Regional Report: GEM testing in Central East Europe
[Report prepared by Katerina Fialova and Lenka Simerska, GEM Regional Coordinators for CEE]

Download report (118 kb, .zip format)

Literature Review: Significant Gender and ICT Issues
Summary of Findings
Recommendations for the Central East Europe
Overview of all GEM testers in Central East Europe
Impacts on the testing organizations

Appendix 1: Invitation Letter
Appendix 2: List of applications
Appendix 3: Notes from CEE GEM Workshop; Prague, February 2003.
Appendix 4: GEM-CEE-WS Mailinglist Guidelines
Appendix 5: Indicator table
(Appendices available in downloadable version)

 

1. Literature Review

Significant Gender and ICT Issues

Only one from the six GEM testing organization in Central east Europe was "non-women" initiative, three of them are women's networks (2 regional, 1 national), and the majority of the evaluated projects target women as main beneficiaries. Even there were variety in gender and ICT issues addressed in the CEE tester's evaluations, the most emerging one, that rise naturally from the context of the evaluated initiatives, was, how ICT's support and affect the work of women's organizations and networks.

Putting ICTs to strategic use of women means to bring more attention to issues of concern to women, reinforce advocacy and information campaigns, enhance traditional women's networking activities, defend the rights of women to participate equally in civil and public life, and tackle marginalisation and exclusion. The CEE testers looked on the following aspects of strategic use of ICTs:

• Do ICTs reinforce the information sharing and networking among women's NGO and activists?
• Are ICTs contributing to raise awareness about women's issues and gender discriminations?
  
• Are ICTs effective tools in campaigns combating violence against women?

Without the skills, the computers, the software and internet connection, the women's networking and information sharing could be hardly developed. Women access to information and internet was the other gender and ICT issues investigated in the evaluations. Access is defined as the opportunity to make use of ICTs resources (technology, knowledge, information). To address this issue, the factors as affordability, awareness, freedom of speech, level of education, geographic location, and gender roles must be assessed. In most CEE countries the telecommunication infrastructure is well-developed, but the liberalization of the telecommunication markets, which can decrease the costs and make ICTs more affordable for citizens, especially low-income groups, among which women belong, is passing slowly.

 

Country	Dial Up Internet tariffs in US$ , for 30 hours of use per month (in 2001)		Dial up Internet tariffs as % of GDP per capita	GDP per capita in US$ (2000)
	Peak	OFF-Peak
USA	22,05	22,05	1%	36,211
Germany	24,13	24,23	1%	22,686
Bulgaria	9,66	9,66	8%	1,473
Croatia	37,19	28,07	11%	4,253
Lithuania	67,93	49,63	27%	3,042
Poland	29,11	29,11	9%	4,078
Romania	21,83	21,08	16%	1,636
Slovakia	13,04	12,50	4%	3,540

The majority of local women NGOs dealing with lack of financial resources for the purchase of sufficient ICTs equipment and permanent connection to internet. In most NGOs, there is usually only one computer connected to internet via dial-up, which is shared by all members of organization. The interests of national and international private donors, on which financial supports most women NGOs depend, lie in another areas, and only small number of donors provides grants for equipment and connectivity (for example HIVOS, OSI). The affordability of permanent connection depends not only on the amount of available financial resources, but also on its sustainability. The financial sustainability was always issues in NGO sector, and it's expected, that the situation will become even worse in next coming years, since most private donors and development agencies are actually closing down their programmes in the region with upcoming entrance of some CEE countries to EU. Generally speaking, even there is a number of possibilities how women in the candidate countries could benefit from EU funding available in the ICT field, the women's NGOs in the region are not yet at the state of preparedness to manage the large projects and develop partnerships with EU based NGOs and stakeholders from the private, academic or state sector, which is underlying condition for all EU grantees. Also the individual and corporate philanthropy is underdeveloped, and at present only a very small number of women's NGOs in the region requests corporations for financial support, and even smaller portion uses private money to run projects. (Source: Mapping the fundraising strategies and attitudes towards private corporations among women's NGOs in CEE. Gender Studies, o.p.s. Prague, Czech Republic, 2003.)

In relation to access issue the testers asked these questions:

• What are the information needs of women's organization and activists working in CEE/CIS countries and how they are satisfy? Where are the information gaps?
  
