/ This study analyses Voice for Humanity's (VFH) Sada initiative to promote women's rights, citizen participation and civic education during the Afghan parliamentary elections in 2005. A qualitative assessment was conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of how Afghan women, in particular, utilized the Sada device. This research, positioned within current literature on information communication technology (ICT) and gender, views the Sada device — a solar-powered digital audio player (similar to an MP3 player) — as an ICT. Universally, women have unequal access to ICTs, yet the findings of this study suggest that projects such as this one in Afghanistan can play a powerful role in promoting women's rights. The findings reiterate that information dissemination, spurred by a suitable technology, can lead to family and community dialog. Such dialog, coupled with a more enabling environment for women's concerns, can contribute to women's empowerment and realization of women's human rights.
Bautista, R.O. (1999) `Staking Their Claim: Women, Electronic Networking and Training in Asia', pp. 173—83 in W. Harcourt (ed.) Women @ Internet: Creating New Cultures in Cyberspace. London: Zed Books .
2.
Bisnath, S. (2005) Engendering ICT Statistics. Geneva: ITU; at: www.itu.int/ITU-D/gender/documents/pdf/EngenderStatsBisnath.pdf (accessed 26 January 2006).
3.
Boserup, E. (1970) Women's Role in Economic Development. New York: St Martin's Press.
4.
Gurumurthy, A. (2004) Gender and ICTs: Overview Report, Cutting Edge Pack Series. Brighton: BRIDGE, Institute of Development Studies.
5.
Hafkin, N.J. (2000) `Convergence of Concepts: Gender and ICTs in Africa', pp. 1—16 in E.M. Rathgeber and E.O. Adera (eds) Gender and the Information Revolution in Africa. Ottawa: International Development Research Center.
6.
Hafkin, N.J. (2002) `Are ICTs Gender-Neutral? A Gender Analysis of Six Case Studies of Multi-Donor ICT Projects', UN/INSTRAW Virtual Seminar Series on Gender and ICTs, Seminar 1; at: www.uninstraw.org/docs/gender_and_ict/Hafkin.pdf (accessed 1 October 2005).
7.
Internet World Statistics (2006) Internet Usage Statistics: The Big Picture — World Internet Users and Population Stats; at: www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm (accessed 10 February 2006).
8.
ITU (International Telecommunications Union) ( 2004) World Telecommunications Indicators Database. Geneva: ITU; at: www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict/statistics/ict/ (accessed 26 January 2006).
9.
Khasiani, S.A. (2000) `Enhancing Women's Participation in Governance: The Case of Kakamega and Makueni Districts, Kenya', pp. 215—38 in E.M. Rathgeber and E.O. Adera (eds) Gender and the Information Revolution in Africa. Ottawa: International Development Research Center.
10.
Lieb, R. (2005) `Most Americans Have PCs and Web Access', ClickZNetwork; at: www.clickz.com/states/sectors/geographics/article.php/3559991 (accessed 17 February 2006).
11.
Melkote, S.R., and H.L. Steeves (2001) Communication for Development in the Third World: Theory and Practice for Empowerment. Thousand Oaks, CA : Sage.
12.
Miles, M.B., and A.M. Huberman (1994) Qualitative Data Analysis, 2nd edn. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage .
13.
Momo, R.S. (2000) `Expanding Women's Access to ICTs', pp. 169—86 in E.M. Rathgeber and E.O. Adera (eds) Gender and the Information Revolution in Africa. Ottawa: International Development Research Center.
14.
Moser, C. (1989) `Gender Planning in the Third World: Meeting Practical and Strategic Gender Needs', World Development17(11): 1799— 825.
15.
Papa, M.J., A. Singhal and W.H. Papa (2006) Organizing for Social Change: A Dialectic Journey of Theory and Praxis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
16.
Patton, M.Q. (1990) Qualitative Evaluation and Research Methods, 2nd edn. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
17.
Rathgeber, E.M. (1990) `WID, WAD, GAD: Trends in Research and Practice ', Journal of Developing Areas24: 489—502.
18.
Rathgeber, E.M. (1995) `Gender and Development in Action', pp. 204—20 in M. Marchand and J. Parpart (eds) Feminism/Postmodernism/Development. London: Routledge.
19.
Rathgeber, E.M. (2000) `Women, Men, and ICTs in Africa: Why Gender is an Issue', pp. 17—34 in E.M. Rathgeber and E.O. Adera (eds) Gender and the Information Revolution in Africa. Ottawa : International Development Research Center.
20.
Schreiner, H. (1999) `Rural Women, Development, and Telecommunications: A Pilot Programme in South Africa', Gender and Development7(2): 64—70.
21.
Sengupta, A. (2001) `Crossing Digital Divides, Information Barriers, and Mountain Paths: Bringing Information Communication Technology to Rural Women in Nepal', unpublished masters thesis, Cornell University .
22.
Shefner-Rogers, C.L. and A. Singhal (2005) The Impact of Sada on Civil Society Knowledge, Attitudes, and Voting Behavior in Ghazni and Takhar Provinces of Afghanistan: An Evaluation Report. Lexington, KY: Voice for Humanity.
23.
Silverman, D. (2005) Doing Qualitative Research, 2nd edn. London: Sage.
24.
Skuse, A. (2005) `Enlivened Objects: The Social Life, Death and Rebirth of Radio as Commodity in Afghanistan', Journal of Material Culture10(2): 123—37.
25.
Undp (1995) Human Development Report 1995. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
26.
Undp (1999) Human Development Report 1999. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
27.
Undp (2004) Afghanistan National Human Development Report 2004: Security with a Human Face: Challenges and Responsibilities. Kabul: United Nations Development Program.
28.
Undp/Unifem (2004) Bridging the Gender Digital Divide: A Report on Gender and ICT in Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States. Bratislava : Regional Centre, United Nations Development Program .
29.
Unicef (1994) Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women and Girls: A Policy Review, UNICEF Programme Committee . New York: UNICEF.
30.
Universal Declaration of Human Rights (n.d.) at: www.un.org/Overview/rights.html (accessed 25 September 2004).
31.
Wilkins, K.G. (1999) `Development Discourse on Gender and Communication in Strategies for Social Change', Journal of Communication49(1): 46—68.
32.
Zook, M., M. Dodge, Y. Aoyama and A. Townsend (2004) `New Digital Geographies: Information, Communication, and Place', pp. 155—76 in S. Brunn, S. Cutter and J. Harrington (eds) Geography and Technology. Dordrecht : Kluwer.
