NigeriaTomorrow: In this issue...

1. eNigeria 2004 holds, with Youth as major stakeholders
2. United Nations-led African Youth in the Information Society discussions
end first week of proactive discussions

DETAILS FOLLOW:

1. eNigeria 2004 holds, with Youth as major stakeholders

This year's edition of eNigeria will see more youth involvement than last
year's. At the closing ceremony, youth will have 30 minutes to present
the "Nigerian Youth Declaration on the WSIS", and will host exhibitions
throughout the event (May 24-26) at the lobby of the event venue. You won't
have to look too far to locate the "Youth Innovation/Exhibition Stand"
where the best of Nigeria's innovation will be displayed!

Information from the organisers of the event reveals that some youth will
have registration waived for them while others will enjoy nice discounts.
please stay connected to www.yahoogroups.com/group/enigeria for more
details on youth involvement in this year's eNigeria event. See you
there.... and while at that, see the full details of the event below:

e-Nigeria is an annual International Conference on Information and
Communication Technologies as well as Exhibition and Gala Night in Nigeria.
The focus of the conference is to discuss current issues and developments
in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) as effective tools of
national development. e-Nigeria is also an avenue to recognize and reward
government bodies and institutions for their input in the development of
Information and Communication Technology in Nigeria.

It is obvious that the most current development in the global information
society is the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS). It is all about
recognizing that the technological revolution is transforming society in a
profound way and there is therefore, the need to bridge the existing
digital divide, thereby building an all inclusive Information Society. To
achieve the goal, a set of policy statement has been put in place with
corresponding Plan of Action to be implemented by all stakeholders i.e.
government, private sector, civil society including NGOs, the youths and
the media. For Nigeria to be part of the Information Society, it is
expedient to set in motion necessary machineries to implement the plan of
action and adopt “e” strategies - a new way of doing things, for growth and
sustainable development. Consequently, e-Nigeria 2004 would be focused on
the implementation of the WSIS Process in Nigeria.

The conference would be declared open by His Excellency, Chief Olusegun
Obasanjo, GCFR, The President and Commander in Chief, Federal Republic of
Nigeria. While Ministers, state governments and other top decision makers
would be in attendance.

Theme: Implementing the WSIS Process: The case of Nigeria
Venue: Shehu Musa Yar’adua Conference Centre, Abuja
Date: 24th - 26th May 2004
Time: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily

Objectives:

- To draw up strategies for the implementation of the WSIS process in
Nigeria
- To explore the framework for the development and use of Information and
Communication Technologies as the driving force of Nigerian economy
- To identify necessary ICT human resources and infrastructure required for
the deployment of e-strategies
- To proffer solutions to the challenges of ICT within the framework of
Nigeria economy
- To examine the existing strategies for national development and examine
strategies of re-designing them inline with the latest technologies and
applications in the global economic structure
- To showcase new developments and trends in the global ICT industry by way
of exhibition of various components that is relevant to the citizenry
- To recognize and reward organizations, government ministries/parastatals
and institutions of learning that have made outstanding contribution to the
development of Information and Communication Technologies in Nigeria Sub
Themes Transformation of Nigerian economy through the use of ICTs in the
newly emerging Information Society
- ICT Infrastructure Development for Nigerian economy
- Strategies for deployment of ICTs into Nigerian economy to achieve
sustainable growth
- Creating Enabling Environment for the development and deployment of ICT
in national economy
- To examine the existing strategies for national development and examine
strategies of re-designing them inline with the latest technologies and
applications in the global economic structure
- Issues in the design of ICTs as the driving force of Nigerian economy
- Sectoral Applications of IT policy: e-government, e-health, e-education,
e-commerce, e-judiciary

For more information: www.enigeria.org

=======

2. United Nations-led African Youth in the Information Society discussions
end first week of proactive discussions (www.dgroups.org/groups/aisi-youth-
l)

When the United nations Economic Commission for Africa mentioned the idea
of supporting youth through the "African Youth in the Information Society"
discussions, many knew that a new dawn had arrived in the quest to involve
youth in Information Society leadership in Africa.

