The Drum Beat 187: ICTs in Africa - Part 3

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This is the 3rd issue focusing on Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Africa. The 1st included some of the all-embracing, bilateral and multilateral Africa initiatives, and some of the policy frameworks developed on a country level [click here to view]. The 2nd focused on some of the regional, community and "on-the-ground" ICT initiatives, networks and resources in Africa [click here to view].

This issue focuses on some of the child and youth, environment, radio, local access and health Internet initiatives and information, as well as electronic discussions, bulletins and journals.

CHILDREN & YOUTH

1. Young Rudd International Trust (YURIT) - Zimbabwe
Works to promote the use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) by disadvantaged young people and other members of the Zimbabwean community. Trains young people to communicate information through the Internet, CD-ROMs, books, and mobile phones. Strategies include a Multimedia Internet Centre, web-based and CD-ROM-based information resources, and a short-story-writing contest for publication on the internet.
Contact Batsirai Mike Chivhanga info@youngruddinternational.org

2. Orphan Cybergateway Project - Zimbabwe
Assists AIDS orphans between the ages of 15 and 25 in sending email messages. Goals of project include enabling young orphans to use technology to access and exchange knowledge rapidly, developing income-generating activities related to the problems they face, and involving them in AIDS awareness programmes that encourage other youth to protect themselves against AIDS.
Contact ocybergateway@yahoo.com

3. Internet as a tool for communication, information and participation among tertiary students in Namibia: An input for a communication strategy for Southern African Students' Union (SASU) - by Helen Belcastro
"... The young generation can become important agents in the process of social change, empowered by Internet as a tool for communication, information and participation in the democratic process of independent Namibia. A major challenge lies in providing the essential infrastructure and conditions for students to be trained in the use and potential of the new medium...."

4. School-Based Telecentres (SBTs) - Uganda
The sites, located within schools, provide computer and Internet-oriented training and services for students and teachers. Many SBTs also invite community members, government officials, members of NGOs, and those affiliated with civil society groups to use the telecentres; an effort is made to make facilities available in the evenings, on weekends, and during holiday periods.
Contact bntambi@uol.co.ug OR Meddie Mayanja mayanjameddie@yahoo.com

ENVIRONMENT

5. The Environmental Information Network (EIN) Project - Ghana
Uses ICT to link the databases of national environmental agencies. The network system is publicly available for free use. Local and international researchers, government agencies and other environmental organisations can use its information to support decision-making, intervention strategies, and awareness campaigns about environmental protection, and they can also contribute to this knowledge pool.
Contact: Agnes Adjabeng aadjabeng@epaghana.org

HEALTH

6. Communications for Better Health (CBH) - Ghana
Creates interactive information centres that collect, organise, disseminate and exchange practical health information. The purpose of the project is to improve access to medical information for both urban and rural health professionals, as well as the general public, throughout Ghana. Current health information is disseminated through a locally prepared 'Ghana Health Digest' and local databases are created by local health professionals and other interested parties, who, working together, select information from international resources and from in-country or regional colleagues. The public is reached through television and the newspaper; highlights from the digest are read bi-weekly on the "National Morning Breakfast Show" on Ghana Television and the Daily Graphic Newspaper has featured several articles in its weekly health column.
Contact Lynda Arthur hfghana@idng.com

7. Local health content in Nigeria blends tradition and science - by John Dada
An illustration of how communities in Nigeria are using new ICTs to document traditional healthcare knowledge.

8. World Links' AIDSWEB Project - Africa
Conducted in secondary schools in Africa using ICTs to carry out HIV/AIDS education and prevention activities. Project activities include an online HIV/AIDS international project, social action website design competition, teacher exchange visits, and HIV/AIDS educational print-to-electronic material adaptation.
Contact Anthony Bloome Abloome@worldbank.org

RADIO

9. AISI Radio Series
Aimed at creating greater awareness on the information society and to serve as a tool for media practitioners, especially radio broadcasters, to engage various groups in debating the role of ICTs in the development process. The series examines people's understanding of the role and impact of ICTs and raises questions on the issues of access and disparities in the African information society in general and also examines the state of ICTs in Ghana, Mali and Uganda.
Contact Aida Opoku-Mensah aopoku-mensah@uneca.org

10. From Dakar to Dhaka; Connecting Communities Radio Programme - Senegal & Bangladesh
A project to address the issues of information communication technology (ICT) and poverty reduction - particularly focusing on Senegal and Bangladesh. The outcomes of the project will be 3 radio series (in French, Bengali, and English), a video, and a website.
Contact Andrea Rose andrea.rose@bbc.co.uk

11. OneWorld Radio AIDS Network - Global
Offers services and networking for broadcasters and civil society organisations who are interested in using radio/audio to promote awareness through the exchange of news and public education on HIV/AIDS. A searchable database exchange of audio files that allows for upload and download of AIDS programming in any language. Radio stations around the world can rebroadcast this copyright-free material or adapt it for their own audiences.
Contact Siviwe Minyi siviwe.minyi@oneworld.net