• Is the internet accessible medium for local women's movement? Is the online distribution of information appropriated?

Domination of English on the internet is evident, and it constitutes one of the major barriers to accessibility of information. Since CEE region is not linguistically homogenous, and English language knowledge is limited. The language as barrier in not only information accessing, but also networking, was the another issue considered in the evaluations.

Due to different social, economical and political roles carried out by women and men, and gender difference in personal, cultural and social constraints, women and men have different needs. How this differences influence purposes to what women and men use ICTs, and how differently ICTs impacts on women and men, and affects their sense of self-confidence. These were also issues, which attracted the tester's attention.

The various rankings of ICTs, in particular internet users, in CEE/CIS are putting the younger generation ahead in general. In some countries of CEE, such as the Czech Republic, there are signs that girls around the age 15 are on the same footing with boys in internet use. (Source: Kamil Kunc, Network Media Service (NMS) Research for the Czech Ministry of Education. This statement by NMS cannot prove that girls are equal with boys in internet use. More research would need to be done to validate this thesis, and to analyse the quality, purpose, conditions, and frequency of internet use among young girls.)

However, it is important to acknowledge that women of older generations hold a great potential and deserve to be supported as well. In most countries of the former Soviet block, women have been present in the labour market for four generations now. They have penetrated all strata of economy and education fields (although they remain a minority or even a rarity in some), technical fields included. But when the boom in ICTs had started globally, women living in CEE had to face a number of obstacles after political and economical changes in the 90s (unemployment raised, also the structure of labour market changed radically), and they simply could not keep up with this fast changeover in this region. This generation of women still face several problems concerning their professional development as lack of ICTs skills or English knowledge (Russian was only foreign language taught in the school during the communist era.).

As one of the tester's experiences illustrates there is usually lower response from women over 40 on the ICT related projects, as ICT skills training or community computer centres. In order to actively involve women over 40 in future ICT initiatives, the evaluation aimed to find out, what their specific ICTs needs are, but also which barriers they have to face.

All these gender and ICT issues and objectives mentioned above have one common underlying question: Does the access to ICTs contribute to women empowerment?

The testers look at various aspects of women empowering in their evaluation:

• Do ICTs develop the women sense of self-confidence?
  
• Do ICTs enhancing women acess to resource (as skills, income, and information)?
  
• How other factors as age, location interwin with women empowerment and ICT usage?
  
• Do ICTs enhancing women ability to control their lifes?

Putting ICTs to strategic use of women

Online distribution supports information sharing: Information sharing among CEE/CIS women's NGOs bridges several obstacles, as below mentioned language diversity, lack of funding and time, but also 'fear' of information sharing, the residue of communists period, where self-censorship was very common, and access to information had only those with power and money. As the findings from Karat's survey demonstrate, the distribution of information via internet supports the information sharing and networking. Number of women's activists highlighted cost-effectiveness, time-saving, flexibility and easy archivation as advantages of online information dissemination in comparison with the other distributions (printed, oral). Considering the cost of internet connections, the e-mail is still preferred way of online distributions among local women's NGOs.

ICTs contribute to public awareness about gender discrimination and women's issues: Since traditional media as radio, TV and print press are only slowly transforming their approach to women issues, and gender stereotype in relation to portrays of men and women, the internet remains only accessible media space for majority of local women movement's in CEE region. 95,5% of the respondents of Karat's questionnaire confirmed that Karat Newsletter raises awareness about women's issues in the region at all levels of decision-making, as well as inside international women movements.

Factors that affects strategic use of ICTs by women's movement:

Access Limitations

Connection to internet is still the core issue, which make the networking difficult among women's group in CEE. More than fifty percent of the Karat's Newsletter subscribers, who completed the questionnaire, do not have permanent connection to the internet. It indicates, that majority of women's NGO are still accessing internet via costly dial-up connection, and there are also number of those without any connections.
Evaluation findings of ZaMirNET also demonstrates that even the majority of respondents (especially young people) would like to have own computer at home, they are not affordable for them.

Language Limitations

Language is barrier in communication and decreases accessibility of provided information by local women's movement. The need for availability of information in local languages was emphasized by Karat's News readers. 36,4% respondents of their questionnaire survey thought that using English language in the Karat's News is a barrier. The most of the respondents recommended that the News should be published at least in English and Russian. Also the participants of ZaMirNET's Job Search Training confirmed that English is the barrier for them to access the content on the internet.

