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GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 1
GRACE: Gender Research in Africa into ICTs
for Empowerment
Proposal presented to the IDRC by the Association for
Progressive Communications (APC-Africa-Women)
September 2004
Research proposal developed by Ineke Buskens, Anriette Esterhuysen
and Jenny Radloff
Project proposal compiled by the Association for Progressive Communications and Ineke
Buskens
Contacts:
Project Leader Chat Garcia Ramilo, APC Women’s Programme Manager, Manila
chat@apcwomen.org
Research Director Ineke Buskens, Cape Town
researchforthefuture@telkomsa.net
Anriette Esterhuysen, APC Executive Director
anriette@apc.org
Johannesburg
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 2
Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary ............................................................................................. 3
2. Background ................................. ......................................... ............................... 4
3. Research Problem and Justification ......................................................................... 4
4. Project Objectives ................................................................................................ 6
4.1 Research Question and Research Objectives ............................................. ............. 6
4.2 Network Focus and Network Objectives ................................................................ 8
5. Theoretical and Methodological Framework .............................................................. 8
5.1 Women’s Devaluation and Oppression .................................................................. 8
5.2 Empowerment, women and ICTs ......................................................................... 9
5.3 Theoretical and methodological convergence .................................................... 10
5.4 Virtual Action Research .................................................................................... 10
5.5 Conceptual and theoretical framework ................................................................ 11
5.6 Exploratory Qualitative Research ....................................................................... 11
5.7 Methods ......................................................................................................... 11
5.7.1 Main data sources......................................................................................... 12
5.7.2 Main methods .............................................................................................. 12
5.7.3 Data Analysis ............................................................................................... 12
5.7.4 Research Participants .................................................................................... 12
6. Striving Towards Quality ..................................................................................... 13
7. Ethical Considerations ......................................................................................... 13
8. Research Capacity Building and Support ................................................................ 13
8.1 Capacity Building Workshop .............................................................................. 13
8.2 Ongoing research capacity building and support .................................................. 15
8.3 Research Sharing and Writing Workshop
9. ICT Capacity Building and Support ........................................................................ 16
9.1 Supporting the research process and research capacity building ............................. 16
9.2 Building participant’s capacity to use ICTs strategically ......................................... 16
9.3 Knowledge networking platforms: implementation process .................................... 17
10. Evaluation, Learning and Advocacy ....................................................................... 18
11. Project Outputs and Dissemination ....................................................................... 18
12. Project Management ........................................................................................... 21
12.1 Project Management Team ............................................................................. 22
12.2 Financial administration and logistical support .................................................. 23
13. Project Work Plan .............................................................................................. 23
14. References ........................................................................................................ 25
Appendix 1: Participating Countries and Projects ........................................................ 27
1. Cameroon ...................................................................................................... 27
2. Egypt ............................................................................................................ 27
3. Kenya ............................................................................................................ 27
4. Mozambique .................................. ...................................................... ........... 28
5. Morocco ................................... ......................................... ............................. 28
6. Nigeria .......................................................................................................... 28
7. Senegal ......................................................................................................... 29
8. South Africa ................................................................................................... 29
9. Tanzania ..................................... ................................................... ................ 29
10. Uganda .......................................................................................................... 30
11. Zambia .................................... ............................................ .......................... 30
12. Zimbabwe ........................................ ........................................................... ... 30
13. GRACE Meta Research ..................................................................................... 31
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 3
Gender Research in Africa into ICTs for Empowerment
1. Executive Summary
This project aims to explore the ways in which women in Africa use ICTs to empower
themselves, the external, structural barriers as well as the internal factors which prevent them
from using ICTs to their advantage, and the strategies they employ to overcome these
impediments. The project comprises 15 sub-projects, reflecting 14 research sites in 12
countries and one meta research sub project. While coherent with the general aim of the
overall research initiative, the sub-projects differ from each other greatly in terms of target
group and research focus. Furthermore, the concepts of gender and empowerment which
frame the project’s general direction and commitment, may not have unequivocal meaning
within the sub-projects.
The project therefore also aims to contribute to the debates focusing on women empowerment
and ICTs through finding its own understandings of what “empowerment” and “gender” may
mean in the African ICT context. The lessons learnt will be shared with policy makers and
educators in the form of contextualized and local-specific recommendations.
An important focus of the overall project is capacity building. Researchers will be given the
opportunities to develop research capacity as well as capacity to use ICTs effectively. The
project has made provision for intensive training and ongoing mentoring and support. It
intends to integrate the research and the ICT aspects into a holistic capacity building
experience for the participants. There are also longer term objectives:
A research network will be formed that can do ongoing gender and ICT research in Africa.
A research base will be formed in various institutions throughout Africa that can
contribute to the debates around gender and ICT issues.
The knowledge which will be generated will influence policy at local, national and
regional/global levels.
The project process is outlined in the workplan (section 15). It will commence with a literature
review that gathers research and material relevant to each sub-project. Mentoring and
capacity building will take place throughout the project, with the capacity building workshop in
early 2005 a specific milestone. At this workshop women will consolidate their methodological
approaches, learn how to use a qualitative analysis ICT tool (Nvivo), gain other advanced ICT
and knowledge networking skills, learn how to use digital cameras and recorders and how to
edit sound and images using their computers. Site visits will be made by the Research
Director, and the project coordinator will work closely with each researcher to design and
implement their individual research strategies. User friendly online collaboration platforms will
be developed and supported. Results will be documented in a professionally edited online and
printed publication.
From the planning phase of the project the network’s broader policy transformation goals will
be considered and linkages formed with national and regional policy initiatives.
This 2-year project will be implemented by the APC, located in the APC women’s programme
which is managed by Chat Garcia Ramilo. Jenny Radloff, coordinator of APC-Africa-Women will
design online communications platforms for networking support and capacity building. The
project’s leader will be Chat Garcia Ramilo and the Research Director will be Ineke Buskens, a
qualitative research methodologist and trainer identified by the IDRC. A full time project
research coordinator with qualitative research and research education expertise will be
contracted to complete the project management team.
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 4
2. Background
This proposal emerges from a workshop, “Finding the GEM in the haystack”1, that was jointly
organized by APC-Africa-Women (AAW) and IDRC and funded by the IDRC (portion of RSP
#101982) held in Johannesburg at the end of March 2004. The workshop brought together 14
academics and activists from 10 different countries in Africa to discuss the possibility of
developing a research proposal for consideration by the IDRC. Find the workshop report
attached.
Through AAW’s work on the continent on gender and ICTs we were able to assist in identifying
many of the participants. Sara Longwe had worked with APC Women’s Networking Support
Programme on the Gender Evaluation Methodology (GEM) tool and was invited to present her
women’s empowerment framework. Sara, along with seven other GRACE researchers are
members of APC-Africa-Women, thus ensuring active linkages between GRACE and other work,
e.g. policy advocacy, that APC-Africa-Women will be involved in the next few years.
While the participants decided to limit participation in the network to workshop participants
only for the research phase, it was later decided that members for Senegal's research team be
found (Ramata Thioune, IDRC WARO). A further member was added, Buhle Mbambo, who had
recently completed a PhD on women and the use of the internet in Botswana. Buhle is based at
the University of Zimbabwe.
The function of the overall research paper with a theoretical framework and particular
methodological approach was to create enabling opportunities for the researchers from the
workshop to submit initial proposals without commentary at this stage. APC-Africa-Women
developed a list-serve and the participants were asked to refine their concept research
proposals for submission to the IDRC. Ineke Buskens, who had been appointed facilitator of
the workshop, was invited to collaborate with APC to provide the research leadership and
capacity building to the project. The sub-proposals were submitted to Ineke, who in August
2004 submitted a proposal spelling out the theoretical and methodological approach, as well as
the training she would provide to support the researchers in developing qualitative research
tools to enable them to tackle their research topics.
APC was asked to compile the budget while Ineke Buskens prepared the research aspects,
both theory and methodology, and capacity building required for the research aspects of the
proposal. APC was then requested to combine into the same proposal the knowledge
networking and ICT capacity building components of the project as well as the integration of
the project into their management structures.
3. Research Problem and Justification
This project aims to explore the ways in which women in Africa use ICTs to empower
themselves, the external, structural barriers as well as the internal factors which prevent them
from using ICTs to their advantage, and the strategies they employ to overcome these
impediments. The project comprises 15 sub-projects. Fourteen of these are empirical research
studies located in 12 countries and one is a meta sub proposal. While coherent with the
general aim of the overall research initiative, the sub-projects differ from each other greatly in
terms of target group and research focus. Furthermore, the concepts of gender and
empowerment which frame the project’s general direction and commitment, may not have
unequivocal meaning within the sub-projects.