The discussion is hosted by the UNECA at www.dgroups.org/groups/aisi-youth-
l, and the website says that, "The discussion aims to create a platform for
African youth to share experiences and knowledge in order to help develop
innovative approaches to their needs and to establish a dialogue with
public and other stakeholders in devising and implementing the WSIS action
plan at country and regional levels".

Discussions began on the 15th of March and a report of the first week of
discussions follow:

~"Most of the discussants believe that what the ECA is doing by supporting
youth - through this discussion - should be a model for African
governments to follow"~

INTRODUCTION

"African Youth and the Information Society". That was the topic of many
discussions, articles, eConferences and personal emails between much of
Africa's youth in the past few months. The phrase was discussed mostly by
youth who wished to contribute their own quota to the emanciupation of
Africa from economic incompetence, through the tool of Information and
Communication technologies - the driver of the New Economy and the
Information Society.

That explains the excitement that greeted the announcement of the United
Nations Economic Commission for Africa's (UNECA) readiness to host this
discussion early this year. Even though most of the youth who heard about
the discussions do not have consistent access to the web, they would be
glad to discuss this all-improtant issue, and were excited that such an
highly placed organisation was "interested in our plight afterall".

THE DISCUSSION BEGINS...

On the 15th of March 2004, Mr. Thierry Amoussougbo of the ECA sent an
introductory email, which was followed up (on the same day) by a welcome
message and "duty call" by 'Gbenga Sesan - who moderates the group's
discussions. Eustache Nguie Sino, our bilingual group member has kept the
language divide bridged since we began discussions with a daily summary of
discussions from both languages featured on the list, English and French.

WEEK 1

Discussions for the first week bagan immediately, with the mailing list
comprising 89 registered addresses representing much of Africa's
geographical spread (including that of some UNECA staff). Of these, 26
youth were active in the first week, with most of the emails and practical
examples coming from West, Central, Eastern and Southern regions of
Africa.

Discussants placed emphasis on the need to be practical, and most people
expressed thie displeasure at the verbal (lacking action) form that most
discussions and meetings in Africa seem to follow.

The first week's topic was, "In many countries there are a number of
national e-strategies being formulated and implemented. Are the youth
aware? What can African governments do to advance the cause of youth in
the Information Society?
What needs to be done in the area of ICT policy to enable this role? What
is being done at the national and regional levels?"

On the issue of awareness on African government strategies, most
discussants agree that there is some level of awareness, but that such is
limited to a few privileged youth. And in most cases, these youth have
discovered these policies not because of being invited, but due to their
personal interests - and at times, curiosity.

Most posts dwelt on the need for governments to involve, empower and
motivate youth in order to take positive progressive steps. Most
discussants believe that if youth are not involved, it only points to the
lack of readiness to promote sustainability in all the processes and
strategies involved. The need to motivate and recognise outstanding youth
was also emphasised. Most of the discussants believe that what the ECA is
doing by supporting youth - through this discussion - should be a model
for African governments to follow.

The wek's discussion came to a close with youth expressing complementing
opinions on the need for youth themselves to be proactive, and not waiting
for government inclusion before seeking to get involved. This has really
set the pace for next week's discussions which will focus on education.

CONCLUSION

The discussion is timely. Though the low participation at the beginning
may be due to various reasons, recent youth-led online discussions have
shown that progressing discussions tend to attract more youth who, having
seen the seriousness and possible impact in the discussions, will latch on
to the process and provide much flavour and direction.

Going into the second week wit a more personal, proactive and
decentralised topic, the "African Youth and the Information Society"
discussion seems set to help Africa's youth in their pursuit of bridging
the digital divide and providing practical solutions that can help Africa
in her bid to accelerate development through the use of ICTs.

+ end of report +

To join the discussions, please visit www.dgroups.org/groups/aisi-youth-l
and register.

--
'Gbenga Sesan
"Why? Why Not?" | www.gbengasesan.com
Paradigm Initiative Nigeria | www.pin.itgo.com

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: CPSR E$$ay Contest - 2003-2004
From: "Kwami Ahiabenu,II" <kwami@...>
To: "African Information Society Initiative - Discussion Forum" <aisi-
l@...>

CPSR E$$ay Contest - 2003-2004

Students will be awarded prizes and have their work published!