But as illustrates Karat's and also other organizations experience, the financial resources for translations and local content development are hardly accessible, since the low number of donors reflected this need in their programs.

Accessibility of strategic information

Viewpoints and information needs of women living in CEE countries are not reflected in online space: The Karat's evaluation confirm that gender related information from this region and from local women movement groups is generally difficult to collect. Majority of women's activists, who participated in evaluation, mentioned Karat's newsletter as only available source addressing specific information needs of CEE women's NGOs. This information is strategic for their organizational and individual development, and contributes to their empowerment.

'It is the only space where a regional info is accessible in one place. Every other newsgroup news claims to focus on one area or region, but rarely does this happen. I rarely read those because it is supposed to be about CEE and then I get every thing else about Asia and Africa and what kind of conference is happening in NY. I read Karat News to follow what is really happening with women in the region, and because I know it is relevant and coming directly from the region'.

'It gives me good sense of what is going on in my region, but also in the world concerning women and women's groups. It also helps me with my work'.

Feedback from Karat News reader

Among their information needs, they highlighted information about the main women's initiatives, and trends in the region. Information, which help them to facilitate their everyday work (for example skills development, fundraisings, partnership building). The women activists from the EU candidate's countries are also interested in information about EU enlargement process and EU gender related policies.

Purposes to what women and men use ICTs in professional development
There were number of purposes listed by women and men respondents of ZaMirNET's evaluation, for what they used ICTs in work and professional development:

• Search for vital information
  
• As a valuable tool in self-employment
  
• Find new employment opportunities in developing ICT industry
  
• Business purposes: selling products via internet
  
• Communication with friend
  
• Networking
  
• Learning and professional development

Since women are more proactive in self-employment due to the gained time flexibility, and the chance to work close to where they lived, they tend to use ICTs more as a valuable tool to set up new business contacts outside their locality, search for resources and important information (such as loans availability), learning and the professional development.

Even the women do not mind to find the job that involves work on computers, they preferred employment, where they could work closely with people, as in the social services, trade (shops) and administrative work. It was in majority the male participants who linked their future careers with new technology and the internet. It was also men, who find internet useful for the selling products via Internet.

Since at the community level women are traditionally more engaged in social work with marginalized groups, they use more the internet for networking, while men communicate via internet mainly with friends. Since the cost of ICT equipment and internet communication is high for low income groups, it is not surprising, that use for entertainment was not mentioned by any participant.

There were also significant gender differences in reasons, why women and men use ICTs. Women highlighted among reasons to overcome their sense of geographic and social isolation, and the usefulness for accessing information. Generally younger women enjoyed use of ICTs, while women over 40 used them, since they are very important and useful. Men used ICTs mainly for attraction to find job in ICT industry, and increase their income.

Both women and men mentioned also among reasons the reduction of operational costs (due to acquisition of cheaper equipment and email correspondence), and expansion of business contacts.

Factors that Affect Women's Use of ICTs

Lack of awareness

Women, and particularly those living in geographically isolated areas, were less aware than men about the opportunities of ICTs in relevance to their career and professional development before the ZaMirNET Job Search Training. They did not tend to use internet for establishing and maintenance of new business contacts, searching for job opportunities or market research. Women were also less aware about the requirements of computers skills for majority of jobs today.

"Thanks the course I started to use Internet regularly, which helps me to collect and filter info. I feel much more confident about my plans now. Also, just participating in the training helped me become more open to new contacts, and understanding that it is up to me how much I want to learn. The ZaMirNET's Computer Centre in Kistanje with all its workshops and activities has really changed the way, how I feel now about opportunities ahead. "

Lack of ICT skills

Based on the ZaMirNET findings, women and participant living in geographically isolated areas, are less experienced in usage of computer and internet searching. Women highlighted in their self-assessments the need to gain more basics, but also professional (mainly younger women), ICT skills. Men were more likely satisfied with their skills. It indicates that men have generally better opportunities to access ICT related training than women in those post-war communities of Croatia.

Limited Access to Information

As demonstrates the findings, men have better access to information than women. They are also more aware about the benefits to be gained from information. Women have less access to information due to their socially-assigned gender roles, which affect their time-availability and mobility. They are more likely depending on traditional information channels as relatives and friend.