1 http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-57567-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 5
The project therefore also aims to contribute to the debates focusing on women empowerment
and ICTs through finding its own understandings of what “empowerment” and “gender” may
mean in the African ICT context. The lessons learnt will be shared with policy makers and
educators in the form of contextualized and local-specific recommendations.
Information and Communication Technologies - ICTs
The concept “ICTs” covers internet service provision, telecommunications equipment and
services, media and broadcasting, libraries and documentation centers, commercial
information providers, network-based information services, and other related information and
communication activities, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
(Adeya: 13). Adeya states that the term ICTs, which actually refers to three separate entities,
namely information, communication and technologies could theoretically be separated into its
three components but that this is difficult to do practically, judging from the literature (Adeya:
69). Certain publications discuss the three in an overlapping manner or refer to ICTs when the
focus is on only one area “as would be the case in referring to the telephone in relation to
communication” (idem). While this is problematic because the three parts should be
appreciated as three separate entities, Adeya deems the synergy between them and the
relevance of the whole ICTs concept more critical (idem).
The term ICT does not only refer to the three parts of information, communication and
technologies, it is also used to refer to a whole range of different “technologies”. The
Association for Progressive Communication defines ICTs as “a group of technologies that are
key to enabling information gathering and sharing/dissemination and communicating and that
facilitate communication and the processing and transmission of information by electronic
means”. From a communication theoretical point of view, categorizing “ICTs” such as for
instance the internet and the telephone together, makes sense. Both these ICTs address the
communication aspect.
They are also to a certain degree interdependent: the internet depends on the existence of a
telephone line for its functioning. At the same time, however, the differences between these
ICTs should not be glossed over. Many of the problems linked to the "new" ICTs such as
internet use, like illiteracy and costly infrastructure for instance, do not apply to the older ones
such as radio and telephone in the same degree. Furthermore, because different commercial
interests might be involved with each ICT, national governments often to respond with
different policies and approaches.
ICT-User-perspective
In reference to this study, the term ICT and ICTs are approached from a user-perspective.
Regardless of the fact that the various ICTs serve similar purposes, the actual use of them, will
entail a different reality for users in terms of access, maintenance, control and use. For most
users, the categorical concept of ICT may not make any sense at all. The researchers in this
project will have to be able to bridge the world of the African women research respondents and
their lived realities with the world of policymakers and commercial interests. From this
perspective, this multi country proposal is especially pertinent and timely. The 15 sub-project
investigations focus on a wide spread of ICTs and involve a wide variety of different women
users who face very different challenges and opportunities. Explicating the specific nature of
each ICT under investigation, the specific nature of the women engaging this ICT, and the way
this relationship develops and evolves, will enable us to speak to the problem of the interaction
between gender and ICTs in a concrete, specific and in-depth way.
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 6
ICTs for Development
While there seems not to be much clear gender disaggregated statistical data available from
Africa there is enough evidence to state that African women are not benefiting from the
Information Revolution in the same way as men do (UNESCO: 13). There is furthermore
anecdotal evidence from all over Africa that disadvantaged women use ICTs in innovative ways
to empower themselves (Hafkin: 13 and Netgains2). This would counter voices that dispute the
fact that ICTs can contribute effectively to development in general and women's development
in particular. It is therefore pertinent and crucial to try and understand at this stage of the ICT
development efforts on the African Continent how gender and ICTs impact on each other.
Need for an African ICT-gender perspective
While it has been argued that, especially in this time of increasing poverty and the challenge of
HIV/AIDS, Africa faces more serious development problems than women’s lack of ICT use and
participation in the Information Society, Africa’s recent development history would caution us
to take such a stance. Because ICTs enable governments and development agencies to deliver
their services more effectively and efficiently, ICTs have been identified as among the most
important factors in general development and poverty eradication efforts. ICT policy is
currently being made and implemented all over the continent. Unfortunately this is happening
mostly in absence of clear knowledge about the ways gender and ICTs are impacting on each
other. Men’s and women’s attitudes, needs and perspectives on ICTs are likely to differ
(Rathgeber: 18). Gender “neutral” policies tend to favor men because of their implicit and
unexamined male-centric focus.
Earlier development efforts in Africa, especially in the agricultural sector, which did not
entertain a gender perspective, have actively contributed to the deterioration of women’s
position and hence of the economic situation of households. Warnings to this regard, which
were already flagged in the seventies and eighties, were not heeded and the general
ramifications of this phenomenon were only acknowledged after they had become clearly
visible on a grand scale. By that time, most of these developments had also unfortunately
become irreversible.
Currently, policymakers and researchers in the ICT field find themselves in a similar situation
of having to enter an arena of development which has generated already complex unintended
effects and may even generate more and different ones. Policymakers and development
agencies may now, just as then, have similar blind spots. By being alert to a gender dimension
in ICT developments at an early stage of the information revolution, we may be able to
prevent greater scaled undesirable effects in the future.
4. Project Objectives
4.1 Research Question and Research Objectives
The overall research question binds all the projects together:
“How do women in Africa use ICTs for empowerment?”
Within that broad scope, special focus will be on the following objectives:
− To identify current and emerging practices of women in Africa on the innovative use
of ICTs.
2 For a survey of African women’s organisations use of ICTs refer to ‘Netgains’, a research
study undertaken by the Association for Progressive Communications Africa Women’s
Programme and Femnet in 1999/2000, http://www.apcafricawomen.org/netgains.htm
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 7
− Identifying external factors that inhibit women’s use and appropriation of ICTs for
their advancement within the knowledge society.
− Identifying the internal factors that prevent women from making optimal use of ICTs
for their advancement.
− Identifying strategies that women are using to overcome the above mentioned
barriers.
− Identifying the ways in which women contribute themselves to maintaining those
barriers.
Each of the sub-projects articulate a research question that will contribute to achieving these
objectives:
∼ How is the traditional view of e-commerce an empowering tool for African micro
entrepreneurs? Project Leader: Gisele Yitamben, Cameroon.
∼ Can information and communication technologies (ICTs) improve the livelihoods of
Egyptian women artisans? Project Leader: Leila Hassanin, Egypt.
∼ The Impact of ICT on women’s’ career progression and networking in Kenya. Project
Leader: Okwach Abagi, Kenya.
∼ Has mobile telephony contributed to enhancing women’s socio-economic empowerment
in Kenya? Project Leader: Wamuyu Gatheru/Alice Munyua, Kenya.
∼ Women’s use of ICTs in rural areas of Mozambique: a tool for empowerment? Project
Leaders: Esselina Macome, Polly Gaster, Mozambique.
∼ How do women who have experienced gender-based violence and the juridical centers
for these women, use the new technologies for information and communication? Project
Leader: Mina Tafnout, Morocco.
∼ Gender Disparity in access to and use of GSM/VOIP (Global System for Mobile
Communications/Voice Over Internet Protocol) in rural Nigeria. Project Leader: Kazanka
Comfort, Nigeria.
∼ Women and ICTs in Senegal: Appropriation of mobile telephones by Senegalese women
Project Leaders: Ibou Sane and Mamadou Balla Traore, Senegal.
∼ How have women entrepreneurs experienced the uptake of ICTs and what impact has it
had on their perceptions of their own empowerment with reference to their socio-
economic well-being as well as the cultural and power relations with other women and
men in their physical and social locations? Project Leader: Natasha Primo, South Africa.
∼ The Effects of ICTs on the Socio-Economic Condition of Women Entrepreneurs. Project
Leader: Ruth Meena, Tanzania.
∼ Uptake and Impact of the CD-ROM “Rural Women in Africa: Ideas for Earning Money”
on Grassroots Women Entrepreneurs in Uganda. Project Leader: Angela Nakafeero,
Uganda.
∼ ICT Liberalization in Uganda: The impact of mobile phones on women’s empowerment.
Project Leader: Grace Bantebya Kyomuhendo, Uganda.
∼ Cell Phones and Women’s Advancement in Zambia. Project Leader: Sara Longwe,
Zambia.
∼ To what extent have ICTs benefited women learners in higher education in Zimbabwe:
a focus on the University of Zimbabwe? Project Leader: Buhle Mbambo, Botswana.
∼ How women in Africa use ICTs as networking tools. Project Leader: Jennifer Radloff,
South Africa.
See Appendix 1 for short summaries of each of the sub-projects. Longer versions of the draft
sub-project proposals will also be attached to the proposal package.
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 8
4.2 Network Focus and Network Objectives
Through the GRACE Network, capacity building of multi-disciplinary research teams will take
place and researchers will be personally empowered in qualitative research methodology. This
will mean specifically that
− A research network will be formed that can do ongoing gender and ICT research in
Africa.