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility is committed to
educating
the public and our profession on the social implications inherent in
today's
information technology. The CPSR Essay Contest is intended to further
that
commitment, by encouraging faculty members to integrate topics of social
responsibility of information technology into their coursework, and
encouraging
students to consider the issues effecting their lives.

CPSR is looking for papers that will advance its work over the year
within its
Working Groups and interests:

. Community Networks
. Cyber-Rights
. DNS/Internet Governance
. Computers in Education
. Computers and the Environment
. Computers and the Law
. Elections Technology
. Ethics
. Participatory Design
. Privacy
. Reliability & Risk
. Women in Computing
. Working in the Industry


Rules

Papers must be the original work of students enrolled at accredited
schools
during the time that the paper is written, and not previously published.

Papers may be dual purpose in that they satisfy a class requirement.

A faculty member from the student's school must be willing to certify
that writers
were enrolled during the time that the paper was written, and that, to
the best
of their knowledge, the work is original.

Faculty do not need to agree with the paper's conclusions.

Required Format

Papers should be no more than 2,500 words in an easily email-shared
format
among Macintosh and PC software (i.e. text only or Word).

Papers may include text and graphics.

The body of the paper must not identify the author, sponsor, or school,
so that judging is performed entirely anonymously.


Required Separate Cover Sheet Information:

Title, Author Name, Address, Phone Number, Email, Author School
Affiliation
and Status (undergraduate or graduate)

Sponsor Name, Address, Phone Number, Email, and Abstract.

The body and separate cover sheet should be sent to contest@...
with
the name of the appropriate Working Group, Topic, and/or Title as the
Subject
(see below for essay suggestions).

Judging

Judges will be members of the appropriate CPSR Working Group or general
membership.

Judges cannot submit or sponsor papers for the Essay Contest during the
year.

The author of the paper judged most relevant to CPSR, with strong
content and
style, will be published on CPSR's web pages and awarded $200.

Authors of other meritorious papers will be published on CPSR's web
pages
and awarded $100.

And still others of merit may be published on CPSR's web pages and
receive
a free year of membership.
These selections are the final judgment of CPSR.


A paper may be withdrawn from the contest by the author up to the time
that it is
scheduled for publication. After that time, it may not be withdrawn.

Deadline for submissions is May 1, 2004.

Judgments will be made in August 2004.

This contest may be repeated after the 2004 summer recess.

CPSR can terminate the contest at any time, and can stop accepting
papers for any
period of time.

CPSR is not responsible for saving papers, or following up or
responding to
participants.

Entries not meeting contest requirements will not be considered.

Participating students and faculty may join or renew their memberships
in CPSR for
one year for $15 and $25, respectively.




_____________________________Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility (CPSR)  is the oldest non-profit, mass membership
organization
working on social impacts of computer technology.

To learn more, go to http://www.cpsr.org

To join, use http://cpsr.org/membership
__________________



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.631 / Virus Database: 404 - Release Date: 3/17/2004

---
You are currently subscribed to aisi-l as: [info@...] To
unsubscribe, forward this message to
leave-aisi-l-71138J@...


--
'Gbenga Sesan
"Why? Why Not?" | www.gbengasesan.com
Paradigm Initiative Nigeria | www.pin.itgo.com

Dear All,

In an ongoing e-discussion on Internet Governance commissioned by UNECA,a recent posting attracted my attention and I am forwarding it to all to read.

 

Essentially,it was an article written by a Nigerian lecturer on E-Commerce and Trade in a UK University.

 

Happy reading.

 

Davidson Okoko

Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam

> ATTACHMENT part 2 message/rfc822
Date: Wed, 17 Mar 2004 09:03:48 -0800 (PST)
From: YIELD INFOTECH NGO
Subject: Fwd: [ASN] Towards a Resolution of the Controversy on The Administration ofthe Nigerian Country Code Top Level Domain
To: yieldevelopment_1@...

Note: forwarded message attached.

Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam

> ATTACHMENT part 2.2 message/rfc822
To:
From: "Eskedar Nega"
Date: Tue, 16 Mar 2004 11:32:13 +0300
Subject: [ASN] Towards a Resolution of the Controversy on The Administration
ofthe Nigerian Country Code Top Level Domain


For your information re. dispute resolution on ccTLD

EN
*******************************************

Towards a Resolution of the Controversy on The Administration of the Nigerian Country Code Top Level Domain (.ng ccTLD)
 
Dr. 'Gbenga Bamodu
oobamodu@...
Bamodu@...
 

---

This article examines the background to the ongoing dispute over the delegation/re-delegation of the .ng Top Level Domain and some of the legal and policy considerations towards the possible resolution of the dispute. 

---

Thursday, January 22, 2004

_The ongoing and seemingly increasingly acrimonious dispute in Nigeria over who should have the delegation and, accordingly, be responsible for the administration of the .ng ccTLD is rather unfortunate.  Although the dispute has only recently attracted widespread reports and comment in the press, it is a dispute whose origin could be traced, ultimately, to a rather global un-preparedness due to the loosely structured and haphazard nature of the initial evolution of the Internet (and the World Wide Web) itself. The technology for the inter-linking of computers, now across the globe, would seem to have caught national policy makers and legislators essentially unprepared for the various ramifications and consequences.  Indeed, the technology still remains ahead of the law and policy, in many respects, in many countries as witnessed for example by the fact that Nigeria is yet to pass a law concerning e-commerce transactions.
In the present context, the body charged with the coordination of the domain name system in the early days of the Internet was the Internet Assigned  Numbers Authority (IANA) - operated by the Information Services Institute (ISI) of the University of Southern California - under a contract with the American Department of Defense's Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA). This responsibility has now been transferred to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). The policy underlying the delegation of the administration of ccTLDs early on by the IANA is set out in a Memorandum, RFC 1591, of 1994. Although the policy was to have ramifications for States, as witnessed by the present dispute, it was a policy informed by the private, close community-oriented setting of the early Internet era. Elements of the policy include the assignment of the administration of ccTLDs to a designated manager, who must be on the Internet, charged with operating and supervising the domain name system in the country concerned; that for each domain, there must be an administrative contact, who must reside in the country concerned, and a technical contact who, does not necessarily have to reside in the country. These designated authorities are regarded as trustees of the domain and, in particular, the designated manager is trustee of the ccTLD for both the nation concerned and the global Internet community. Provisions in the Memorandum suggest that the intent was to emphasise that the role of the designated authorities was one of responsibility and provision of a service to the national and global Internet communities rather than one of rights in or ownership of the concerned domain. Interestingly, however, the Memorandum also stated that the IANA was "not in the business of deciding what is anid what is not a country".
The provisions of  RFC 1591 concerned with ccTLDs were updated and put on a somewhat more formal basis in 1999 by an Internet Coordination Policy document (ICP-1) titled Internet Domain Name System Structure and Delegation (ccTLD Administration and Delegation) which, in the main, restates the concerned provisions of RFC 1591. Significantly ICP-1, as with a preceding 1997 Memo of the IANA (ccTLD News Memo No 1), already recognised the importance of taking into account the desires of governments with regard to the delegation of the ccTLDs for their countries and stated that such desires would be a major consideration in any TLD delegation or transfer discussions. Nevertheless, in the practical implementation of RFC 1591 earlier on, the practice seemed to have been to delegate the authority and responsibilities regarding ccTLDs to trusted individuals who did not necessarily have to be connected to the government of the country concerned. {See for example, the IANA Report on Re-delegation of the .tj (Tajikistan) Top Level Domain (2003) which is available online at http://www.iana.org/reports/tj-report-30jun03.htm} The practice then followed by the IANA is understandable in the context of the era, if not exactly forward-looking, when seen in the context that at the time in question knowledge and understanding of the Internet and its potential was limited. Moreover, there were no national authorities in most countries, except perhaps the United States, seriously concerned with the regulation of the Internet and neither was there an international organisation as such concerned with the subject.
