Information to Think About   by Natalia Babich

 
 

Gertrude Mongella Secretary General of 4 th Wold Conference on Woman -  Beijing and Natalia Babich Woman's Innovation Fund "East - West"

Ten years ago it was problematic to get necessary information even if it was not filed as 'confidential'. In the past decade, however, new communication channels have evolved to the extent of making the process of accessing any sort of open information the easiest task in the world. Moreover, data of any kind literally flows today from any device capable of relaying letters and emitting sounds. In this situation of informational overflow, two predictable extremes are undesirable: while some drown in the overwhelming stream of incoming data, others would prefer to ignore informational opportunities flowing by with cool contempt.  This winter, as if from out of nowhere, an International Know-How Conference opportunity emerged afloat in the turbulent informational stream under sail with the slogan 'The World of Women's Information'. The Conference was proposed by the Dutch International Information and Archive Center of Women's Movement and would take place in Amsterdam in August 1998.  The wide scope of problems to be presented at the Conference looked attractive to our 'East-West' Women's Innovation Fund. Opportunities to share our expertise as information and communication services providers to Russian women's organizations, and discuss pressing problems of developing documentation centers and specialized libraries and policies for female informational services - how could we miss these bright opportunities? So we forwarded an application and an outline of our report to the Conference organizers. They found them convincing and sponsored our participation.

 

Representation at the Conference was worldwide. Its scale and significance is comparable only with the 4th World Conference on Women Affairs (Beijing, 1995). About 300 participants from 83 countries represented the global army of specialists in women's information services, including library and archive managers, political leaders and women's movement activists. The goal of the Conference was to formulate strategies and objectives in the field of information management and exchange. The Conference adopted the resolution with the statement of the women's movement policies and goals for information and communication development.

Participants (of both sexes) shared the vision that the right to information, being a  basic human right, should equally belong to both men and women. Therefore, to secure their equal entitlement to information, women should require national and local governments to provide them with appropriate technical training programs to help them acquire necessary skills in information management, along with adequate financing of documentation centers, archives and libraries.

The Conference approved the agenda with the following objectives:

•  to focus on national and regional communication networks development;
•  to intensify international exchange of specialists in order to improve interaction between women's information centers throughout the world;
•  to undertake special efforts to make relevant information available to the maximum number of potential users;
•  to organize another conference to continue and further current efforts;
•  to develop and implement the universal classification of library and archive data;
•  to develop strategies for mass communications involvement in adequate coverage of women's affairs;
•  encourage women to realize the crucial role of new information and communication technologies as tools to enhance their status.

Minutes of the Conference are available from our library (contact telephone 952-2572). As soon as these materials are published in electronic version, we are going to inform you about it through Woman Plus.

As this report about the Conference is far from exhaustive, I invite everyone to visit our library for more information about the Conference, materials presented there, and workgroups agenda and findings.

Finally, I would like to draw readers' attention to one rather unpleasant fact: we were the only Russian organization represented at the Conference. Four more participants represented female organizations of other post-Soviet republics: Tadjikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. On the other hand, Latin America and Africa were over-represented. As for Russian-speaking participants, there were only five of us among three hundred of those speaking other languages! Are we an off-road nation? How can it be true given the intensity of international attention drawn to our country? We, Russian women activists, are getting used to discussing with each other pressing problems of information policies and public activities. Meanwhile, we are effectively cut off from the actual process of information services planning and development! Why? Are we presupposed to develop our national women's movement in an informational vacuum? Or, maybe, the answer is that Russian women's organizations simply lack money and and/or fundraising skills to cover costs of participation in international activities? Then why not apply for free participation and travel coverage to the Conference organizers? The most probable answer, however, is that Russian women's organizations were simply uninformed of the Conference. I believe it to be the main reason why Russian women activists failed to appear at this highly useful forum with whatever they might share with their colleagues from all over the world. So, let us revisit objectives formulated by the Conference and try to carry them out. If we succeed in doing so, the next international assembly will certainly have a chance to recognize women's movement in Russia as something existent.

Know-How Conference Organizers:

International Information and Archive Center of Women's Movement (IIAV), Holland

e-mail: knowhow@iiav.nl

URL: http//www.iiav.nl

tel. + 31 20 6650820

fax. + 31 20 6655812

At HIIV server you may also access the 'Mapping the World of Women's Information' database of 160 information services providers in 69 countries.

Women's Innovation Fund 'East-West' invites Russian women's organizations to cooperation. If you have informational resources (archives, libraries, databases, etc.) to share, please, contact us through:

post: PO box 24, Moscow, Russia 11760

e-mail: femrus@online.ru

tel. (095) 952-2572

fax (095) 931-3123.