Lwati August 2007, Number 38

* LWATI *

The monthly e-newsletter of the Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT)

August 2007, Number 38

www.sangonet.org.za

"Lwati" is an isiSwati word meaning information.

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<> EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS
<> CIVIL SOCIETY INFORMATION
<> ICT SERVICES
<> MEDIA COVERAGE
<> NETWORKING AND OUTREACH
<> CONTACT DETAILS

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<> EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S COMMENTS

Welcome to the 38th edition of SANGONeT´s monthly e-newsletter!

Our highlight of the past month was the Third Annual “ICTs for Civil Society” Conference that we hosted from 17-18 July 2007 at the Wanderers Club in Johannesburg.

Refer to http://www.sangonet.org.za/conference2007 for detailed information about the event, including photos, copies of speaker presentations and session summaries.

Attended by more than 250 delegates, the event also coincided with SANGONeT’s 20th anniversary celebrations.

A special publication, “The SANGONeT Story, 1987-2007 - 20 years of linking civil society through ICTs”, was released at the conference.

Refer to http://www.sangonet.org.za for an electronic copy of the publication.

The findings of the “State of ICTs in the South African NGO Sector" research project were released during the opening plenary session. Implemented in conjunction with World Wide Worx, the research findings provide important perspectives on ICT trends in the local NGO sector.

Refer to http://www.sangotech.org/ict-survey for a copy of the research report.

The winners of the South African NGO Web Awards 2007 were announced at the gala dinner. The 2007 winners are Afesis-Corpan, Fair Trade in Tourism South Africa and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Each winner received R10 000 in training vouchers from Torque-IT.

Looking ahead, our focus now turns to finalising, PRODDER - NGOs and Development 2007, to be released in book format on 24 October 2007.

Refer to http://www.prodder.org.za for more information about this project.

As always, we are very interested in how you think we could best serve the NGO sector with relevant ICT products and services. Please send us your views, comments and suggestions.

Best wishes

David Barnard (dbarnard@sangonet.org.za)

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<> CIVIL SOCIETY INFORMATION (CSI) PROGRAMME

# SANGONeT NGO Portal

The month of July was characterised by various CSI team activities before and during the SANGONeT Conference.

In the build-up to the SANGONeT conference, the CSI team was responsible for promoting and publicising the event through various media outlets relevant to the NGO sector. The SANGONeT NGO Portal was also used extensively to publicise the event. In addition, the team blogged all the conference sessions, thus giving people who were unable to attend real-time updates from the event.

Refer to http://www.sangonet.org.za/conference2007 for the session summaries.

The portal’s July poll asked NGOs to reflect on the percentage of donor income that they receive from South African individuals. Unfortunately, the poll results confirmed that the financial contribution of individuals towards NGOs’ sustainability is still very limited.

The results of the poll, which was taken by 167 voters, are as follow:

• 0-10%: 90.4% (151 votes)
• 11-30%: 3% (5 votes)
• 31-50%: 2.4% (4 votes)
• 51-70%: 2.4% (4 votes)
• 71-90%: 1.8% (3 votes)
• 91-100%: 0% (0 votes)

As always, the CSI team continued to produce relevant civil society and development-related content for the portal. Key articles produced during July 2007 include the following:

HIV/AIDS and ICT

NGO Profile: The National Labour and Economic Development Institute

2007 NGO Web Awards Winners

The SANGONeT Story

SANGONeT - The Next Twenty Years

For more information about the SANGONeT NGO Portal, please contact Badumile Duma at SANGONeT on Tel: (011) 403-4935 or badumile@sangonet.org.za.

# PRODDER: The South African NGO and Development Directory

The PRODDER Directory will be released in book format on 24 October 2007. The CSI team is selling advertising and “NGO Profiles” space to NGOs, development consultants, donors and service providers to the NGO sector.

NGOs can still secure a special “NGO Profile” entry in the publication for R750. As part of this offer, participating NGOs will receive one complimentary copy of the book and one SN-Announcement. A similar opportunity is available to development consultants and service providers for R1 500.

If you would like to take up this offer or have your contact details included in the new PRODDER book, please send an inquiry to - prodder@sangonet.org.za.

The deadline for all confirmations and submissions is 24 August 2007.

