Training people to use GEM (Gender Evaluation Methodology) is always a challenge. There are lots of expectations about the results of this training. For the trainer, the usual finding is that evaluators very seldom take a gender perspective into account when planning a project or considering its results, unless they work in a gender unit or in a project that is already committed to women´s issues or related to equity goals.

¿Para qué evaluamos nuestros proyectos? ¿Sólo para presentar bonitos informes, que nos dejen bien parados ante nuestros superiores, las agencias donantes o el organismo de gobierno que subvencionó la actividad? Solemos pasar largas semanas de trabajo evaluando nuestros proyectos, preparando informes, llenando planillas, auditando resultados. Seguramente ponemos todo nuestro esfuerzo y compromiso para que no nos quede detalle de la evaluación afuera. Pero, ¿qué pasa con nuestro compromiso con el proyecto en sí? ¿Y con las organizaciones y comunidades con las cuales trabajamos?

Today's work was very detailed and people really took hold of the tool. They even acknowledged that they could use it to train other people themselves.

And the question came: what about copyrights and so on? I had already presented APC's policies in general, including FOSS, so it was easy to explain about our Creative Commons policies and invited them to read Wikipedia on it. I also told them about our practitioners's network and plan to show them some of it tomorrow. I hope it is in Spanish soon.

We had a good first day for this workshop yesterday, with government officers. The participants are 20, 16 women and 4 men. One of the men told us it was the first time we saw so many men in a workshop on gender issues, so I suppose it is good news!!

We presented GEM's framework yesterday, with good debates on gender issues and ICTs for social change, which participants considered one of the day's highlights. Magaly Pineda presented on gender and ICTs and Amparo Arango presented on e-Dominicana plans after my introduction on gender and ICT policies.

The GEM workshop in Rep Dominicana has been fully confirmed. It will take place in Santo Domingo, September 17-21, sponsored by CIPAF (Research Centre for Women´s Action - Magaly Pineda), and the National Commission for the Information Society. The contact person here is Amparo Arango Echeverri, coordinator of the Technical Support Unit in the National Commission for the Information Society. The workshop will take place in the premises of INDOTEL (Telecommunications Institute of the Dominican Republic).