− A research base will be formed in various institutions throughout Africa that can
contribute to the debates around gender and ICT issues.
− The knowledge which will be generated will influence policy at local, national and
regional/global levels through:
o Broadening researchers’ capacities to influence policy
o Expanding policy makers’ knowledge of ICT and gender issues
o Influencing formal policy regimes (i.e. documents and processes)
Furthermore, it is envisaged that the network, which will be grounded in, and existing for the
purpose of research will generate opportunities to:
− Contribute to the knowledge of how researchers functioning in networks use ICTs in
their knowledge construction processes.
− Contribute to the methodological debates on the quality of qualitative research
processes and research education processes in ICT-based networks.
5. Theoretical and Methodological Framework
5.1 Women’s Devaluation and Oppression
We as humans walk the earth in the form of women and men. This difference in sex has not
only been associated with appreciation, wonderment, complementarity and offspring but also
with devaluation, discrimination and exploitation. Personally, socially, culturally, politically and
in matters of religion, women have experienced being devalued in comparison to men. The
grand narratives have failed us in our attempts to understand why the human race has needed
and still needs to devalue its women so.
The dynamics that underlie and maintain the processes of this devaluation of women are
intertwined with mechanisms of oppression. Women have experienced devaluation and
oppression because they are women through the hands of men and women alike.
Women’s devaluation and oppression are located in the thought patterns that define global,
national and local structures, agreements and alliances, which are created, maintained and re-
created by women and by men. Women’s devaluation and oppression are also located in
relationships, the relationships between women and men, the relationships between men and
the relationships between women.
Women and men have internalized the (often culturally specific) images and myths of male
superiority and female inferiority. Many have accepted these myths unquestioningly and many
still do. Influencing and defining the way women and men construct their perceptions,
emotions and thought patterns, these images not only lay the foundation for sexist attitudes,
they also serve to justify those. While male sexism has received a fair share of attention in
women and gender studies, female sexism (women being sexist towards other women) has
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 9
entered mainstream feminist discourse only recently (Chesler, P., 2003). In a study of 5
continents and 19 countries, the four nations with the highest mean sexism rate included three
African countries (Nigeria, Botswana, South Africa). Female sexism seems to be related to a
country’s mean sexism rate. Women, relative to men endorsed “benevolent sexism” in these
three countries significantly more than men did. Benevolent sexism would “elicit women’s
cooperation in their own subordination” by idealizing traditional female stereotyped images
(Glick and Fiske as quoted in Chesler, P. 2003: 138). 3
Women’s devaluation and oppression are furthermore located in the relationship women have
with themselves. Steve Biko, the famous South African liberation fighter and proponent of the
Black Consciousness Movement stated that the greatest weapon in the hands of the oppressor
would be the mind of the oppressed. This analysis would transfer to the field of women’s
devaluation and oppression as the insight that the struggle for liberation and empowerment
would start in and with a woman’s mind.
5.2 Empowerment, women and ICTs
The perspective on empowerment, which every GRACE sub-project will have to develop
individually, will be a function of that sub-project’s focus on a specific aspect of women’s
oppression. In the same way, the meaning ICTs can have for a sub-project’s target group in
terms of empowerment, will be a function of this focus. ICTs are technical devices that
facilitate human information and communication processes. While ICTs may not in and of
themselves be either tools of oppression or of empowerment, studying their use can throw
new light on both women’s oppression and women’s attempts for empowerment. Studying the
ways ICTs are used will reveal which interests are served, who would be in the position to have
their interests served and how these interests would be served. This may bring certain aspects
of women’s oppression and desire for empowerment to the foreground which while not new in
themselves, could appear new to the eyes which could have noticed them before had they not
become blind because of familiarity.
The overall research question “How do women in Africa use ICTs for empowerment?” offers the
parameters for the subprojects’ research processes and provides a shared space for the overall
GRACE research effort. Asking the question what empowerment could mean for GRACE
research respondents in the light of the variety of the subprojects’ proposals, three main
answer categories come to the fore:
1) Women could be so oppressed that they could not even imagine what they could wish
for in terms of empowerment. They would be so accepting of the cultural genderised
myths that they could for instance not wish to have or be what men have and are. They
would not be able to question the status quo, let alone challenge it, because they would
be completely identified with it.
2) There would be women who would express their perspectives on empowerment in the
form of what men have and are because that would be their main frame of reference.
Going against the trends of unquestioned acceptance of the status quo, these women
would challenge mainstream thinking and could suffer the consequences for the way
they would aspire for change.
3) There would be women who would want to define their ideal of empowerment not in
terms of what men have and are but according to their own emerging design. These
women would challenge the status quo, not because they would fight existing images
and conventions, but through becoming who they really want to be.
3 Glick, P. et al. (2000). Beyond prejudice as simple antipathy: Hostile and benevolent sexism
across cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70 (5).
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 10
5.3 Theoretical and methodological convergence
Steve Biko’s analysis (realizing that the greatest weapon in the hands of the oppressor would
be the mind of the oppressed) would transfer to the field of women’s devaluation and
oppression as the insight that the struggle for liberation and empowerment would start in and
with a woman’s mind. In acknowledging women’s structural oppression while asserting that
the struggle for liberation would have to start in them and with them, would lay the
convergence between the GRACE project’s theoretical position and its methodological position.
Research based in and inspired by the Critical Emancipatory Paradigm considers and treats
research respondents as actors and emancipators and not as research subjects or objects. The
distinction between the three paradigms: the empirical analytical, the hermeneutic interpretive
and the critical emancipatory paradigm is based in Habermas’ conceptualization of the
knowledge interests served in and through social research (Habermas, J. 1972). While
generally paradigms are under-determined by methods and methods under-determined by
paradigms, there is a convergence of sorts between paradigm and main method with the
critical emancipatory paradigm displaying the greatest paradigmatic freedom (Smaling, A.,
1994).
The way the research respondents are framed in the critical emancipatory paradigm seems
paradoxical in the light of the fact that the social analysis, which motivated the creation of the
research question and the action agenda, acknowledges the fact that the research respondents
experience structural inequality, disempowerment and lack of social justice. How can one treat
victims as if they have the power to change the situation they are victimized by? The
commitment however to produce practical, functional knowledge, the type of knowledge that
can lead to change necessitates this stance. Only the ones who would have to do the actual
changing would be able to lead others (and themselves) to the understandings of what that
“changing” would entail (Buskens, I.: 2002). Approaching research respondents in their
sovereignty and not in their victimization will lead to the type of reflective awareness in
respondents that will enable the researchers to construct the type of knowledge needed to
understand the specific and localized context and dynamics of the change process. This will
also be the type of knowledge that could be transferred to benefit other situations than the
actual research context in the form of reflections, interventions or policy recommendations.
5.4 Virtual Action Research
GRACE is not an action research project. The majority of research planned by the various site
teams is qualitative and exploratory in nature. While the researchers intend to eventually
facilitate adoption of the research recommendations by policy makers, actions and
interventions as such are not part of the research process and will not be subjected to the
reflective cycle characteristic of typical action research (Mash, R.J. & Meulenberg-Buskens, I.:
2001).
The researchers’ commitment to women empowerment however forces GRACE to position itself
within the Critical Emancipatory paradigm. As such GRACE will have to position itself as a
“virtual” action research project. This would mean in daily research reality that women are
treated as actors and emancipators and not as powerless victims. It would also mean that the
researchers have to realize that empowerment may mean different things for different women,
that empowerment even may mean different things for their respondents than what it would
mean to them. This would not mean that researchers would not be able to entertain their own
analysis of what empowerment in the context of their research project would mean. On the
contrary, having one’s own conceptualizations conscious and clearly formulated facilitates the
dialogues which are necessary to discern what approach would contribute most to the
construction of practical and functional knowledge.
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 11
5.5 Conceptual and theoretical framework
As stated before, this project aims to explore the ways in which women in Africa use ICTs to
empower themselves, the external, structural barriers as well as the internal factors which
prevent them from using ICTs to their advantage and the strategies they employ to overcome
impediments. The name GRACE itself has been inspired by this focus: "Gender Research in
Africa into ICTs for Empowerment".
During the workshop in Johannesburg, South Africa in March 2004: “Finding the GEM in the
Haystack”, the participants were given the freedom to formulate their research question and
develop their research proposals in response to their personal research interest. This
theoretical and methodological freedom has resulted in a collection of very specific proposals.