Limited Access to Financial Resources

20% of all women participant of Job Search Training stated that they have not money to invest to additional professional development. While men was ready invest amount that is approx. one month average salary or how much will be needed. It indicates that women have less access to and control over financial resources.

Sense of social isolation and a fear of leadership

Significantly more women than men harboured a sense of social isolation and a fear of leadership. Even they were more proactive in self-employment, they had difficulties to recognize themselves as persons who are able to run their own business or make decisions about their future. During the ZaMirNET's training sessions, men were more assertive and self-confident. They very often tended to dominate the group. ICTs can assist to overcome those feelings, as demonstrates an experience of middle aged participant. After many years of unemployment, she felt isolated from other people and unprepared to enter to the labour market. She was also completely inexperienced in ICT when she started the course even though she had a computer at home. Now she uses the internet regularly to check job offers while taking care of her family and home. "I discovered a whole new world out there, and I can still be at home when my family needs me." Even though it will be tough for her, considering the gap in her career over the past decade, thanks to the course, she now feels confident to apply for different jobs. She also stresses that she is now much more ready to participate in other education and training programs offered to the unemployed.

Specific Needs and Barriers of Women over 40

Based on the evaluation findings, it is evident, that women's self-confidence is more affected by age than men's confidence. The young participants of both genders were more self-confident. Also only women participants stated in their self-assessment that they are too old for learning (20% of all women participant).

Factors that affect their active participation in ICT related trainings are lack of support from their environment (mainly family members) related to their absence from the home and unsafe environment in the training group. The ZaMirNET's trainers also observed that women over 40 need more support when working with ICT to overcome their fear of technology.

They have also limited access to societal networks and contacts in comparison with younger women and men. It was also significant, that they met less often with other training participant outside the course then younger women and men. ICTs can be useful tool to break their isolation and raise their access to and maintenance of social contacts.

Recommendations for the Central East Europe

Alternative access solution should be sought

The digital divide is obviously linked to low developed country of Africa, Asia and Latin America, but it is still core issue also in Central East Europe, especially considering the low accessibility of ICTs for traditionally marginalized groups. It's crucial to focus especially on the women, who are disadvantage by several social factors, such the single mothers, disabled women, women over 40, women living in rural areas, unemployed women or women from low-income group, women-refugees and women from ethnic minorities (for example Roma women).

The efforts of facilitating access to ICTs needs to be accompanied with selection and promotion of alternative software, and support of low cost solutions, such as open source and free software, to enable usage to low-income groups, among which women belong.

Even there are numerous efforts of the different stakeholders to establish public internet access points in CEE, these have not yet satisfied demand. Many more public internet access points should be installed, mainly in underserved areas. When building public access points, such as internet cafes, information kiosks or telecentres, special women's needs and barriers must be taken into account to ensure that these will be benefiting women.

Local and women-centred content development

Language and culture incongruity is not only a barrier for women to access information that would be of use to them. Production of local content also plays an important role in raising awareness among women about the role ICTs can play in their life. More electronic and online information in local languages produced by women and for women would certainly motivate women to find ways to access it. Women's and community organisations are often important mediators for women in terms of information. These need to be supported to be able to produce women-centred content, advertise it among their constituencies and offer them means of access to the content.

Since CEE region is not linguistically homogenous, and English language knowledge is limited, it is important to pay attention also on accessibility of information, and to allocate appropriate resources on translation to local languages.

Map continuously the needs and barriers faced by marginalized women

In the area of gender and ICTs, the vast majority of stakeholders, give the most attention to LDCs. This fact has many implications, such as those specific needs, challenges and barriers of women living in transition countries are not documented and debated. But there is low possibility to increase the ICTs accessibility for women without recognizing their specifics needs and barriers in use of ICT. It is important to continuously map the needs of women, especially those marginalized by several socio-demographic factors (age, ethnicity) and analyze how ICTs affects their life and empowerment. Beyond that, there is need to gather the sex disaggregated quantitative and qualitative data to learn about the women position in ICT industry and ICT initiatives impacts.