Also refer to http://www.prodder.org.za for more information about how you could participate in the PRODDER Directory project.

# SN-Announce

SN-Announce is an e-mail advertising service that provides an invaluable service to the NGO sector in Southern Africa. With a potential readership of more than 10 000 people, it remains one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways to reach non-profit organisations, development practitioners, grantmakers and others working in the development sector.

All members of the development sector can advertise on SN-Announce. The type of information distributed includes alerts for vacancies, events, campaign launches, conferences, meetings and services for the development sector. Subscription to the SN-Announce service is free.

Refer to the SANGONeT NGO Portal (http://www.sangonet.org.za) for copies of past announcements.

For more information about how to subscribe to SN-Announce or post an announcement, please contact Cathy Niken at SANGONeT on (011) 403-4935 or cathy@sangonet.org.za.

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<> ICT SERVICES

# SANGOTeCH Online Technology Donations Portal

New Products on SANGOTeCH

In the seven months since the launch of the programme, SANGOTeCH has distributed R7.5 million worth of software and hardware to more than 80 South African NGOs at a cost of less than R340 000; a saving to the sector of over R7 million.

South African NGOs interested in ordering software available on SANGOTeCH should first check their general eligibility for the programme at http://www.sangotech.org/eligibility.

The product catalogue can be viewed at http://store.sangotech.org/directory.

For more information about SANGOTeCH, to sign up for the programme and receive regular updates about new products and services, please refer to http://www.sangotech.org or contact us on 086 110 6443 or support@sangotech.org.

# Citizen Journalism Project

SANGONeT and Hivos are collaborating on a project aimed at developing “citizen journalism” in Africa. The project commenced with a 4-day workshop held from 3-6 July 2007 at the Roode Vallei Country Lodge. Twelve civil society organisations from the six participating countries (Uganda, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia and South Africa) engaged in vigorous debates and planning sessions in support of the implementation of the project.

SANGONeT has developed an e-learning platform based on the open source content management framework, Drupal, which acts as the main mechanism for both instruction and information dissemination.

# Telecentre / TASA Conference

SANGONeT, with the support of telecentre.org and Microsoft, hosted a two-day conference for more than 30 telecentre representatives from 19-20 July 2007 in Johannesburg.

The conference aimed to support the institutional development of the Telecentre Association of South Africa (TASA) and reflect on the challenges and opportunities facing telecentres in South Africa.

# Technology Consulting

SANGONeT offers a range of customised online applications that include social networking portals, online directories and constituent relationship management solutions. We also offer a linked technical support desk service.

For more information on how we can assist you, please contact Matthew de Gale at SANGONeT on Tel: (011) 403-4935 or matthew@sangonet.org.za

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<> MEDIA COVERAGE

SANGONeT received the following media coverage during the past month:

NGO conference kicks off - IT Web

SA NGOs 'ready market' for vendors - iWeek

NGOs cash in on discounted software - IT Online

SA's neglected IT market - IT Web

NGOs are just like other SMEs - IT Online

NGO technology donation and discount portal - Tectonic
 
NGOs in the spotlight - IT Online
 
ICTs for civil society conference - Tectonic

Sangonet to host conference - IT Web
 
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NETWORKING AND OUTREACH

# SANGONeT’s ICT Programme Officer, Botswang Kgeledi, attended a Microsoft Roundtable Discussion on “Technology and Partnership” on 6 July 2007 in Sandton.

He also attended a series of APC workshops on Social Networking and Project Management from 19-23 July 2007 in Johannesburg.

# SANGONeT’s ICT Programme Officer, Mzwakhe Makhalemele, attended the Telecentre/TASA Conference from 19-20 July 2007 in Johannesburg.

# SANGONeT and Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) hosted the sixth meeting of the CEO Circle on 26 July 2007 in Parktown.

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<> CONTACT DETAILS

SANGONeT
P O Box 31392
2017 Braamfontein
SOUTH AFRICA

29th Floor, UCS Building
209 Smit Street
Braamfontein

Tel: (+27) (11) 403-4935
Fax: (+27) (11) 403-0130
E-mail: newsletter@sangonet.org.za
WWW: http://www.sangonet.org.za

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CopyLeft. 2007. SANGONeT.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and modify this document. Please provide an acknowledgment to SANGONeT.

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