It has also created certain limitations for the overall project in terms of the creation of a
coherent project design. While the emphasis on gender and empowerment informs the overall
GRACE focus, it is thus at this stage of the development of the GRACE Network, too early to be
more specific than this in terms of definitions. Every project will have to engage these debates
in its own way. During the first project meeting, the Research Director and Research
Coordinator will canvass the GRACE members’ explicit and implicit theoretical and
methodological understandings. These understandings will guide the project literature review
the coordinating team will undertake and they will be used as a forum and a container for
future group discussions.
5.6 Exploratory Qualitative Research
The GRACE Research network is not set up as an action research project; it is based on the
premise of exploratory qualitative research. That does not mean that our commitment to the
purpose of empowerment would be less pertinent. It does mean that while this focus does not
need to be operationalised in every research decision, it will inform every research decision
and be considered at all relevant research moments. GRACE aims to contribute to the
empowerment of many women in Africa by raising the issues of gender and ICTs in the context
of development and the growing digital gender divide.
While our focus on gender and empowerment makes a completely inductive approach
impossible (inductive meaning that all the categories that cluster meaning would be generated
from the data), this does not imply that as a project we have chosen an analytic framework
already. We envisage that the concepts to give meaning to women’s experiences may be
constructed during the research process itself. The analytical tools of Gender Evaluation
Methodology and Sarah Longwe’s empowerment framework which were presented during the
workshop in Johannesburg would be appropriate for some of the projects but not for all
(Longwe, S., 1991, GEM website4). Some researchers may find inspiration in the various
traditions of women’s studies / gender studies and / or within the ethnographic and
ethnomethodological research traditions.
5.7 Methods
While our general gender perspective has informed our choice of exploratory, mainly
qualitative research methods because we want to understand women and their lived realities
on their own terms, this does not mean that we are adverse to using surveys or statistical
evidence when this enhances our understanding.
4 http://www.apcwomen.org/gem
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 12
5.7.1 Main data sources
The main target group for the empirical aspect of the research are the women and where
relevant the men who are using (or not using) ICTs in relation to the specific projects’ main
research questions. Other people who can offer a perspective or who are in the position to
influence the lived realities and perspectives of the main target groups will also be studied. To
understand the various contexts which impact on the main target groups and the various
research sites, theoretical and research literature reviews will be done, the relevant
demographics of each research site will be gathered and the political and policy factors
impacting on the target groups and the research sites will be monitored continuously through
documents, newspapers, media reports etc.
5.7.2 Main methods
Main methods will be grounded in the exploratory and iterative cycles of qualitative research.
This means that participant observation; observation and informal interviewing will be
employed, next to depth interviews. Certain researchers may employ semi-structured
questionnaires and access user-records of telephone companies. All researchers will do their
own literature review, specific to their project, while the coordinating team will engage a
literature review that would reflect the space the GRACE Network holds as an overall project.
5.7.3 Data Analysis
Because the research projects are as a whole inductive in design while maintaining the focus of
gender and empowerment, the Nvivo qualitative data package will be used to assist the
researchers in their data analysis.5 The Nvivo package will allow the researchers to introduce
external theoretical concepts as well as stimulate inductive theory construction. The use of one
analysis package by all researchers will enable us to compile sub data sets pertaining to issues
which cut across the various projects. Furthermore, when all the data is captured with Nvivo,
secondary analyses by other researchers may be done in the future. Given the fact that the
data will be of a rich and detailed nature, it can be foreseen that the researchers’ first analysis,
which will be guided by the specific focus of the greater project, will not exhaust the data.
Capturing the data in such a form that other researchers who might have a different purpose
and theoretical framework can access it is an effective way to ensure that the researchers’
efforts are put to use optimally.
5.7.4 Research Participants
In terms of the target groups, the various sub-projects represent the main options, which can
be used in research with women (Maynard, M. & Purvis, J., 1994: 15-18).
1) Pre-eminent concern with women alone. In this case the research question often
reflects women’s oppression so clearly that exclusive focus on women is not only
warranted but crucial.
2) Women in relation and relationship to men, although examined from a women's
perspective while trying to understand how women's experiences in a male world are
structured.
3) Women who experience apart from gender other forms of oppression based on such
factors as for instance ethnicity (race), rural descent, class (education), and age.
4) The fourth perspective, focusing on women in relation and in relationship to other
women, within the dynamics of patriarchy may yet arise due to the focus in some of the
projects and the involved and intensive nature of the qualitative research process
(Chesler, P. 2003).
5 www.qsrinternational.com
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 13
The mix of respondent groups will inevitably create a forum for discussion within GRACE. The
understandings about research with women which will result from this discussion may provide
the project with exciting opportunities to contribute to the research debates in gender studies
and feminist research.
6. Striving Towards Quality
In the striving towards quality in qualitative research, certain capacities are key. While these
capacities have a skill aspect to them, they are often also qualities of “being”. The most
prominent of these is the researcher’s capacity to be reflexive (Mason, J. 1996; Meulenberg-
Buskens, I. 1997). Role-taking, empathising without identifying in an unreflected way is
another important aspect of a successful research attitude. Open-mindedness and open-
heartedness when converging in dialogical openness form the foundation of successful
communication (Smaling, A., 1998, 1995).
By triangulating data sources and methods, researchers can accomplish a higher level of
validity and reliability (Mason, J. 1996; Smaling, A., 1987).
Important in the striving towards research quality will also be the communication between the
researchers. Dialogical inter-subjectivity is an important methodological norm in qualitative
and participatory research (Buskens, I., 2002; Meulenberg-Buskens, I., 1997). Grounded in
Habermas’ concept of communicative symmetry, it presupposes a research dialogue that
would be as democratic as possible and where nobody uses a power position to influence the
dialogue. In other words, extraneous influences or an ulterior motive or an external agenda
would be kept out. It would be the coordinating team’s task to guard this space to hold it as
“symmetrical in communication” as possible while keeping themselves accountable for this
management towards all network members.
To this end, the Research Director intends to document the research dialogue (between the
researchers and between the researchers and the coordinating team) and offer her reflections
at regular intervals for discussion to the researchers. When the GRACE members would give
their permission, the Research Director plans to write about this in order to contribute to the
debates on the striving towards quality in qualitative research and qualitative research
education. As a methodologist this area reflects the research director's basic scientific research
interest.
7. Ethical Considerations
At all times the commitment that no harm should come to respondents in and through the
nature of the research process will be adhered to. Consent forms will be designed which will be
subjected to scrutiny by an established research institution. Identities will be kept confidential
if that would be the respondents’ wish or when the researchers can foresee that harm could
arise in the future from divulging these. When research respondents want to be acknowledged
this will also be accommodated.
8. Research Capacity Building and Support
8.1 Capacity Building Workshop
An intensive two-week capacity building workshop aims to lay the foundation for the GRACE-
members’ continued learning process. The workshop will comprise research as well as ICT
capacity building elements which will be integrated into one coherent design.
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 14
The research training modules will emphasise practice of research skills, building of theoretical
and methodological reflective and creative capacity, the integration of outcome mapping
methodology into the research design, the practice of outcome mapping process skills and the
establishment of a sustainable practice of researcher self-care.
The workshop will also function as an opportunity to establish the Grace Management regimen.
In consultation with the project director and the research coordinator, the researchers will
refine and rework their sub project proposals into operational research designs. These research
designs will be the basis for the contract between the researchers and the Grace Project,
whereby the project director and the research coordinator will act as the project’s
representatives. Furthermore, the researchers will, in consultation with the project director and
research coordinator, design their own researcher-development and self-management plans.
These plans will be added as addenda to their personal contract.
8.1. 1 Methodological and Theoretical Reflection
Qualitative research challenges researchers to be reflexive. Research with women furthermore
requires of researchers not only to be reflexive but to be methodologically innovative as well.
In order to get data that is “less culturally edited” and more “true” to women’s lived and
experienced realities, ideally researchers should be able to design, when necessary, their own
research techniques (Anderson, K. & Jack, D.C., 1998; Buskens, I., 2003). This capacity for
methodological innovation is grounded in a thorough insight into interpersonal communication
and knowledge construction processes. Finally, the majority of Grace researchers will share not
only gender but also ethnic background with their research respondents. Doing research as a
“native anthropologist” will demand that researchers make an effort to make the familiar
“anthropologically strange” while not falling into the trap of “othering” their research
respondents (Rodriguez, C., 2001). As it is very tempting to assume meanings before they
have been established, the capacity to prevent premature closure of the processes of
perception and data-analysis will be trained throughout the workshop in various ways.
8.1. 2 Research Skills
In terms of research skills, the following techniques will be practiced:
∼ Anthropological fieldwork methods such as participant observation, observation,
informal interviewing, writing field notes, constructing time-budgets, keeping diaries,
constructing a situational and context specific analysis.
∼ Sociological depth interviewing techniques with emphasis on clarifying, summarising,
probing, interpreting and confronting.
