Karoline Kemp
9 July 2009
(Page 3 of 3)
While the above analysis has shown that Pambazuka News has indeed played a role in pushing women's rights and the protocol into a wider arena of discourse, it has also demonstrated that a number of factors have resulted in SOAWR's success. Perhaps most significant among these has been the relationships that individual SOAWR members have been able to take advantage of in gaining access to political spaces not normally open to civil society. This has proven to be the most effective means with regard to the political lobbying that SOAWR has carried out. But, as SOAWR members recognise, the ratification of the protocol by member states will in fact be the easiest part of their work. Making the protocol known, respected and used practically means a completely different kind of approach, and requires an even wider range of actors. It also necessitates women knowing about the protocol and the rights afforded them under it. This will not come from online debates and emails, but will rather require a more realistic approach of using radio and print media. The potential for utilising mobile phones also exists, but as has been demonstrated by the 'Text Now 4 Women's Rights' campaign, must be carefully implemented.
This is not to say that the usage of ICTs is misplaced; for African non-governmental organisations to be effective and integrated into an inevitably globalised civil society, they must have access to this important means of communication and network-building. Working across wide physical spaces and in varying contexts means that the potential that exists in creating an online community that can provide support and a sense of cooperation is invaluable.
* Karoline Kemp recently graduated from the Institute of Social Studies with an MA in Development Studies and a specialisation in Public Policy and Management.
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