts- provides timely information on new
developments and current urgent cases involving violations of women's
human
rights and actions that can be taken to help.

· UN/Regional Systems - an annotated list of web links to major human
rights documents, treaty-monitoring bodies, special rapporteurs and
working
groups, and to relevant NGO sites engaged in lobbying and/or drafting
processes within UN and regional human rights systems.

· Capacity Building- provides information on available resources and
training programs in areas such as: leadership development; institution
building; fundraising; human rights documentation; and information and
communications technologies.


Other features of whrNET


· Partners          Links to all whrNET partner organizations

· Forums       On-line discussions on relevant women's human rights
issues

· Resources         A women's human rights virtual resource center
supporting advocacy, education and research

· Events       Upcoming governmental, UN, and NGO women's human rights
events

· Search       Powerful internal search engine


How to access and navigate whrNET  (available at www.whrnet.org after
14th
November 1999)

To access whrNET you need a computer equipped with a modem and Internet
navigation software.  You also need an ISP (Internet Service Provider)
to
connect your computer to the Internet. Once you are connected, open your
navigation software (browser) and type www.whrnet.org  in the space
where
you see "Address" or "URL".  Hit "Enter" and the whrNET home page will
open
on your screen. To explore the whrNET site use your mouse to click on
the
word "enter/ /entre/entrada." You can choose English, French or Spanish.
Then choose the section you want to visit by clicking on the
corresponding
word ("issues, "advocacy," "news" and so on). As you explore the site
you
have the option of clicking on many "links" that take you to additional
relevant information within the whrNET site or to related external
sites.
These links are generally indicated by words or terms that are
underlined
or highlighted in a different color. Your mouse pointer changes to a
little
hand when you place it over "linked" text.  Remember that you can scroll
up
and down the page by clicking on the arrows at the upper and lower right
hand corners of your browser screen. You can also move back and forward
through the site by using the "back" and "forward" buttons on the
browser
menu at the top left hand side of your screen, or by clicking the
different
section buttons of whrNET.

Contacting whrNET

Our web location is:   www.whrNET.org  (from November 13th)

Our e-mail is:           whrnet@whrnet.org  and oacosta@jet.es

whrNET  actual partners:

Asian Centre for Human Rights (ASCENT) - Philippines
BAOBAB for Women's Human Rights - Nigeria
Be Active Be Emancipated (B.a.B.e.) - Croatia
Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL) - USA
Centro Feminista de Estudos e Assessoria (CFEMEA ) -Brasil
Global Women In Politics Program, The Asia Foundation (GWIP)
Information Monitor (INFORM) -Shri Lanka
International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development
(ICHRDD) -
Canada
International Women's Human Rights Law Clinic (IWHR) - USA
International Women's Rights Action Watch- Asia Pacific (IRAW-AP) -
Malaysia
International Women's Tribune Center (IWTC)
ISIS WICCE - Uganda
Masimanyane Women's Support Centre - SouthAfrica  (MASWSC)
Programa Mujer, Justicia y Género  (ILANUD) - Costa Rica
Shirkat Gah - Pakistan
The Sisterhood is Global Institute (SIGI)
Womankind Worldwide -UK
Women's Caucus for Gender Justice in the International Criminal Court (
ICC)
Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF) - Zimbabwe
Women, Law & Development International  (WLDI) - USA
Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLMUML)
Women's Rights Advocacy Program, International Human Rights Law Group -
USA
Women's Rights Division, Human Rights Watch - USA

[List in formation]


Whrnet would like to recognize the crucial support received from:
UNIFEM, WomanKind, Shaler Adams Foundation, the Rausing Trust and
OneWorld
Online.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------


For further information contact:   Oliva Acosta  oacosta@jet.es




------------------------------------------
Oliva Acosta
Women's Human Rights Net
Jorge Juan 76 - 28009 Madrid, Spain
Phone/Fax 34 91 5772186
or 34 91 8697250
oacosta@jet.es
------------------------------------------

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