∼ Focus group discussions with an emphasis on awareness of group dynamics and non-
verbal communication.
∼ Nvivo training: computer-aided qualitative data-analysis whereby researchers will
practice with their own data.
∼ Writing skills, which imply the skills to construct data by writing and the skills to
represent data through writing.
8.1. 3 Outcome Mapping Methodology
Outcome mapping methodology poses challenges of management and knowledge construction
to practitioners.
Like the facilitation of focus group discussions, outcome mapping methodology processes
require that facilitators possess the capacity to listen well, to assess power dynamics and to
hold a shared group space where diversity can unfold. The facilitation of outcome mapping
processes requires additional capacities: facilitators must be able to create the space and
provide the structure for consistent and continuous alignment with the project’s purpose;
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 15
stimulate group consensus and assist a group in translating their dream into practical
outcomes. During the workshop, these types of group management skills will be grounded in
task and self management exercises.
In terms of knowledge construction skills, outcome mapping involves the construction of
propositional knowledge that reflects the participants’ practical knowledge acquired in the
action process, is informed by the participants’ experiential knowledge constructed by being in
the world and by engaging the action process and finally requires the participants’ skill to
present knowledge. This multi-layered knowledge construction capacity will be practiced in the
workshop through various reflection and writing exercises.
8.1.4 Researcher Self Development
All qualitative researchers are forever engaged in a process of ongoing learning and self-
development. Because not all Grace researchers have the type of research experience which is
required for this particular project, the Grace project poses specific challenges in this regard. It
will be obvious that the two week workshop will not be able to transform novice researchers
into experienced qualitative researchers. However, it will be possible for the participants to get
a grasp of the various capacities and skills they would need and like to master and set out on a
journey of self development. To this end, the researchers will design their self-development
plans during the workshop in consultation with the project director and the research
coordinator. It can be foreseen that their plans will have to be adapted through the course of
the research project once the researchers develop more insight into their particular research
process and into their personal capacities.
8.1.5 Researcher Self Care
Maintaining a reflexive attitude, which in itself is change-stimulating, can be very demanding
and anxiety provoking for researchers. Commitment to this attitude of reflexivity is however
crucial in the striving towards quality in qualitative research. In order to make this attitude
feasible and sustainable in daily research reality, researchers have to learn how to embed it in
a general practice of self-care (Foucault, M., 1995; Buskens, I., 2002). Because the Grace
project will speak to the researchers in many ways, involving aspects which are integral to
their identities, it can be envisaged that the researchers will change through the research
process. It can also be assumed that this process of change may evoke stress.
Throughout the workshop, the researchers will be given the tools and the time to practice self
care. They will also be given the space to discover what self-care would mean individually for
them in the context of their specific research project. As the researchers are unique individuals
and their projects differ widely from each other, the researchers will have to construct a self
care discipline which will suit them and their specific reality. Their self-management plans will
be tied into their self-development plans and will be discussed with the research coordinator
and project director during the workshop. It can be foreseen that the self management plans
will change through the course of the research project to follow the researchers’ progress and
challenges.
8.2 Ongoing research capacity building and support
Ongoing capacity building during the research process will take place in several ways:
− Researchers will engage their personal development and self-care plans;
− Researchers will send in field notes every two weeks;
− Researchers will send in a progress report every month;
− Researchers will receive feedback from the project director and project manager on
their field notes and progress reports;
− Researchers will be given the opportunity to engage the project director and the
research coordinator in a personal, individualised research dialogue;
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 16
− Researchers will have the opportunity to engage in an open research dialogue online
which will be facilitated by the project coordination team. In this open research
dialogue, research decisions, experiences and process learning as well as the
content of the data will be shared and discussed.
8.3 Research Sharing and Writing Workshop
After the data collection process is completed, a second research workshop will be held.
This workshop comprises two parts: During the first part of this workshop the
researchers will present their data in the form of a paper and in addition, in any other
way they would find suitable such as through visual or audio-visual means. A number of
resource persons will be invited to give feedback with the intent to stimulate debate
and inspiration towards further dissemination of the research results in various ways.
During the second part of the workshop, the researchers will advance their research
writing skills. A writer and an editor will facilitate an experiential creative writing
workshop where the researchers will work with their own material. It is envisaged that
the researchers leave this workshop with at least an outline for a chapter and/ or
article. Furthermore, it is expected that during this period certain shared interests and
research foci will emerge amongst the researchers and that ideas for new research
projects will be developed.
9. ICT Capacity Building and Support
The knowledge sharing and ICT support and capacity building component of GRACE will have 2
main components:
∼ Supporting the research process and research capacity building
∼ Building the ICT skills and capacity of participants
9.1 Supporting the research process and research capacity building
Project management and research process support
Project management communication and information needs will be surveyed before online
workspaces are designed and established. Based on previous experience with similar projects
we anticipate that tools and platforms that would be of value could include:
- online discussion forums / mailing lists / d-groups
- a web based interactive project management tool
- online chat
- internet telephony
We will also work with the project team to set up regular interactive routines such as online
meetings, yahoo chats for those whose connectivity allow this, and voice conversations using
VOIP.
The research process, and the growing of the research network could benefit from:
- collaborative research platforms that facilitate reviewing, editing, resource sharing
- ‘story telling’ and experience sharing tools such as blogs/online journals
- contact management tools
- digital image, audio and video tools such as image and audio recording and editing
Preference will be given to free and open source software tools.
9.2 Building participant’s capacity to use ICTs strategically
The sub-text of this entire project is capacity building. Participants will learn how to use new
tools in the course of the research and network building process. To ensure that the learning
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 17
process and the tools used resonates with each individual participant the ICT contexts of
everyone involved in the project will be assessed.
Information will be gathered about:
Physical infrastructure
- internet access (speed, frequency, how etc.)
- email programmes
- other software programmes used
- PC’s/laptops used (e.g. CD readers/writers etc.)
- other hardware e.g. digital cameras, palms, cellphones etc.
Skills and comfort with ICT tools
- using the web to find information
- advanced word processing, particularly editing and managing large files (e.g. creating
tables of contents)
- newer tools such as blogs and wikis
- email and document management
- working in collaborative online workspaces
The results of this assessment will inform both the ICT capacity building to be undertaken
during the methodology training workshop and the ways in which we customize the knowledge
network infrastructure and provide ongoing support.
Learning encounters
During the methodology training workshop time will be dedicated to ICT and knowledge
management training. Participants will learn how to use digital cameras and digital audio
recorders for use in their research. They will learn how to edit audio and images on their
computers using freely available open source software.
The use of these tools will enhance the final research product and build a valuable digital photo
and voice archive for the GRACE.net website and future exhibitions.
Other skills transfer will depend on the outcome of the skills and needs assessment but could
potentially include:
- document management
- advanced word-processing
- online journals
- writing for the web
If a second workshop opportunity arises it could be very effective to collaborate with Bellanet
to have a knowledge management workshop. This could be done in tandem with another APC
Africa Women activity such as the next APC-Africa-Women WENT (Women’s Electronic
Networking Training).
9.3 Knowledge networking platforms: implementation process
1.) needs assessment based on surveying information and communication needs of
everyone involved in the project (including the IDRC)
2.) system design and feedback
3.) installation and customisation of knowledge networking platforms
4.) training project staff in maintaining and facilitating these spaces
5.) training and orientation of project participants at methodology workshop
6.) ongoing support
7.) leveraging other training opportunities
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 18
10. Evaluation, Learning and Advocacy
At the methodology workshop early in 2005 the project management team will present a
proposal to the researchers regarding using outcome mapping methodology6 as a monitoring
and evaluation framework to contribute to drawing out learning across the different sub-
projects. While outcome mapping is designed as a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation
method for development programs, it can function within and complement research designs
based in the critical emancipatory paradigm very well. Outcome mapping and critical
emancipatory research designs share important paradigmatic dimensions and process
perspectives. These research designs can accommodate all steps and aspects of outcome
mapping methodology coherently and congruently. The Grace Project with its commitment to
women’s empowerment, has definite resonance with the critical emancipatory paradigm.
Outcome mapping will give the Grace researchers the scope, the concepts and the tools to
engage reflection, monitoring and maybe even evaluation of the research outcomes in
consultation with their stakeholders (boundary partners). Using outcome mapping will thus
make the research design more coherent with the critical emancipatory paradigm.
Furthermore, the outcome mapping processes will enable the researchers to involve
stakeholders from the onset of their research effort. Building these relationships at an early
stage will facilitate advocacy of the research recommendations when this will become relevant.
Using outcome mapping will also enable the Grace project to map the convergences and
divergences among the researchers’ visions of the policy and social transformation they would
like to make a contribution to.
