Writting new content is of course necessary for the portal, but it is also very time consumming. One easy way to add content on the APDA portal is to copy a page, or part of page, into the portal.

In my opinion, I think that APDA portal should propose only original content. Every media, especially newspapers, relies from time to time on other source of content. For instance, a small afghan magazine which wants to give information about a political crisis in Africa will rely on sources which are outside of its organisation. Although APDA must provide original content, it is also possible to see the portal as a central source of information about peace and democracy activities in Afghanistan.

Duplicating content from one website to another is usually seen as good thing on the Internet, if few things are respected.

Copying information from website helps promoting your organisation website.

It is easy to understand that the more your website is promoted, the more visit you will get. In this perpective, it is not bad to post content on the APDA portal, with a link to your organisation website.

For instance, the article « Peace Process and Peace Building in Afghanistan » by Mr Dileri

http://www.afghanact.org/en/node/view/684

contains a link on Sanayee Development Foundation. People visiting the APDA portal will probably continue their visit to SDF website.


Copying part of a page to the portal

The most effective and always legal way to duplicate information is to copy only the first paragraph of a text, and add a link to the complete article on the partner website.


For exemple, the page Afghan Women’s Bill of Rights, Kandahar, 2003 found on AWN website is in my opinion worth putting on the portal. In this case, I would put it in the following way:


Afghan Women’s Bill of Rights, Kandahar, 2003

On September 5, 2003, in the historic city of Kandahar, we, the Afghan Muslim participants in the conference “Women and the Constitution: Kandahar 2003”, from Kabul, Mazar-e-Sharif, Kandahar, Herat, Wardak, Jousjan, Badakhshan, Samangan, Farah, Logar, Gardez, Kapisa, Uruzgan, Paktia, Helmand, Baghlan, Sar-e-Pul, having considered the issues of the constitution that affect the futures of ourselves, our children, and our society, make the following demands on behalf of the women of Afghanistan. Moreover, as representatives of all of Afghan women, we demand that these rights are not only secured in the constitution but implemented.The Afghan Women's Bill of Rights was drafted, signed, and presented to President Hamid Karzai by women leaders from every region of Afghanistan, who participated in the third annual conference of Women for Afghan Women (WAW), organized in partnership with the Afghan Women's Network (AWN) and Afghans for Civil Society (ACS).

http://www.afghanwomensnetwork.org/RecentNews.html
The complete article on AWN website

In addition of the real contribution you do on the portal, a reader interested by this article will obviously reach AWN website, increasing its popularity.


Getting information from online magazine.


In the same perspective, it can be nice to get information from other source of content. For exemple, IRIN portal contains excellent text that could be duplicated on the afghanact portal. The article « AFGHANISTAN: Second symbolic destruction of landmines » is really appropriate for the portal aims at promoting peace and democracy. We could then put something like this

AFGHANISTAN: Second symbolic destruction of landmines

IRIN (published by APDA)

KABUL, 17 Feb 2004 (IRIN) - As part of its commitment under the Mine Ban Treaty, Afghanistan completed a pilot phase of destroying stockpiled landmines, which started last May in the capital Kabul. In a UN-Government-ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) joint venture, some 1,300 anti-personal mines (APMs) were detonated in three massive blasts on Thursday in northern outskirts of the city.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=39535&SelectRegion=Central_Asia&SelectCountry=AFGHANISTAN
Click on the link for the complete article

Author: Stéphane Couture