At its most basic, the Nigerian ccTLD dispute centres around efforts to secure the re-delegation of the administration of the .ng ccTLD to a Nigerian non-profit organisation which efforts are being hitherto challenged and resisted by at least one of the persons currently listed as the designated contacts for the administration of the domain, in particular the administrative point of contact. According to current IANA entries at http://www.iana.org/root-whois/ng.htm concerning the .ng ccTLD, the person listed as the administrative contact is a Mrs. Iyabo Odusote, with a Nigerian contact address as required, with the person currently listed as the technical contact being Randy Bush of the United States while the Nigerian Government (undecided branch) and an entity called the Nigerian TLD Registration Service is listed as the sponsoring organisation. It is not unusual for the technical point of contact to be a person resident abroad in a case like this considering that many developing countries initially lacked the technical infrastructure and hosting facilities for a domain name service and so the designated technical point of contact would be a representative of the foreign provider of the necessary facilities. Thus, it is not unusual that Randy Bush for RGnet LLC and also of the Network Startup Resource Centre, a non-profit organisation assisting with developing network technology in Africa and other places, is listed as the technical point of contact for Nigeria. Indeed, prior to Randy Bush the person previously named as the technical point of contact for the .ng ccTLD was Abraham Gebrehiwot of the IAT (formerly CNUCE) Institute of the Italian National Research Council in Pisa, Italy which at that time was charged with the technical co-ordination of network services in Nigeria following the country's involvement in a UNESCO/Regional Informatics Network for Africa (RINAF) project.
In efforts to find a solution to the Nigerian ccTLD dispute, the paramount consideration should be what is in the best interests of the country, and of both the Nigerian and global Internet communities. Ultimately however, and from the legal perspective,  the body that will be finally responsible for any re-delegation of the Nigerian ccTLD is the ICANN whose duties include performing the IANA function concerning the delegation and re-delegation of ccTLDs. Delegation and re-delegation of ccTLDs are now covered by the ICANN's Principles for the Delegation and Administration of Country Code Top Level Domains of 2003 (presented by the Governmental Advisory Council and thus known as the GAC Principles). Following on from the position reached in ICP-1 (1999) and ccTLD News Memo No 1 (1997), the GAC recognises that the relevant government or public authority "ultimately represents the interests of the people of the country or territory for which the ccTLD has been delegated". Moreover, the GAC Principles also take account of the fact that the Internet has, since its inception, evolved, into an increasingly important vehicle for national economic growth among other things.
It is at least arguable that the GAC Principles, apart from acknowledging the importance of the role of the government in relation to the delegation of a ccTLD, implicitly recognises that the government should have the greatest influence in determining who should have the delegation of a country's ccTLD. Article 5.1 of the GAC Principles states in part that "the role of the relevant government or public authority is to ensure that the ccTLD is being administered in the public interest, whilst taking into consideration issues of public policy and relevant law and regulation". This is further strengthened by Article 5.2, which states in part that governments "maintain ultimate policy authority over their respective ccTLDs and should ensure that they are operated in conformity with domestic public policy objectives, laws and regulations, and international law and applicable international conventions." In light of these provisions, the desire of the Nigerian government to secure a re-delegation of the .ng ccTLD to an organisation of its own designation in accordance with its policy objectives and its responsibility for ensuring that the .ng ccTLD, recognised as a public resource by the ICANN, must be administered in the public or common interest, is understandable.
The consequent important question, reflected in the way that the Nigerian ccTLD dispute has evolved, then is to identify an effective and suitable organisation for the administration or delegation of the .ng ccTLD. From newspaper reports (The Vanguard of 21^st January 2004), it appears that a consensus is beginning to emerge that a new body representing all stakeholders, .nigNIC operating under the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), should be established and assigned the delegation of the .ng CCTLD. That body, or its representative, would be  designated as the administrative point of contact for the .ng ccTLD. In principle, there should be no objection to that body also serving as the technical point of contact if that body could also secure adequate arrangements concerning the technical infrastructure and hosting facilities for the technical operation of the .ng ccTLD. In this connection, while the Domain servers for the .ng ccTLD are presently outside Nigeria, it is about time that Nigeria itself arranges for the hosting of at least one primary Domain Name Server within the country.
The structural proposal that is emerging for the re-delegation of the .ng ccTLD to the proposed .ngNIC is one that is commendable being in the national interest, compliant with Nigeria's policy objectives for the administration of the .ng ccTLD, and is also compliant with the wider objective of protecting the interests of the Nigerian and global Internet communities. It is to be hoped that an amicable settlement of the dispute would be reached in the near future without further rancour. In the event of further stalemate, a possibility of course would be for the Nigerian government to seek a court order declaring its ultimate responsibility for the administration of the .ng ccTLD and its right to designate the party to be charged with the delegation/re-delegation of the domain. While this is a possibility, it is not the most desirable course. The mature course, which is also the country's best interest, is for the parties presently involved in the dispute to place as paramount the achievement of the most desirable structure for the administration of the .ng ccTLD and to relegate personal considerations. As consistently pointed out in the previously mentioned instruments of ICANN, the administration of the ccTLD is to be seen as a service to the Internet community rather than a proprietary issue.

