The Soul Beat 201 – ICTS for Development in Africa
In this issue of The Soul Beat:
- ICTS for citizen participation and government accountability...
- Soul Beat Africa GOVERNANCE THEMESITE...
- EMPOWERING WOMEN through mobiles and the internet...
- Mobile technology and MEDIA...
- PROMOTING HEALTH with online and social media...
This edition of The Soul Beat includes a selection of programme experiences, research documents, and resources related to the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development in Africa. Specifically, the newsletter looks at how ICTs are being used in the field of governance, women empowerment, health promotion, and in the media.
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DEMOCRACY, GOVERNANCE, AND ICTS
1. ICT4Democracy in East Africa Network - Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda
Launched in June 2011, ICT for Democracy in East Africa (ICT4DemEA) is a network of organisations undertaking collaborative projects using ICTs to promote transparency, accountability, and democracy. The network encourages collaboration and information sharing between democracy actors in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, with a view to catalysing the role ICTs can play in enhancing civic empowerment and improving governance. Member organisations are leveraging ICTs to hold leaders accountable to citizens, as well as to fight corruption, monitor service delivery, and contribute to building a democratic culture.
2. Africa i-Parliaments Action Plan - Africa
This Africa-wide initiative is designed to promote transparency, accountability, democratic participation, and good governance in Africa. Implemented by the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UN/DESA), the Africa i-Parliaments Action Plan works to achieve its objectives by promoting greater access to parliamentary information and the exchange of information among Parliaments through the use of ICTs. The project focuses on regional initiatives, such as the Bungeni Parliamentary and Legislative Information System, a suite of open source applications meant to improve the efficiency and efficacy of Parliamentary processes and systems, as well as the Africa Parliamentary Knowledge Network (APKN), meant to support capacity building activities, common services, sharing of experiences, and best practices.
3. E-governance and Citizen Participation in West Africa: Challenges and Opportunities
In 2009 the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA), carried out this exploratory study to gain a better understanding of e-governance practices in the region, focusing in particular on citizen participation. The study aimed to pave the way for future action and to document problems in this field. It focuses on six countries: Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, and Senegal.
4. Texting, Tweeting, Mobile Internet: New Platforms for Democratic Debate in Africa
By Tom Sarrazin
This report, published by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in January 2011, examines the sustainability, ethics, and quality, as well as the role of development co-operation, of citizen journalism in Africa. The study defines this kind of journalism as that produced by non-professionals and notes that it makes use of a wide range of tools including social media, the internet, and mobile phones to fill existing gaps in conventional news coverage.
5. Chanjo Ya Rushwa Campaign - Tanzania
Initiated by the Swedish Programme for ICT in Developing Regions (Spider), the Chanjo Ya Rushwa campaign combines music, mobile phones, and social media to raise public awareness of the corruption affecting the country and to give ordinary people a voice. The campaign, running from September 2011 to August 2012, is carried out by Jua Arts Foundation for the Children with Vitali Maembe and the Spirits, a Tanzanian band known for its Afro-fusion music and challenging lyrics. Photos and impressions from the campaign are posted on a project blog, and the performers highlight news on their Facebook pages.
6. Reforms Through Citizen Participation and Government Accountability
Between July 2011 and December 2012 the Kenyan Human Rights Commission (KHRC), with support from the Swedish Program for ICT in Developing Regions (SPIDER), is implementing a programme designed to increase citizen participation ahead of the scheduled August 2012 general elections using ICTs. The main objectives of the project are for local community-based organisations and particularly their youth membership to have an improved understanding and commitment to building a human rights state and society.
SOUL BEAT AFRICA DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE THEME SITE
For more knowledge and resources on Democracy and Governance and communication, visit Soul Beat Africa's Democracy and Governance Theme site.
Soul Beat Africa has also developed a networking space for organisations working in D & G in Africa to share information, network, build partnerships, and collaborate. Please join by registering here and ticking the box for the "Soul Beat Africa: Democracy and Governance Network".
7. Critically Absent: Women in Internet Governance: A Policy Advocacy Toolkit
By Anja Kovacs, Avri Doria, Bruno Zilli, Margarita Salas, and Women's Legal Bureau
This toolkit from the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) Women's Networking Support Program (WNSP) encourages women and their organisations to engage in political discussions regarding internet development with a vision of inclusion, fairness, and respect for women's rights. The authors' visions are that the toolkit be used to raise awareness and encourage participation in a new environment where women cannot and should not be absent.
8. How to Design an Online Campaign: A Toolkit
By Cheekay Cinco and Edna Aquino
Designed for and by women activists in 2011, this toolkit can be used by anyone seeking practical, step-by-step guidance on using ICTs in their social change campaigning. The guide, created by the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) Women's Networking Support Program (WNSP) and Violence is not our Culture (VNC), provides practical and accessible step-by-step advice, yet keeps a political and feminist eye. It was inspired by the workshops held in Asia and Africa for the partners and members of the VNC campaign.
