Rural Development Network for African Women : the Dimitra Project

Every once in a while I come across organisations that really make me glad and happy. Funnily enough they are often started by women! Maybe it is partly because of the co-operative spirit in women, but I feel glad to see women in Africa embracing new technology and getting on out there. The Dimitra Project is something I really support, expanding horizons through workshops and training and providing materials for training. Although the project was started by the FAO way back in 1994 it continues to help women’s groups to network with each other. The keywords are Partnership, Participation and Networking. Its key tool is a database which has profiles of organisations based in Africa, Europe and the Near East that have projects or programmes involving or concerning rural women and development.

Dimitra is a tool for women and their organisations to make their voices heard at the national and international level. Its main goal is to empower rural women and to improve their living conditions and status by highlighting the extent and value of their contributions.

You can download a copy of their newsletter here. I noticed in the latest one an article about ‘listeners clubs in Katanga‘  (Democratic Republic of Congo) which is interesting. You can also order a copy on CD Rom of the database for 2008.

There are a lot of resource links on the site, usually with material you can download free or (if you are in Africa) request free by CD.

Development Viewpoint Paper : Rural Labour Markets in Africa Uganda: Rural Development Report The African Archaeology Network CFP : African Diaspora Archaeology Network and Newsletter Uganda : The Katine Project, a newspaper community project