ICT initiatives should contribute to women's empowerment

The effort of giving women access to ICTs (by providing them with computers or a public access point) and training them in the basics of how to use internet and computers, needs to be upheld by their interest to use them for social development and personal advancement. It is important that these initiatives also motivate them to overcome their barriers, fears, and make them aware about the usefulness and power of ICTs, as well as their aspects negatively affecting our lives. Moreover, if women are supposed to benefit from these initiatives, special steps should be undertaken, such as trainings delivered by female trainers and using role models, improving women's portrayal in regard to ICTs to make ICTs more attractive for them, women's only classes, recruiting women via women's social environments not just by general public calls, etc.

Priority ICT needs of local women's groups in donors programme

Financial resources for women's groups should be provided to purchase technical equipment (e.g. computers, software) and connectivity, as well as access basic ICTs skills training. Also donor support to content development and to innovative ICT projects focused on women's priority areas (violence, economic empowerment, equal participation, etc.) is encouraged.

In addition, a pro-active strategy must be undertaken to build regional perspective on gender and ICT issues among women's organizations, and to support capacity building and networking among gender advocates in ICT policy issues, especially at a national level.

Evaluation Process

"I like the GEM cause it's serious, it's not just producing evaluation for making donors happy with numbers and figures. It forces you to go in depth, and analyze what is it really going on, what have you really changed. But evaluating something properly is always needs time."

Feedback from CEE tester

Regional Context

Before coming to review of GEM testing process in Central East Europe, it is important to point out some regional specifics, which differentiate this region from the others (Latin America, Asia, Anglophone Africa), where GEM testing programme was operated.

The region of CEE is heterogeneous and diverse in terms of its cultural roots, level of economic development, life styles and standards, degree of political stability as well as the functioning of democratic institutions. For example, in the Balkans, post conflict processes of reconciliation and reconstruction have been dominating factors in shaping development processes. Also the specific conditions that women live under, and level of ICT penetration and use, vary from country to country.

In most of the CEE countries, there is a long tradition of women working outside the home, and women have achieved high levels of education and constituted a large percentage of technical workers, engineers and scientists. However in the context of CEE region, these facts does not indicate gender equality and advanced position of women in society, since traditional gender role arrangements have not changed much. Women are still those who bear domestic and family duties look after children, the ill and elderly in addition to their paid work outside home, or activities that earn money to provide for the family. Equal rights of women and men were conferred by the socialist states, but have never been debated between men and women, or constituted by a woman's movement. The modern form of a women's movement is a phenomenon that only appeared in CEE/CIS in the context of civil society after the fall of the iron curtain in 1989.

As compared with other regions (especially Africa and Asia), women advocates are not so involved in global gender and ICT networks, and regional or local networks not exist in CEE. Gender dimension of ICTs is also not addressed in advocacy agendas of women movement in CEE. As implication of this, the specific ICT related needs, challenges and barriers of women living in transition countries are not documented and debated. The region-specific perspective remains out of the international ICT development agendas, like as the WSIS and its Declaration and Plan of action.

CEE region is also de-prioritized in terms of allocation of resources by most donors. The majority of donors operated ICT related programs and projects target only women living in least developed countries (LDCs).

Testers Identification and Selection

The GEM testing started in Central East Europe (CEE) region at November 2003, when the invitations for participation in GEM testing phase were disseminate across the region.
Considering the regional context, especially lack of interests in gender and ICT issues across CEE region, the testers had been identified (based on common GEM tester's selection criteria ensuring regional and language balance, partnership development and projects variety) and directly invited by regional coordinators. In addition, the public call has been disseminated via various women's regional and sub-regional mailing lists, APC CEE regional lists, and APC-FORUM lists.

In total we had received 10 applications from which we selected 7 testers. But one of the selected organizations latter cancelled its active participation in the testing for lack of capacities. The selected organizations were situated across the region - Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Slovakia and Lithuania, and with exception of one they are all women-focus NGOs and networks.

CEE GEM Workshop

Twenty-one women, including representatives of six organizations selected for testing and facilitators, participated in the last GEM workshop, which was held in February 2003 in Prague. As in the other regional training workshops, the participants learned about the evaluations framework development, the gender analysis and the gender and ICT issues to be able to lead process of evaluation in their organization. Considering the general lack of awareness about critical ICTs issues relevant to gender equality in CEE region, the priority was given to the sensitization of participants to ICT issues. In relevance to this objective, the workshop succeed since the majority of participants highlighted in their feedback, that they feel more aware about emerging gender and ICT issues after the training. The workshop also affected beliefs, opinions and self-confidence of participants: "I have to start again thinking about the things, which I was thinking about long time ago. I have to look on my opinions, beliefs… I feel also more open now…"

During the workshop the testers had the unique opportunity to discuss their evaluation goals and questions with members of other CEE organizations and GEM team facilitators. The main output of the workshop had been the first draft of tester's evaluation plans, which they brought home to share them with their organizations.