---

Dr. Bamodu, a Nigerian qualified legal practitioner, teaches E-Commerce and International Trade Law at the University of Essex, United Kingdom. _______________________________________________
Africa Stakeholders Network mailing list
africa@...
http://www.unicttaskforce.org/perl/showdoc.pl?area=rn1

Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam

Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam

_______________________________________________
Africa Stakeholders Network mailing list
africa@...
http://www.unicttaskforce.org/perl/showdoc.pl?area=rn1

Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam

Dear All

The SADC has recieved a grant to run an ICT Literacy
Course from the Open Socity initiative for Southern
Africa (OSISA). countries involved are : Swaziland,
botswana, lesotho Mozambiqu, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi.

For more information you can contact
ashraf@... or visit www.osiafrica.org

Regards
Sabelo


=====

I love you, take care. " He who stands at the door sees the master first" Mark
13:35
Sabelo Junior Dlamini, P.O Box 6071 Manzini, Swaziland
Telephone +268 6058129Fax +268 5052485

other email : sabelojr@...




__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam
http://mail.yahoo.com

Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - More reliable, more storage, less spam

FYI

  hi Guys :)

  i got this email i think it will be intersting opportunity for our west
African youth

  cheers,

   Abdallah Diwan
Sustainable Development Association
www.takingitglobal.org    www.yesweb.org
http://profiles.takingitglobal.org/abdallahdiwan
abdallah@...
Mobile : + 2 010 6548 022


----- Original Message -----
From: "Kwami Ahiabenu,II" <kwami@...>
To: <gkd@...>
Sent: Friday, March 12, 2004 5:46 AM
Subject: [GKD] CFP: West African ICT Conference


