Unifem

UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women) was established on the basis of the UNO Resolution dated 1976. Its aim is to provide technical and financial support for projects and programs, focused on the assertion of the equal position of women and men, in the area of the defense of women's human rights, increase in the representation of women in decision-making processes, creation of economic conditions for the development of business, etc.

UNIFEM takes account of the issues of women's rights with regard to specifics of particular regions of the activity. Activities of UNIFEM in the area of Central and Eastern Europe go back to the year of 1998. It concerned cooperation with particular governments, regional women's associations, and agencies of the UNO. On March 2001, an official activity of the program, roofing 17 countries of Central and Eastern Europe, was launched.

Why did UNIFEM resolve on Web?

Each of the departments within the framework of the UNO regional representation for Central and Eastern Europe with its seat in Bratislava uses the Web as an effective tool of communication and information source for its users or partners. The UNIFEM program has not had such possibility so far. "It has been necessary to accede to the creation of highly functional Web with the observance of strict standards of UNIFEM", Roland Blažo, Project Manager of Lomtec.com, responsible for the UNIFEM.sk project, says. It has also been necessary to solve the compatibility of the Web display. Even though the number of Netscape users currently forms only a fraction of Internet users, it is still preferentially used within the framework of the UNO.

Cooperation of the UNO and Lomtec

The cooperation between the regional representation of the UNO for the area of Central and Eastern Europe with its seat in Bratislava and Lomtec has already lasted several years. There is satisfaction with Lomtec prevail in its works within the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme; therefore, the number of orders permanently increases.

In the case of UNIFEM we have also carefully observed the usage of project methodology, verified by previous projects. This starts with the analysis of the client's requirements, and continues through with a design of specific solutions, implementation, testing, the launch of the project, and ends with evaluation and support. "We started to work for UNIFEM in May, and completed the work at the beginning of June 2003.", Roland Blažo, Project Manager of Lomtec.com, responsible for the UNIFEM.sk project, says. This also documents the harmony and extraordinary effectiveness of work of the project, graphical, and programming teams of our company. "We have been in a permanent contact with the client and informed it about the continuous status of the project during the entire implementation phase."

Result

The unique advantage of the site consists in its simple message through the ActiveWeb content management system. Based on our extensive experience from previous projects, it has been no problem for us to manage all required graphical standards, as well as requirements for the site structure. "Such work does not bind or decelerate us in any way. Very often, we meet with clients, who determine fixed rules for us, contained in a design manual or in the form of an already existing functional pattern", Roland Blažo says.

One of the more complicated parts of the work on the project has been the implementation of special adjustments in the database due to the integration of projects in order that it would be possible to display projects on the site in a logical structure, supplied by the client.

As it has already been stated, the ActiveWeb website content management system, developed by us, allows to administer the complete content of the Web. ActiveWeb does not limit the number of system users to a specific number. Any number of users can have access to the management of a website's contents, and their powers depend on the scope of their user rights. For Webs with a supranational operation, containing a lot of information, it is common that several users manage their contents, and each of them is responsible for a specific part. The ActiveWeb website content management system, which has been, in case of UNIFEM.sk, implemented in this regard, and allows extremely fast and flexible work.

The UNIFEM.sk site is determined for the professional public, employees of the UNO - UNIFEM regional offices, project designers, non-governmental and non-profit organizations, government institutions, donors, students, and the public in general. Responses to the site have been only positive so far. Satisfaction has been expressed by the client of the project, as well as by its everyday users.