LOCAL ACCESS

12. International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) - Africa
Works with local partners in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia - who develop local 'ICT for development' websites, newsletters, e-discussions, and awareness raising combined with local learning, research, and writing. The desired result is a dynamic community and vigorous debate in which local policies and projects (as well as key stakeholders like the media) are well-informed about the potential ICTs hold for development, and especially about local activities.
Contact Peter Ballantyne info@iicd.org

13. Internet Access for African Countries: Exploring the factors that hinder and help the development of Internet access in Africa - by Fred Kofi de Heer-Menlah
Looks at the current state of Internet access in the African countries of Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. Different approaches for hooking onto the Internet backbone are discussed with a view to the availability and cost to Internet services for the community at large.

14. Charter on African Media & the Digital Divide
"We the participants of the 6th annual Highway Africa conference...accordingly declare that: ICTs can help to link Africa internally and globally and are a critical component in addressing Africa's problems. Africa's media are central to these processes..."

15. APC ICT Policy Monitor - Africa
The primary goal of this website (APC ICT) is to enable the consideration of civil society needs in ICT policy development. The ultimate aim being that governments and policy makers recognise that access to and the use of ICTs is a basic human right.
Contact Heather Ford heather@apc.org

16. Adaptive Technology Centre for the Blind (ATCB)
A non-profit online resource and information technology centre established in 2000 that promotes the use of adaptive technology supportive of self-determination for visually challenged people in Ethiopia with the help of a volunteer workforce.

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Pulse Poll

Has the word "AIDS", with the help of communicators, become too associated with stigma and finality? Does the all-encompassing term HIV convey hope and possibility? With fewer people developing the clinical manifestations of AIDS, will the word "AIDS" still be adequate for care efforts? Isn't the existence of two words an unnecessary complication? Shouldn't we refocus on preventing the virus transmission? All of which leads to the following question...

Do you agree that communicators should increasingly make reference to HIV instead of AIDS or HIV/AIDS in their work?

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DISCUSSIONS, BULLETINS & JOURNALS

17. Kubatana.net - aims to strengthen the use of email and internet strategies in Zimbabwean NGOs and civil society organisations. A central Zimbabwean development, human rights and civic education electronic information source.

18. Kabissa Forum - for people interested in using technology to improve the lives of people in Africa.

19. Radio-Africa - a mailing list for discussing radio broadcasting issues in Africa.
Contact: ks_touray@fanafana.com

20. TV-Africa - discussing TV broadcasting in Africa.
Contact: ks_touray@fanafana.com

21. African Journalism Net (AJ-Net) newsletter - a free pan-African journalism newsletter designed to keep media professionals on the continent informed about the latest training opportunities, events & other new developments.
Contact Justin Arenstein editor@africanpress.com

22. Balancing Act News Update - weekly e-letter covering African Internet content & infrastructure development.
Contact info@balancingact-africa.com - subject "subscribe"

23. iConnect Africa - quarterly web, paper and email service that aims to raise awareness in the wider African development community regarding the possibilities offered by ICTs in development. It reports on activities forming part of the Africa Information Society Initiative (AISI) and Building Digital Opportunities (BDO), produced by ECA and IICD.
Contact Peter Ballantyne pballantyne@iicd.org OR Aida Opoku-Mensah aopoku-mensah@uneca.org

24. iConnect Ghana - quarterly online, offline and email service designed to enable the rapid effective and efficient use of ICTs as a tool for Ghana's development.
Contact editor@iconnectghana.org
To join the list, send a blank message to join-ginks@dgroups.org

25. PICTABulletin - monthly online publication providing information on activities of members in the Partnership for ICTs in Africa (PICTA) & news on ICT-related activities in Africa.

26. Pula - the Newsletter of the Association for Progressive Communications Africa Women (APC-Africa-Women). It aims to promote and profile the work and activities of women's ICT initiatives in Africa and to act as a communicative tool to link women to each other and to initiatives and opportunities.

27. UgaBYTES ICT news updates - monthly newsletter, intended for practitioners of ICTs for rural development and organisations working for and on behalf of rural communities and ICTs, that brings opportunities and challenges facing ICTs in rural areas, especially in Africa to the forefront.
To subscribe contact secretariat@ugabytesinitiative.org and include 'subscribe' in the subject line.

28. Africa-ir-public - highlights alerts and features from the APC ICT Policy Monitor website, including regular updates on Africa ICT policy.

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Many thanks to Aida Opoku-Mensah and the ICT for Development Team at the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) for their collaboration on this series of issues. Contact Ms. Opoku-Mensah, Team Leader, ICT for Development, UNECA aopoku-mensah@uneca.org

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