Facilitation of testing process in CEE

Field visits and e-mails communication

Since CEE was last region where the GEM testing phase started (almost year latter than in Latin America, and half a year latter than in Asia), the less field visits were carried out due the lack of time and financial resources (two visits were realized - in Slovakia and Bulgaria, plus several occasional meetings with testers during different regional and global events were arranged). We facilitated the tester's evaluation mainly via different ICTs tool - e-mails, yahoo conferences and phones. The main communication channel was e-mail. To finalize the tester's plans and conduct tester's evaluation's activities we exchanged in average 70-80 e-mails with each tester. Giving this amount it shows clearly, that although we saved time and money by not travelling so much, we spare a lot of time on online communications. We also dealt with another constraints of virtual communications as misunderstanding, difficulties to explain/consult some more complicated issues, or waste of tester's motivations.

Gem CEE mailing list

The regional mailing list GEM-CEE-WS was opened in January 2003 with aim to build learning community of CEE GEM tester's, to strengthen their evaluation skills, and raise their awareness about actual gender and ICT issues. All CEE GEM workshop participants were subscribed as members of mailing list. Totally 198 e-mail contributions were sent to this space, mainly announcements about various gender and ICT related events on national, regional and global level, and fellowships and grants opportunities. The links to information sources related to evaluations, were also shared via the mailing list. The Lists also served as source of information for two surveys conducts in the fields of gender and ICT by mailing list's members. But the List had not succeed in building learning community, the testers did not use it for sharing their question's, challenges, problems and results relating to GEM evaluation. The majority of them preferred personal e-mail's communication with us. And in two cases, where the testers shared their evaluation plans and findings via the mailing list, they did not receive any feedback from other members. Also the direct questions raised by us did not animate any discussions. We estimate that the mailing list fail partly due to lack of our attention as facilitators (Since the testers preferred other ways of communications, we were not able to allocate enough time on active mailing list facilitation), and partly due to cultural constraints.

GEM Website and Conceptual Documents

The testers appreciated the GEM website as a tool useful in conducting their evaluation:' I found the website very useful, since I could always go back to information which I need to move forward our evaluation.'

Besides 'ICT for social change' document, the testers find out as useful mainly the materials concerning questions and gender-sensitive indicators development. But there were also recommendations from some testers to add more materials in GEM tool: 'I read it, but I felt that I still need more materials... especially materials about data interpretation and validation. Recommendation and tips, how we can avoid to draw from the data wrong conclusions, how to make sure that we do not misinterpreted data.'

Challenges

Setting up priorities

For the number of testers the most challenging part was to define evaluation focus and to prioritize goals. They did not spend appropriate time on analyzing the problems, discussing the issues within their projects and setting up criteria for selection of their priorities. In result of that, they developed too ambitious plans without considering the available capacities, time and financial resources. The group discussions during the workshops, and our feedback based on experiences from testing process in other regions, were crucial in helping them to focus their evaluation goals, and limit their evaluation questions.

Terminology Misunderstandings

Some testers also fought with terminology. They had difficulties to understand the English terms as stakeholders, and the differences between goals x objectives x issues, or evaluation questions x questions in questionnaire, when they were developing the evaluation plans. The sharing of the examples of already finalized tester's profiles and plans from the other region made them more familiar with these terms.

Indicators Development

As in the other region, majority of testers found out the most difficult to develop evaluation indicators, especially the qualitative one. To assist them with indicators formulation we developed a table which led them in process of gender-sensitive indicators development. (See Appendix 5 in the download version of the report.) One tester also decided to conduct evaluation without setting up the indicators, and they developed directly questions for its questionnaire based on their evaluation objectives, questions and identified issues.