GRACE will also give researchers the opportunity to explore whether GEM (gender evaluation
methodology) would be appropriate for their particular research projects. As the developers of
GEM and of outcome mapping have on many occasions expressed an interest in using the two
methodologies in an integrated manner, GRACE could become a learning ground for deepening
this discussion.
And, as GRACE is an opportunity for exploration of a variety of approaches to gender analysis
we believe it can make a significant contribution to enriching this dimension of GEM.
11. Project Outputs and Dissemination
Research and policy advocacy
One of the primary outputs of the project is to provide rigorous research results that can
reinforce and be used in efforts to advocate for gender awareness in ICT policy development
and implementation. GRACE will not only produce such research, it will also build the capacity
of a group of women ICT champions to participate in national and international ICT policy
dialogues.
APC is already intensively engaged in ICT policy advocacy in Africa and have started a process
of training women as ICT policy advocates. Some of these women are already part of the
GRACE network. Linkages with our policy research/transformation initiatives will be
maintained, for example with Research ICT Africa (RIA)7, an initiative of the Link Centre at the
University of the Witwatersrand, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa’s
researchers network. The household survey currently being done by RIA will provide invaluable
gender-disaggregated data
6 http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-9330-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
7 http://www.researchictafrica.net/
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 19
APC will make its policy advocacy expertise and materials available to the women in the
GRACE network
Research influences policy in complex ways. The influence is mediated by the individuals that
promote and present the research, the timing and venues of the presentation of the research,
and the nature of the policymaking processes one is trying to influence.
In an interview8 in September 2003 with Stephen Dale, Carol Weiss, talking about the IDRC's
study of the public policy impact of its projects, using a framework developed by Evert
Lindquist, relates her understanding of the hypothesis developed by one of the participants in
the workshop where this study was discussed. She identifies issues that it would be critical for
GRACE to tackle in the planning phase of the project:
The confluence of 5 things would be necessary for research to successfully influence policy:
a) There has to be a clear intent to influence policy
b) There has to be a partnership where the local partners have authority to set the direction,
take the leadership and have the administrative capabilities to do that.
c) There have to be champions on both the IDRC and the partner side
d) There should be good interpersonal relationships based on respect and trust
e) The IDRC should be persistent in its focus and commitment. (Carol Weiss)
As soon as possible in the research process, contacts will be made with local and regional
policy makers so that when the projects have reached the stage of dissemination, the channels
for this to happen are already created.
Dissemination
The dissemination strategy will be finalized early in the second year for the project. The
dissemination will aim at national-level engagement through dialogue with policy makers as
well as with the private sector commercial interests, which may be operating on both national
and international level. APC will be responsible for securing a Creative Commons license for the
knowledge produced from the GRACE research.
The project aims to deliver the following outputs:
~ Sub-project research reports (15)
~ An overall report
~ Policy briefs (national
~ Mailing lists/d-groups (archived)
~ GRACE network
~ An edited book (Sage)
~ A website: online dissemination
~ Training material
~ CD with photos, interviews and text
The key players in the process of dissemination will be publishers, distributors, journals, peer
reviewers, policy makers, community based organizations, non-governmental organizations,
universities, national and international donors.
The Potential Barriers to Output Dissemination as foreseen at this moment are:
8 http://web.idrc.ca/en/ev-43607-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 20
~ The researchers could perform less and less well than foreseen.
~ The lack of experience of the individual researchers in using qualitative methods
and a gender focus may be too great a barrier within the time-frame of the project
to accomplish excellence.
~ Political opposition could play a role because this research questions status quo and
this could especially limit the policy influence the project intends to have.
~ The articles and papers could lack the quality to be accepted for publication.
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 21
12. Project Management
The main coordination challenge facing this pan African project will be to hold a constructive
and creative tension between the forces of convergence and those of divergence. As the
overall research design has to honor the exploratory nature of the projects and given the fact
that the various countries have methodological and theoretical sovereignty in their research,
the coordination will have to create such a space and provide such a structure that dialogue
between the countries retains the potential for mutual recognition and thus will foster learning,
sharing and network building.
The second challenge will be research capacity building. Promoting the striving for research
quality amidst a network of ICT activists and academics whose experience with empirical social
research experience in general and iterative exploratory qualitative research in particular
varies greatly, may require innovative and creative solutions.
The third challenge will be that coordination and research capacity building will have to happen
mainly through the use of ICTs. Face to face communication will be limited. The Research
Director will visit all projects only once and there will be one intensive methodology workshop
at the start of the project. As research coordination and capacity building of this nature has not
often been done yet at such a scale in Africa, the learning from this endeavor will be beneficial
for other projects that have similar coordination, research capacity building and networking
objectives.
The fourth challenge refers to the language diversity within the network. As the research
director understands and reads French and Portuguese, while commanding English fully, the
individual communication between the researchers and the research coordinating team will not
be a problem. Translators are available when group discussions will take place during the two
workshops. It is foreseen that we will use the whispering technique” as used in the “Finding
the GEM in the Haystack workshop. We could also explore the possibility of doing this when we
need to speak together on-line.
The following measures are meant to ensure the quality of the research and the integrity of
the network:
~ The contracts with the sub-projects will contain milestones of performance: during
the phases of data collection and data analysis the researchers will send a site
progress report to the Project Coordinator every month and personal field notes
every 2 weeks.
~ The researchers will get clear guidelines pertaining to their research attitude and
research engagement.
~ Clear criteria for continued involvement within the network as well as grounds for
termination will be developed.
~ The relation between the GRACE network and the GRACE research project is
relatively straightforward and simple for the first two years. The ultimate purpose
of the GRACE Network will be to maximally and optimally contribute to the
coordination of the research process and to the facilitation of research capacity
building. After the first two years, the network must be re-assessed and a different
purpose may have to be formulated.
~ The network support platforms and process will be led by the needs of the research
coordination and research capacity building process.
~ The research director is responsible for the process of facilitating the researchers on
their research journeys and for holding the space in which they can do their
research and develop themselves. The research director is furthermore responsible
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 22
for the best possible research capacity building process which is feasible and viable
in the context of this project.
~ Rules for the type of communication that will be aligned to the project’s purpose
will be defined in a process, which will be facilitated by the project leader and the
research director working closely with others in the project management team.
12.1 Project Management Team
Project Leader APC Women’s Programme
Manager, Chat Garcia Ramilo (part time as needed)
Research Director Ineke Buskens
.5 FTE
Research Coordinator to be appointed
1 FTE
ICT and Knowledge
Networking Advisor Jennifer Radloff, APC-Africa-
Women Coordinator .2 FTE for the first year and .1
FTE for the second year
The Project Management Committee will consist of the Research Director, Project Leader
and Executive Director of APC. The role and responsibilities of this group will be determined in
consultation between the Project Leader and the Research Director.
The Project Team will consist of the Project Leader, Research Director, ICT Knowledge
Networking Advisor and the Research Coordinator.
External Reference Group: To assist the Project Management Team, a group of people, all
well-versed in research, gender and the Information Society in Africa will be invited to provide
external input into the process.
The constitution of this group, and its terms of reference will be lead by the Research Director
and approved by the Project Management Committee.
NOTE: The principles on which project management is based are contained in the
report of the mediation discussion (attached) that took place on 23 November 2004.
We propose that the project management committee reviews the management
structure and procedure before the end of the first 6 months of implementation to
assess whether any changes are required.
Responsibilities of the 4 coordinating team members:
The Project Leader will maintain overall responsibility for the project management of GRACE,
and integrating the research aspects to be undertaken by the Research Director and the
researchers with the possibility of a network of gender researchers in ICTs in the future. She
will also be responsible for facilitating the process of APC providing input where appropriate
into the research methodology and research process.
The Research Director and Research Coordinator as a team are responsible for ensuring
that the project meets all its deliverables and that the research outputs are of high quality and
value. Overall project management includes:
- co-facilitating the research dialogue
- following every project’s research decisions and communicates with the researchers
about those decisions.
- providing the researchers with online /or e-mail assistance in planning and
implementing their research projects
- Research Coordinator to work with the ICT and Knowledge Networking Advisor and
build capacity to eventually facilitate the online workspaces of the research network
- ensuring the online information sharing platforms (public and private) are up to date
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 23
- providing researchers with assistance in using online workspaces ensuring that the
project is operated according to budget
- authorizing payments
- managing contracts with researchers
- reporting
- liasing with related initiatives/research networks
- supporting the researchers in completing their proposals
The ICT and Knowledge Networking Advisor will report to the Research Director. This
person is responsible for:
- assessment of project knowledge sharing and networking needs and individual
researchers’ ICT capacity building and support needs
- knowledge networking and ICT support systems design and implementation
- ensuring that these platforms are functional at all times
- work with the Research Director and Research Coordinator to ensure that these
platforms meet the needs of the research process
- capacity building and training of project team members to use and support project
knowledge sharing and networking platforms
- seek guidance from the project management committee to approve the final proposals
for the networking and knowledge sharing platforms
- ensuring synergy and mentoring the Research Coordinator to build her capacity to
enable her to facilitate the online workspaces and support platforms
- organizing capacity building of researchers in ICTs and knowledge networking
- reporting on ICT capacity building and knowledge sharing and networking components
of the project
Reporting
The Research Director will report to the Project Leader.
