Editorial.

• Position: Editorial

Civil society organisations, in particular women's non-governmental and community-based organisations have played an important advocacy role in advancing legislation, policies and mechanisms to ensure the promotion of women. They have also become catalysts for new approaches to development, Strategic networking and information exchange through communications is critical to this advocacy role. The African Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) recognizes the need for relevant and timely strategic information to enhance African women's development, equality and human rights.

In November 2002 FEMNET in partnership with the Association of Progressive Communications (APC) Africa Women, Jicho Communication, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) Africa and International Press Service (IPS) conducted a five day workshop on participatory communication for advocacy, The workshop aimed at equipping East African women's organisations with the basic tenets of participatory communication and media techniques and to establish institutional capacity for use of participatory communications in the interest of consolidating a reliable communications network amongst African women's organisations. The workshop was the first one of five to be conducted in the region. It was an important process in the development of a participatory communications for advocacy training curriculum for African women's organisations and in the expansion of the existing framework for continental networking by introducing methodologies for participatory communications for advocacy as well as cheap, fast and user friendly communication technologies.

Participants at the workshop observed that, despite the key role of communication in sustainable development, NGOs have not involved private and public media as responsible partners. They noted that content on gender and sustainable development is limited and that the information and messages conveyed are often not responsive to cultural contexts. Related to this is the isolation in which media networks are working, removed from other stakeholders such as organisations and networks working on gender, human rights, environment, agriculture and other sectors. The training of African women's organisations is therefore crucial for the sustained application of participatory communications for advocacy. The engagement of civil society organisations with media as encouraged through participatory...