[sudoroom] Fwd: [noise at ischool] UNESCO is looking for initiatives promoting women’s role in Free and Open Source Software

[Matthew Senate]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Megan Finn <megfinn at ischool.berkeley.edu>
Date: Tue, Aug 28, 2012 at 7:34 AM
Subject: [noise at ischool] UNESCO is looking for initiatives promoting
women’s role in Free and Open Source Software
To: "noise at ischool" <noise at ischool.berkeley.edu>


http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single-view/news/unesco_is_looking_for_initiatives_promoting_womens_role_in_free_and_open_source_software/
UNESCO’s
Gender Equality in Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) community is
looking for groups and initiatives that promote women’s role and
representation in FOSS. This will allow building a comprehensive repository
of FOSS Groups and Initiatives by and for Women and Girls.

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is liberally licensed software that
grants users the right to use, study, adapt and distribute its design
through the availability of its source code. Such approach to the use and
development of software encourages innovation and skills-building.

FOSS has dramatically changed the way software is produced, distributed,
supported and used. However, most of the problems pertaining to gender
inequalities in the software industry have been duplicated in the FOSS
field. According to UNESCO’s Report on Gender Equality and Free and Open
Source Software, globally less than 20 per cent of ICT developers and FOSS
users are women. Furthermore, women’s entry level wages are only 17 per
cent of men’s wages. Figures are especially worrying in FOSS. Only 2 per
cent of professionals working in FOSS are women, compared to 28 per cent in
proprietary software.

For this reason, UNESCO calls on FOSS communities to build a comprehensive
list of FOSS Groups and Initiatives for Women and Girls. UNESCO encourages
women’s and girls’ active participation in all aspects of the development
and use of FOSS at all levels: cultural, economic, political and technical.

The objectives of the repository are the following:

   - to raise awareness about the gender gaps in FOSS;
   - to give more visibility to women-led FOSS groups and activities,
   including their important role as models and mentors for women and girls
   interested in FOSS;
   - to highlight women’s representation and achievements in FOSS, and
   dedicated activities;
   - to provide a platform where different FOSS groups can create
   collaborative efforts, exchange information through relevant NGOs,
   associations, business, academia and the public sectors, and promote
   initiatives contributing to women's participation and advancement in FOSS.

Please send your contributions by e-mail to: foss(at)unesco.org or
join the UNESCO
FOSS community<http://www.wsis-community.org/pg/pages/view/582094/foss-groups-for-women>by
providing the following information:

   - for groups: name of the group, national or regional scope, a brief
   introduction and the link;
   - for initiatives/activities: title and a brief introduction including
   goals, status and achievements.


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