The Research Coordinator and ICT Knowledge Networking Advisor will report to the
Research Director.
Internal capacity building
It would be important to ensure that the Research Coordinator is able to benefit from the
mentoring and skills transfer provided by the Research Director and the ICT and Knowledge
and Networking Advisor. The hope is that this person will continue to be involved in gender
research and ICTs for women’s empowerment beyond the life of this research project.
12.2 Financial administration and logistical support
Maya Sooka, APC Finance Manager, mayas@apc.org
Vanessa Purper, Events and Logistics Coordinator, vanessa@apc.org
Karen Higgs, APC Communications Manager, khiggs@apc.org
Fatima Bhyat, APC Technical Support, fbhyat@apc.org
13. Project Work Plan
The following work plan comprises the activities of the research coordinating team on the basis
of a qualitative multi site study protocol that would be congruent with the overall focus of
GRACE. A more detailed workplan suggested by the Research Director will be discussed during
the first methodology workshop and is attached as an appendix. The Grace Researchers would
determine whether and how their specific research designs would fit within that protocol
Year 1 – First 6 months
Preparation, Capacity Building and Data Collection
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 24
Persons Timing Task
Project Director In first month
Appointment of research coordinator
Research
Coordinator and
Project Director.
In first month
Investigating Grace members’ capacity
building needs through studying the proposals
and the conducting of susbsequent individual
dialogues by e-mail or telephone. This
investigation will inform the compilation of the
Grace methodology workshop reader and the
design of the methodology workshop.
Research
Coordinator In first month
Organizing the workshop
Research
Coordinator and
Project Director.
In tenth week
T
he reader will be finalized within the first ten
weeks and will be sent to all the Grace
members two weeks before the workshop
takes place.
Research
Coordinator and
Project Director
In 12th week Methodology workshop takes place.
Research
Coordinator and
Project Director
In 14th week
Draft outline for the project literature review is
finalized.
Project Director In first 6 months
Country field visits are scheduled, organised
and undertaken.
Project Director In first 6 months
Visit to Johannesburg IDRC office
Research
Coordinator and
Project Director
In first 6 months
Continuous
dialogue with Grace members
about their research.
Year 1: Last 6 Months
Data-analysis and start of writing process
In 7th month
T
he fifth and last batch of progress reports are
received from the researchers and returned
with feedback.
Research Coordinator
and Project Director In 9th and 10th
month
T
he sub project reports are received and
returned with feedback. In certain cases, the
researchers may have to gather additional
data.
Research Coordinator
and Project Director In 11th month
Coordinating team starts to compile overall
themes from the data.
Research Director
and Project
Coordinator
In 12th month
T
he Grace WSIS presentation is finished.
Year 2: First 6 Months
Writing of the sub project reports and the Grace report
Research Director
and Project
Coordinator
In first 6 months
T
he individual research reports are finalized by
the researchers, assisted by the coordinating
team.
Research Director
and Project
Coordinator
In first 6 months
T
he overall Grace report is finalized
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 25
Year 2: Last 6 months
The dissemination process
In month 6
T
he Research Sharing and Writing Workshop
will be held.
Research Director
and Project
Coordinator
From month 6 to
month 9 Coordinating team starts to engage the
researchers on writing their chapter / article.
Research Director
and Project
Coordinator
From month 6 to
month 9 Presentations for dissemination of the results
to policy makers being prepared.
In 9th month
Results are presented to policy makers. The
proceedings and process during these
occasions can, if researchers so choose, be
used as data. The coordinating team will assist
them in this.
Research Director
and Project
Coordinator
In 12th month
T
he coordinating team finalizes a publication
that describes the ways Grace researchers
have engaged communication within the
network in their striving towards research
quality. The publication will be based on the
methodology chapter of the overall Grace
report and aims to contribute to the
methodological debates on the quality of
qualitative research and research education
processes.
14. References
Adeya, C. N. ICTs and Poverty: a Literature Review, IDRC, Ottawa. (No date given).
Anderson, K. & Jack, D.C. (1998). “Learning to Listen: Interview techniques and analyses.” In
Oral History Reader by Parks et al. (eds.) Routledge: London.
Buskens, I. (2002). “Fine Lines or Strong Cords? Who do we think we are and how can we
become what we want to be in the Quest for Quality in Qualitative Research?” Education as
Change, vol. 6, nr 1: 1-31.)
Buskens, I. (2003) Reflections on Research with Women, Invited Address at the National
Qualitative Research in Education Conference, publication forthcoming.
Chesler, P. (2003), Woman’s Inhumanity to Woman, Thunder’s Mouth Press, New York.
Foucault, M. (1995), Breekbare Vrijheid. De politieke ethiek van de zorg voor zichzelf.
(Selected Interviews and other writings). Boom/Parresia
Habermas, J. (1972) Knowledge and Human Interests, London: Heinemann
Hafkin J., N. (2000) Convergence of Concepts: Gender and ICTs in Africa in Gender and the
Information Revolution in Africa, IDRC, Ottawa.
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 26
Longwe, S. (1991), Gender Awareness: The Missing Element in the Third World Development
Project in March, C. & Wallace, T. (eds.), Changing Perceptions: New Writings on Gender and
Development, Oxfam: Oxford.
Maynard, M. & Purvis, J., (eds.) 1994, Researching Women’s Lives from a Feminist
Perspective. Taylor and Francis, London.
Mash, R.J. and Meulenberg-Buskens, I. (2001). “Holding it lightly”: The cooperative inquiry group
as a method for developing educational materials. Medical Education 2001; 35:1108-1114.
Mason, J. (1996). Qualitative Researching. Sage: London
Meulenberg-Buskens I. (1996). An approach towards learning and teaching in
Participatory Research. In K de Koning (ed.) Participatory Research in
Health. London: ZED Books.
Meulenberg-Buskens, I. (1997). Turtles all the way down? On a quest for quality in qualitative
research. South African Journal of Psychology, vol. 27, nr 2.
Oskowitz, B. & Meulenberg-Buskens, I. (1997). Preparing researchers for a qualitative
investigation of a particularly sensitive nature: reflections from the field. South African Journal
of Psychology, vol. 27, nr 2.
Rathgeber, E. M. (2000) Women, Men, and ICTs in Africa: Why Gender Is an Issue in Gender
and the Information Revolution in Africa, IDRC, Ottawa.
Rodriguez, C. (2001). “A Homegirl Goes Home: Black feminism and the lure of native
anthropology”. In Black Feminist Anthropology: Theory, politics, praxis and poetics. McClaurin,
I. (ed.) Rutgers University Press: London.
Smaling, A. (1998). Dialogical partnership: The Relationship between the Researcher and the
Researched in Action Research in: The complexity of Relationships in Action Research by Boog,
Coenen, Keene, Lammerts (eds.), Tilburg University Press.
Smaling, A. (1998). Argumentation, Cooperation and Charity in Qualitative Inquiry in:
Concepts and Transformation 3:1-2, 1998. 129-141
Smaling, A. (1995). Open-mindedness, Open-heartedness and Dialogical Openness: The
Dialectics of Openings and Closures in: Openness in Research, The Tension between Self and
Other. Maso, I., Atkinson, P.A., Delamont & Verhoeven, J.C. (eds.), Van Gorcum, Assen.
Smaling, A. (1994). The pragmatic dimension; Paradigmatic and pragmatic aspects of choosing
a qualitative or quantitative method. Quality and Quantity 28: 233 –249.
Smaling, A. (1990). Role-taking as a methodological principle. Paper presented at the William
James Congress. August 1990. Amsterdam.
Smaling, A. (1987). Methodologische objectiviteit en kwalitatief onderzoek. Lisse: Swets &
Zeitlinger.
UNESCO (2003) Gender Issues in the Information Society – A Background Paper in the context
for the World Summit on the Information Society.
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 27
Appendix 1: Participating Countries and Projects
1. Cameroon
How is the traditional view of e-commerce an empowering tool for African micro
entrepreneurs?
Project Leader: Gisele Yitamben.