> Call for Papers and Conference Announcement
>
> The 8TH West Africa Information and Communications Technologies
> Conference and Exhibition - AITEC WEST AFRICA 2004
>
> Intensive knowledge-sharing platform for Results
>
> WHO: AITEC GHANA, Ministry of Communications and Technology and Leaders
> in West African ICT industry will host The 8th West Africa ICT
> conference and Exhibition to facilitate a knowledge and information
> sharing platform on the future of ICT in West Africa and its
> developmental impact.
>
> WHAT:  A two- day conference
> WHEN:  1-2 June, 2004
>
> WHERE: Accra International Conference Center, Accra-Ghana
>
> Call for Papers
>
> Individuals and organizations are invited to submit proposals for
> Conference and Workshop Presentations at AITEC WEST AFRICA 2004. The
> theme for AITEC 2004 is:
>
> "BUILDING PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP AND CREATING OPPORTUNITIES THROUGH
> ICT"
>
> Presentations will be selected on the basis of their educational value.
> Commercial product or service promotion will not be permitted in the
> main conference programme. Companies can book presentations in the
> Enterprise Solutions Showcase for this purpose.
>
> KEY CONFERENCE SESSIONS
>
> 1. ICT's Infrastructure Policy and Action Plans
> 2. Business Process Outsourcing - BPO
> 3. ICT Strategic solutions and implementation
> 4. Interconnectivity - Challenges and Solutions
> 5. Inter-department relationships and influencing board decision-making
> 6. Corps de Spirit -Training and coaching end users in your organisation
>
>
> TRAINING WORKSHOP
>
> 1. Leadership, management and entrepreneurship.
> 2. Mechanism for successful Intranet deployment  - Case study
> 3. Security - Focus on Spam and viruses
> 4. Implementing Bar coding System
> 5. Information and Knowledge Management.
>
>
> CONCURRENT EVENTS
>
> World Summit on Information Society - WSIS Workshop
> 2nd National ICT's forum
> 1st National ICT's Award Gala Night
> ICT workshop for Journalist
>
>
> Submission Guidelines:
> Please email paper abstracts of not more than 400 words by 28th March
> 2004. They should include: the session title, proposed presentation,
> presentation title, author's name, institution, address, telephone,
> e-mail and URL.
>
> Abstracts should be e-mailed to Program Chair (Gershon Adzadi, PhD) at
> <gershon@...> indicating the author's last name in the title
> of the message.
>
> The Organising Committee will evaluate the abstracts. The Conference
> Co-odinating Office will communicate the results of the evaluation by
> 26th April 2004.
>
> Languages:
> Abstracts and papers may be written in any of the AITEC WEST AFRICA 2004
> official languages: English and French.
>
> DATES TO REMEMBER
>
> 29 March 2004: Deadline for receipt of abstracts.
> 25 April 2004: Communication to authors regarding the approval of the
> proposed submissions.
> 2 May 2004: Deadline for the submission of papers.
> June 1 - 2 2004: conference dates
>
>
> CONFERENCE REGISTRATION CONTACT
> Kwaku Baffour-Ansah
> AITEC GHANA
> Accra-Ghana
> kwaku@...
>
>
>
> ------------
> ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization***
> To post a message, send it to: <gkd@...>
> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to:
> <majordomo@...>. In the 1st line of the message type:
> subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd
> Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at:
> <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
>
>

Dear Mr Olatunji,

Thanks for the email, and after a couple of exchanges, we seem to agree
that the need will be to incorporate some activities into the event, and it
would require that a session is dedicated to youth (and possibly led by
them). During this session, the members of the Youth Caucus (YC) can:

- Showcase results from the National Youth Campaign: During the first phase
of teh WSIS, the Nigerian YC was in Kano (with assistance from NITDA), Port
Harcout, Lagos and a couple of other cities conducting an evaluation of
youth thoughts and input to the WSIS process (please see
www.ycdo.net/policy/wsis-nigeria) and these events were recorded - video,
and pictures. We intend to showcase this in multimedia format at the
eNigeria event in May;
- Showcase other IS-related youth-led projects (media, health, education,
software, networks, etc) at the event in order to say, "we're doing a lot;
we request recognition so that our colleagues can follow virtuous ways and
not vices; we request for support; we need a "central clearing house" with
adequate support from the academia, government, private sector, civil
society, media, et al)

I believe that it would also be a great thing for the Youth caucus to have
the honour of presenting (formally) the Nigerian Youth Declaration on the
WSIS to NITDA and the FG at the event. The declaration came out of
the "policy train", which received NITAD's blessings especially in Kano,
and it was incorporated in the final documents from the global Youth caucus
at the WSIS event in December 2003. This presentation can be done at the
opening or closing ceremonies, in order to show the importance of youth
input - and effort - in the implementation of policies and declarations.

We'd love to read from you on these suggestions, and assure you that we
remain committed to Nigeria's IT vision ... "To make Nigeria an IT capable
country in Africa and a key player in the Information Society by the year
2005 (next year!), using IT as the engine for sustainable development and
global competitiveness"

Thank you for the opportunity.

