The Internet and Women's Democratic Organizing project seeks to facilitate women's social and political activism and regional networking through Internet technologies. Two three-week workshops took place in May 2000 and 2001 with participants attending from the West African countries of Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria, and Mali. This year's workshop is scheduled for May 6-14, 2002. The project aims to:

• Familiarize all participants with use of Internet communications for women's democratic organizing.
• Introduce the participants to the history and contemporary context of American women's democratic organizing and political activism.
• Assist each participant to build and maintain a web page or site for her organization.
• Provide the participants with software and technical support so that they can continue to build on their Internet training after their return.
• Encourage participants to establish long-term partnerships of collaboration and exchange with their fellow workshop participants.
• Build concrete and durable partnerships between MSU and the organizations that the participants represent.

This project is sponsored by Michigan State University, its African Studies Center and office of Women and International Development, MATRIX: The Center for the Humane Arts, Letters and Social Sciences Online, the West African Research Center (WARC) and the Institute for African Democracy in Dakar, Senegal. Support for the upcoming workshop is provided by Michigan State University and the US Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs with funds from the Education for Development and Democracy Initiative (EDDI). IWDO is part of the African Internet Collaborations initiative undertaken by MATRIX and the African Studies Center.

Technology instruction for the MSU workshops, was coordinated by Dean Rehberger, Associate Director of MATRIX. Lisa Fine, Professor of History at MSU, organized the seminars discussions, speakers and networking opportunities. The Senegal, Mali, and Ghana workshops are coordinated by Joy Palmer & Scott Pennington, MATRIX, with the assistance of Marietou Dia, our ICT Consultant in Dakar. The three IWDO project directors are: Mark Kornbluh, Director of MATRIX; David Wiley, Director of the African Studies Center; and Anne Ferguson, Director of WID.