The project aims to determine whether the existing systems make it possible for e-commerce
to be effective and whether e-commerce has created real opportunities for micro-enterprises
owned by women. The project aims to influence Cameroonian officials who have the task to
develop e-commerce and agencies tasked with promoting female entrepreneurship.
2. Egypt
Can information and communication technologies (ICTs) improve the livelihoods of
Egyptian women artisans?
Project Leader: Leila Hassanin.
The project aims to determine the current status and the potential for Egyptian women
involved in crafts to use ICTs for:
∼ increased income opportunities;
∼ to gain more power in the family; and,
∼ to become educated producers aware of the global challenges facing their economic
niche.
The results of the research are meant to guide the Ministry of Communication and Information
Technology (MCIT) and relevant governmental agencies in their planned e-payment and
internet diffusion strategies. The research results will shed light on the realistic possibilities of
e-commerce transactions to facilitate international orders (trade) successfully. The research
results shall be used in income generating projects for women in Egypt.
3. Kenya
The Impact of ICT on women’s’ career progression and networking in Kenya.
Project Leader: Okwach Abagi.
The project aims to assess what kind of ICT opportunities are available in the public sector for
men and women workers to map out how women have taken advantage of the ICT
environment to appropriate ICT for their career progression. It will:
∼ analyze and describe how women have progressed career-wise and at the workplace
because of the acquisition and appropriation of ICT, and
∼ analyze and document what kind of ICT is more empowering for career women in
Kenya.
Has mobile telephony contributed to enhancing women’s socio-economic
empowerment in Kenya?
Project Leader: Wamuyu Gatheru/Alice Munyua
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 28
The study aims to find out whether the appropriation of ICTs by women in Kenya has
contributed to their socio-economic development and empowerment, as well as help
understand the challenges they face.
4. Mozambique
Women’s use of ICTs in rural areas of Mozambique: a tool for empowerment?
Project Leaders: Esselina Macome, Polly Gaster
The project aims to verify the ways in which ICT access and use is or is not providing tools that
enable poor rural women (directly or indirectly) to make advances towards economic and
social empowerment. It will seek to understand women’s behavior with regard to ICTs, and to
identify the gender issues involved. The results of the study will be disseminated nationally
through workshops and presentations, both locally at the study sites and nationally.
5. Morocco
How do women who have experienced gender-based violence and the juridical
centers for these women, use the new technologies for information and
communication?
Project Leader: Mina Tafnout
The project aims to:
∼ examine the existing ICT infrastructure in the juridical centers;
∼ analyze how women access and use the ICTs; and,
∼ analyze how the centers access and use ICTs.
It will investigate the differences and similarities between the various centers and between
women in terms of ICT access and use. Areas for improvement will be noted and
recommendations made as to how they can be actualized.
6. Nigeria
Gender Disparity in access to and use of GSM/VOIP (Global System for Mobile
Communications/Voice Over Internet Protocol) in rural Nigeria.
Project Leader: Kazanka Comfort.
Given the strategic role women in rural communities play in the survival of their children and
men, the project aims to investigate why their access to and use of GSM/VOIP communication
appears so limited when compared to men’s access and use. The study seeks furthermore to:
∼ assess teledensity within the research area;
∼ the costs pertaining to owning and operating a mobile phone kiosk;
∼ the skills rural women would need in order to successfully access, use and own such
facilities; and,
∼ the cultural influences which would facilitate or hinder women’s acceptance and access
to GSM/VOIP.
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 29
7. Senegal
Women and ICTs in Senegal: Appropriation of mobile telephones by Senegalese
women
Project Leaders: Ibou Sane and Mamadou Balla Traore
The project aims to investigate the role mobile telephony plays in the economic activities of
Senegalese women. More particularly the study will:
∼ identify the factors which bear on women’s appropriation of cell phones
∼ identify the constraints linked to appropriation of cell phones and to specific cultural
traits in Senegal, and,
∼ evaluate the meaning and importance of ICTs for women.
8. South Africa
How have women entrepreneurs experienced the uptake of ICTs and what impact
has it had on their perceptions of their own empowerment with reference to their
socio-economic well-being as well as the cultural and power relations with other
women and men in their physical and social locations?
Project Leader: Natasha Primo
Targeting women entrepreneurs who use ICTs as tools that enhance business practice and
performance as well as women who see and use ICTs as a source of income generation, the
project aims to investigate:
∼ these women’s reasons behind the uptake of these technologies
∼ the processes by which they came to learn of the opportunities the technologies offer
∼ the processes by which they accessed the opportunities
∼ their dreams for using ICTs in different ways, and.
∼ the barriers they experience in terms of accessing and using ICTs in new ways.
9. Tanzania
The Effects of ICTs on the Socio-Economic Condition of Women Entrepreneurs.
Project Leader: Ruth Meena
The project aims to explore the extent to which women that have access as well as control of
ICT services have been able to transform their socio-economic positions in their society. The
study will document some of the factors which have either provided opportunities or
constraints for women in accessing, and controlling ICT. Such factors will include:
∼ the legal and regulatory environment;
∼ policy context;
∼ geographical location;
∼ access to credit; and
∼ educational level.
The result of the study will contribute to ongoing discourses on gender and ICT, as well as
provide policy recommendations for improving access, control and use of ICT as a tool for the
liberation of women from poverty and exploitation.
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 30
10. Uganda
Uptake and Impact of the CD-ROM “Rural Women in Africa: Ideas for Earning Money”
on Grassroots Women Entrepreneurs in Uganda.
Project Leader: Dorothy Okello and Angela Nakafeero
The project aims to examine:
∼ how the CD-ROM “Rural Women in Africa: Ideas for Earning Money” has been used by
grassroots women entrepreneurs;
∼ assess the factors that have facilitated their uptake of the CD-ROM;
∼ examine how the use of the CD-ROM has empowered their livelihoods; and
∼ generate ideas on the information requirements for rural women and how appropriately
this information should be packaged.
The CD-Rom was distributed in Uganda 3 years ago.
ICT Liberalization in Uganda: The impact of mobile phones on women’s
empowerment.
Project Leader: Grace Bantebya Kyomuhendo.
The project aims to:
∼ assess levels of access and the challenges of using mobile telephones by women in
Uganda;
∼ document the different ways they are using mobile phones; and
∼ analyze the effects of women’s adoption of mobile telephones in terms of improving
their livelihoods and gender relations.
11. Zambia
Cell Phones and Women’s Advancement in Zambia
Project Leader: Sara Longwe
The study aims to:
∼ investigate gender differentials in cell phone usage divided by class and occupational
group;
∼ investigate how cell phone usage can contribute to women’s increased personal
advancement and collective empowerment;
∼ identify strategies for the optimum use of cell phones in women’s mobilization for more
control in gender relations, economic empowerment, and political participation; and
∼ use the findings to make recommendations to cell phone providers and women’s
organizations.
While cell phone usage is very limited in Zambia and coverage is restricted to urban areas, an
examination of gender differentials in cell phone use may reveal important lessons and
strategies in the struggle for women’s emancipation.
12. Zimbabwe
To what extent have ICTs benefited women learners in higher education in
Zimbabwe: a focus on the University of Zimbabwe?
GRACE, APC, December 2004 page 31
Project Leader: Buhle Mbambo
While the University of Zimbabwe has invested in ICT infrastructure by providing a campus
wide network, and networked classrooms and laboratories for teaching and learning, it seems
that the majority of students at work at the PC’s are largely male. The project aims to explore
the extent to which ICT benefit women learners at universities, by investigating:
∼ what ratios of female (to male) students are voluntarily using the internet and PC’s for
learning;
∼ what the issues are around access to ICTs;
∼ how female students’ learning relates to online sources; and
∼ what female students understand to be the role of internet-based resources in their
learning.
13. GRACE Meta Research
How women in Africa use ICTs as networking tools.
Project Leader: Jennifer Radloff
The project aims to explore the use of ICTs in building and sustaining networks among women
in Africa. It will use the APC-Africa-Women network as the main network to be researched.
Other networks to be explored (to a lesser degree) will be the GRACE network and the Gender
in Africa Information Network (GAIN). GEM will be used as the methodological tool.
It will look at several levels. ICTs as
∼ an information gathering medium,
∼ as a source of access to opportunities and resources,
∼ a social network and relationship building tool; and
∼ a peer network and shared learning platform.
The research will try to determine what the use of these tools brings to the building and
sustaining of networks, and also how they may limit the process; what capacities this requires
in terms of human and financial resources, what forms of interaction or learning they enable
or exclude. The project also aims to explore the effectiveness of online collaboration as a
capacity building tool and how this is or is not enhanced by face-to-face meetings and
collaboration.