Issues and Problems Faced in the Testing

Lack of time and funding

Since CEE region was the last region (the testers start with evaluation approximately year later than in Latin America), the CEE testers have to work in less time and with less resources (There was not enough time for raising additional resource), than the testers from the other region. Considering this fact, they need to adjust their evaluations goals not only to their priority issues, but also to time and amount of finances available. On the other hand, it makes their evaluations closer to conditions of local NGOs, who commonly implement the activities with very limited resources and timeline.

The conducted evaluation activities took from two week to almost six month of fulltime work in total. But lack of time allocated for evaluation was highlighted as a problem by all testers: ‚ Time, time, time seems to be one of the most challenging aspects of GEM. It is serious job and you need to allocate enough time and other resources, as the personal costs for person, who will be then really doing it' .

‚Next time "I would like to do it better" - to put in it more time and have a proper evaluation team, with maybe one person who can fully concentrate on evaluation.'

Bad Timing

According to majority of testers, the most time-requesting phase was data gathering. This phase required good planning in terms of timing and allocation of time. Time planning affects the number of responses received, and quality of data collected. In one cases, bad timing of questionnaire distributions among NGOs in the hectic pre-Christmas time, when people are overload with different activities undertaken by different stakeholders before the financial end of the year, caused that any response was received.

As illustrates the another testers experience, the good planning and data gathering timing considering specifics conditions and habits of potential respondents could assists to overcome this problem: ' We had to collect data for different purposes in one small communities. We were sure that we will be interviewing almost the same people. But you couldn't ask the same people for several times, since they do not have time, and are not interesting to participate in your survey two-three times a year... For this reason we had decided to collect all needed data in one certain time. Thanks good planning and data collection timing we succeeded.'

Lack of skills and knowledge

Some testers reported that lack of skills in methodology development, but also data interpretations hindered the evaluation process. They deal with problems as question collision, or the missing data to be able to confirm some statements. The involvement of or consultation with the person or professional organization, which specializes on surveys, assist them to make sure they do not miss anything, and all collected data will be coherent.

The one of the testers also suggested to include additional sessions to GEM workshop or to organize special workshop focusing on specific aspects of evaluation to make testers more confident with this "expert" skills. The curriculum of this workshop should include practical information and tips about:

• how to develop methodologies (how to develop proper questionnaire, conduct focus group)
  
• how to process and interpret data,
  
• how to analyse data
  
• how to draw conclusions and present the data

Also the testers recommended to develop practical guidelines concerning issues mentioned above.

Language

Based on our observations, English was a communication barrier for some of the testers. But for majority of them (with exception of regional and sub-regional networks, who communicate in English) it takes at least double time (and of course financial resources) to writing the reports, since in addition to English they need to document the evaluation process also in native language to be able to share the findings with local stakeholders. Also all the methodologies samples had to be bilingual.

To be too ambitious

Number of testers developed too ambitious plans without consideration of the available capacities and financial resources. To adjust their plans in the latter phase of evaluation was difficult.

'In case of next evaluations we will be definitely less ambitious. We will first see if we can not skip some indicators and questions to cut the amount the data which we will need to collect, and to see there are not questions which are providing only obvious information. We will focus only on information, which is really necessary to get. '

To raise the efficiency of GEM evaluation, the prioritization and selection of realistic objectives and issues must be essential part of evaluation framework development. The session how to focus the evaluation, and select the priorities should be a part of GEM tool and workshop (for examples Sara Longwe Presentation on Spectacles for Seeing Gender in Project Evaluation).

Donor's priorities and evaluation approaches

Donors operating in CEE region usually stress the result oriented evaluation. They are looking on numbers without attention to real project impacts and appropriateness of the conducted activities. The testers, whose main evaluation purpose was to report to donors or those who intended to use the finding to attract new donors, perceived the conflict among the GEM framework and donor's requirements. One tester, who originally planned to conduct GEM evaluation to report about project impacts to donor, realized that donor is not interested in the kind of data provided by GEM (gender sensitive and qualitative data on ICTs impacts). Since they found this data useful for their future projects, they had finally decided to conduct two evaluations - the donor oriented, and the GEM evaluation. But they at least joined the data gathering phase.

Small number of donors also prioritizes gender and ICT topics in their programmes: 'The donors are not interesting in gender. They are requesting to target children, ethnic or low income groups, but they usually do not see gender inequality as important issue for this region."