9. Community Radio, Gender & ICTs in West Africa: How Women Are Engaging with Community Radio through Mobile
By Frances Fortune, Cindy Chungong, and Andrew Kessinger
This report, published in 2011, shares findings from a comparative study across three West African countries (Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea) to explore the current intersection between radio, gender, and ICTs. The research examines whether recent improvements in radio broadcast coverage and SMS technology are increasing women's access to information and providing them with a platform that adequately meets their needs, and tests whether implementing a SMS mobilisation programme, like FrontlineSMS, can increase women's engagement with local community radio programming.
10. Voices from Digital Spaces: Technology Related Violence against Women
By Flavia Fascendini, Katerina Fialova, Maia Marie (ed.)
This paper explores the links between the internet, cell phones, and violence against women and illustrates that technology-related violence impacts women as seriously as other forms of violence. It draws on findings from APC's MDG3: Take Back the Tech! project, which used ICT in an effort to help meet Millennium Development Goal #3 (MDG3) - promote gender equality and empower women - by working with women's rights organisations in 12 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The purpose of this paper is to assist women's rights groups working to end VAW to understand some of the implications of the intersection between these violations and ICTs.
11. The New Age of Radio: How ICTs are Changing Rural Radio in Africa
By Bartholomew Sullivan
This research report, published in 2011, shares findings from the African Farm Radio Research Initiative (AFRRI) related to how rural radio stations are incorporating ICTS to strengthen their work. According to the report, low cost, modern ICTs, including mobile phones, multifunction MP3 recorders, and interactive voice response (IVR) can dramatically increase the capacity of rural radio to help farmers improve food security in Sub-Saharan Africa.
12. Deepening Participation and Improving Aid Effectiveness through Media and ICTs: A Practical Manual Translating Lessons Learned into Daily Practice
By Patrick Kalas and Christoph Spurk
After more than ten years of support in the realm of ICTs for Development, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has looked back to review project reports, studies, and evaluations to distil lessons learned. This operational manual, conceptualised as a SDC working paper, summarises these findings and makes suggestions on how ICTs and media should be used, in combination, both in classical development programmes (health, rural development, and climate change), and for enhancing governance and accountability.
13. Mobile Media Toolkit: Making Media Mobile
The Mobile Media Toolkit, published by MobileActive in July 2011, is a resource to help professional and citizen journalists, news outlets, and media development organisations find, evaluate, and deploy tools for reporting and sharing content on and to mobile devices. The web-based toolkit contains a set of five primary sections, supplemented by additional features and resources that offer users articles and examples specific to certain elements of mobile media production.
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14. Mosquito Masher Game - Global
Created by Plan Canada, this malaria awareness game revolves around the idea of mashing enough mosquitoes to earn a real insecticide-treated mosquito-repellent bed net that will be distributed in Africa to save lives. The online game motivates people to help stop the spread of malaria, while also learning about it. According to Plan, players will earn points, collect power-ups, and learn interesting information about malaria and malaria prevention.
15. Genext: Small Families' Advocacy Campaign - Uganda
Launched in 2010, Genext is a nationwide participatory youth campaign in Uganda that is advocating for smaller family sizes. Implemented by the Uganda Health Marketing Group (UHMG), the project brings together youth aged 18 to 30 years as "Good Life" Ambassadors, who are rallying for a smaller population by 2013. In addition to advocacy with community leaders and through the media, the campaign uses online social media such as Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter to promote smaller families.
16. Stop TB By Using Interactive Mobile Communication - Uganda
The African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) and Text to Change are collaborating to use mobile-based strategies, such as quizzes, short awareness messages, and medicine adherence reminders, to promote health awareness and education about tuberculosis (TB). The goal of the project is to reduce mortality rates and the transmission of tuberculosis in Wakiso, Kiboga, Luwero, and Kyankwanzi Districts of Central Uganda by 2013.
17. Disease Surveillance and Mapping Project in Botswana - Botswana
Since June 2011, PING (Positive Innovation for the Next Generation), the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), HP, and mobile network provider MASCOM are collaborating to use mobile technologies to identify and respond to malaria outbreaks in Botswana. Healthcare workers received training to use the mobile devices to collect malaria data and upload reports, audio, and video. The phones allow facilities to submit regular reports back to the Ministry of Health (MoH) and give health workers the ability to report real-time disease outbreak data, tag the data with GPS coordinates, and issue SMS disease outbreak alerts to all other healthcare workers in the area.
SOUL BEAT E-NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES
See these previous e-newsletters related to ICTS:
The Soul Beat 180 - ICTs in Africa
The Soul Beat 157 - Mobiles for Development in Africa
To view ALL past editions of The Soul Beat e-newsletter, click here.
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