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While the HIV/AIDS epidemic has wrought havoc in the lives of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa, access to information about the causes, symptoms, and treatment of the disease remains a challenge for many, particularly young people. In a context in which discussion of sexuality is frequently taboo, and information about HIV/AIDS in the mother tongue is limited and often difficult to access, information about HIV/AIDS on global healthcare websites, frequently in English, offers alternative access to crucial and possibly life-saving data. This paper reports on an action research study undertaken in a rural Ugandan village in 2006, in which 12 young women participated. The focus of the study was a digital literacy course, which was developed with the primary aim of helping participants to gain access to information about HIV/AIDS through global health websites, available in English, Uganda's official language. The primary sources of research data included written observations by the course instructor, two questionnaires given to the participants, and participant coursework. The central questions we are addressing in this paper are as follows: (i) To what extent is digital languaging productive for accessing information about HIV/AIDS in African communities? (ii) Under what conditions does digital languaging take place? Our use of the term languaging is taken from the work of Swain (2006) and her colleagues. Our findings confirm that digital languaging enhanced access to HIV/AIDS information and provided multiple opportunities for English language learning. Further, the conditions under which digital languaging took place is best understood with reference to theories of investment, imagined identities, and language learning (Norton, 2000; in press). We address challenges and possibilities associated with digital languaging in African communities, and conclude with a discussion of the implications of our research for poorly resourced communities in Africa and elsewhere.

Community libraries in developing countries can be important sites of knowledge exchange and acquisition for women with little or no formal education living in communities characterized by extreme poverty and gender inequities. As locally managed and operated institutions, specific needs identified by community members shape their mandates, activities, and types of resources. Community libraries also offer a "neutral" space where women can safely gather and independently or collectively pursue learning in areas of relevance and interest to them. This paper explores the impact of Kyato Community Library (KCL) on women's lives in a rural Ugandan context. It considers IntroductionThis paper examines the impact of a community library on the literacy development and engagement of a group of women living in rural Uganda. Although community libraries are not yet commonplace institutions in Uganda, this article shows that they can perform multiple functions as alternative sites of knowledge acquisition for women who have traditionally had limited opportunities for schooling. Community libraries can constitute safe and empowering educational environments where women's learning and personal development is supported and encouraged, and where women feel a sense of belonging and ownership. At their best, community libraries constitute a portal towards gender equity in communities, offering a physical place and educational environment in which women can interact, learn, and work towards future goals. However, Shelley Kathleen Jones was a PhD student in the Department of Canada. E-mail: shelleykjones@gmail.com the questions: i) What valuable educational opportunities does KCL provide for girls and women who have been prevented from attaining adequate formal schooling?; and ii) What additional services, opportunities and qualities could KCL provide to engage girls and women in these educational opportunities? The paper argues that with careful attention paid to women's literacy needs and desires, local context, appropriate resource acquisition and community-minded personnel, community libraries can promote and support women's literacy and personal development, enabling them to cultivate capabilities needed to engage more fully on equal terms in their societies.there is still much to learn about how community libraries can maximally serve marginalized girls and women in an educational capacity.Based on research at Kyato Community Library (KCL) [1] in Kyato Village in south-western Uganda, this paper argues that with careful attention paid to location and personnel, as well as responsiveness to community contexts and happenings, community libraries can play an important role in the development and support of women's literacy in developing country contexts. It explores both the current limitations as well as the enormous, transformative educational potential of community libraries for girls and women. This is followed by some recommendations for how community library programming can be designed in such a way as to maximize its po...

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Children have the right to a voice, to education and to education about their rights, as outlined in Article 12 and Article 29 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Child rights-based education can support children to be empowered with critical agency and exposed to connection to the wider world, better equipping them to become young global citizens and act in ways that demonstrate empathy and commitment to diversity, dignity, and equality. To obtain this goal, education systems must be aligned to foster these attributes and empower children to develop and exercise the capabilities that will best serve them in childhood as well as adulthood. This paper considers how we can support the empowerment and capabilities development of children through child rights-focused education using an integrated framework of empowerment, capabilities (Sen, 1999), and social constructivist (Vgotsky, 1978) education. Building on the foundations laid in the development and evolution of children’s rights, setting out the theoretical underpinnings and drawing on a case study of a rights-based education project, this paper will consider how rights-based education can be feasible and beneficial.

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