The low priority give by donors to gender and ICT issues, and to gender generally, hindered mainly last phase of evaluation. Number of testers found it difficult to raise additional resource for findings and lessons application in their activities and projects.

The testers highlighted in their feedback the need to educate the donors in gender sensitive evaluation, as well as about global, regional and country specific gender and ICT issues.

Non-standard Evaluation

One of the testers decided to use GEM for evaluation of already completed project. Since they had to work with data already collected or archived (like comments in the online discussions), the range of evaluation questions, which they could ask, and the issues, which they could address, was limited. The whole evaluation was challenging, especially in phase of indicators settings, when they need to put attention what data are available, and their mutual comparability.

Overview of all GEM testers in Central East Europe

The organization selected for testing are situated across the region - Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Slovakia and Lithuania. Among evaluated projects there were two regional and four national initiatives.

Women's Networking Initiatives

Karat Coalition [Central and Eastern Europe]
http://www.karat.org/
KARAT is a regional coalition of organizations and individuals from 18 countries. The Coalition works to ensure gender equality in the Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States countries (CIS).
Karat Coalition evaluated the Karat NEWS - an electronic news bulletin distributed to the members and non-members organizations and individuals throughout CEE and CIS countries. The bulletin highlights the activities undertaken by women's groups in CEE region, and emerging gender issues on national and regional level. Overall goal of KARAT evaluation was to determine if their monthly newsletter meets reader needs, encourages women networking, and raises awareness about women's issues in CEE/CIS region.

Training & Community Building Initiatives

ZaMirNET [Croatia]
http://www.zamir.net/

ZaMirNET is a non-governmental organisation that uses ICT to provide and create information relevant for civil society development in Croatia. ZaMirNET decided to evaluate their Job Search Training Project, one component of the larger program named "Revitalisation of the War-Affected Areas of Croatia Using ICT". The project objective is to improve employability in two post-war, economically deprived, communities in Croatia.

ZaMirNET had used GEM to monitor the impact of the course on the increase of skills, knowledge and self-confidence of the participants. Beyond that they looked at the gender difference in use of ICTs, and specific needs of and gender related barriers faced by women over 40 during and after the training.

Advocacy Campaign Initiatives

Initiative Fifth Woman [Slovakia]
http://www.stopnasiliu.sk

The Initiative Fifth Women is a joint effort of seven Slovakian women's organizations with an active history in working against violence against women. The campaign Fifth Woman was the first public campaign against violence against women carried out at national level in Slovakia.
It was very non-standard evaluation, since they decided to evaluate the initiative, which was already concluded before more than year, and which impact was already evaluated. The GEM was used to evaluate the objectives, which were not intended in the original project design. In its evaluation Fifth Women focused on the use of ICTs in the campaign against violence against women, especially on the communication of public and the internal communication in Initiative Fifth Women.

Impacts on the testing organizations

Raising awareness about gender and ICT issues: The testers emphasized in their feedback that the active participation in GEM testing was a learning process for them. They reported consciousness raising about gender and ICTs issues: "I learn a lot about ICTs and how they can be use for women's empowerment. I feel now much more aware about the gender and ICT issues. I was never thinking about ICTs and their possible impacts in this way before."

"GEM presented the new experience for us. We never focus on issues related to ICTs and their usage in work of women's organization before."

Improvement of evaluation and monitoring system of organizations: GEM assists to improve overall evaluation and monitoring system of the involved organizations: "…for us it was also process of learning how to improve the planning and evaluation of our projects generally. It shows us that we still have some holes in our evaluation system."

Strengthening project planning and gender mainstreaming: Several testers highlighted that they want to use GEM for project planning in the future. One tester also reported that GEM helps them to more effectively incorporate gender into their all activities. 'We will use it for planning of projects which target women, but also other groups.'

Deeper understanding of gender analysis: "We consider that equal number of women and men participants does not mean real gender equal impacts. Like the number of participants, who gained the employment, doesn't say in reality nothing about how women, really benefit from it. We understand that we need to go deeper and ask questions as what kind of job they received. It is secure and sustainable job?"

Development of ICT skills and contribution to strategic use of ICTs by women's organization: The testing process changed the involved women's organizations approach to ICTs, and help them to improve their ICTs related activities as information distribution, campaigning and networking. Majority of them plan to incorporate their findings to reconstruction of their websites.