Sincerely,

'Gbenga Sesan
FOR: eNigeria YC

> Dear Gbenga,
> Nice to hear from u. Long time and compliments.
> Definately the youth caucus cannot be left out in any
> meaningful implementation of the WSIS Plan of Action.
> Pls let me have your detailed plan/programme so we can
> arrange how your group would feature effectively in
> eNigeria.
> As we are progressing with our arrangement, pls let me
> have your input soon.
> Cheers.
> Vincent
>
> --- 'Gbenga Sesan <me@...> wrote:
>> Good day sir, and compliments of the season.
>>
>> I wanted to make earlier enquiries about the
>> possibility of a Youth Caucus
>> for eNigeria 2004, and the beauty in it would be the
>> merger between this
>> said group and the WSIS Youth Caucus, noting that
>> the theme is the same.
>>
>> I look forward to reading from you so we can
>> mobilise early...
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>>
>> --
>> 'Gbenga Sesan
>> "Why? Why Not?" | www.gbengasesan.com
>> Paradigm Initiative Nigeria | www.pin.itgo.com
>>
>
>
> =====
> Vincent O Olatunji,
> Planning Research and Statistics Dept.
> National Information Technology Development Agency,
> Plot 695, Port Harcourt Cresent,
> Area 11, Garki, Abuja.
> Nigeria.
> Tel: 234 (9) 3142923 & 5 Ext. 129
> Fax: 234 (9) 3142924
>
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Finance: Get your refund fast by filing online.
> http://taxes.yahoo.com/filing.html


--
'Gbenga Sesan
"Why? Why Not?" | www.gbengasesan.com
Paradigm Initiative Nigeria | www.pin.itgo.com

Please respond to the email address indicated below. Please do not write
to YES about this posting. Our apologies for any cross-postings.
Thanks,
YES List Moderator
*******************************


This is a grant opportunity to build the capacity of civil society
organizations to analyze, track and advocate for responsible and
transparent government budgeting to ensure that policy and legislation is
backed up by sufficient sources of funding to meet the needs of the poor.

Please note that this message is being sent to you by YES in the spirit of
sharing information on NGO capacity building resources and opportunities.
YES is not affiliated or associated with Civil Society Budget Initiative.

Civil Society Budget Initiative

Civil Society Budget Initiative (CSBI) is a small grant making project
that
aims to promote civil society budget work in low-income countries. To this
end, CSBI will provide financial and technical support to 10
organizations for a two year period.  The Initiative is led by a steering
committee of civil society groups working on public budgets and is
coordinated
by the IBP.

CSBI is inviting "Letters of Interest" from civil society organizations
interested in receiving financial and technical support to build their
capacity to
carry out effective analysis and advocacy work on government
budgets.  Eligible countries for the first year selection include Bolivia,
Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ethiopia, Honduras, Indonesia, Malawi, Mongolia,
Mozambique, Nicaragua, and Senegal.  The requests for "Letters
of Interest" are available in English
<http://www.internationalbudget.org/ENGLISH.pdf> , French
<http://www.internationalbudget.org/FRENCH.pdf> , Spanish
<http://www.internationalbudget.org/SPANISH.pdf> , and Portuguese
<http://www.internationalbudget.org/PORTUGUESE.pdf>  providing the
eligibility criteria, application process and the timeline for
applications.

While CSBI prefers to receive applications in English it will accept
applications in French, Portuguese, and Spanish.  Please disseminate the
calls for
"Letters of Interest" widely to civil society organizations in
these countries.  For further information write to csbi@....

Deadline for applications is February 28, 2004.  Funding for one year can
be
up to US$40,000.

Web Site for further information:
http://www.internationalbudget.org/CSBI.htm

International Budget Project of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
820 First Street, NE Suite 510
Washington, DC 20002
Tel: 202 408 1080 | Fax: 202 408 1056
info@...

--------------------------------------------

Fellowship on HIV/AIDS Research in Africa

Fellowship Program:

The International African Students Association (IASA) and the African
Regional Youth Initiative (ARYI) are pleased to announce a Fellowship
program to provide a stipend of *$300 to two young Africans in Africa
to
conduct social and behaviour research on HIV/AIDS or malaria in their
local communities.

The researchers in Africa would receive financial assistance and pair
them up with the individuals and/or institutions working in the
research
community located in or outside Africa to provide mentorship and
advice
on the design and implementation of the proposed research.

The purpose and objectives of this program is to provide:
-Young Africans with the resources to conduct much needed grassroots
research;
-Provide researchers with mentors in the HIV/AIDS or malaria social
research community whom they would submit research results and
receive
feedback on research methodologies.
- Researchers in Africa with the opportunity to transform research
results to tangible workable projects that will positively impact
their
communities.

The type of research supported through the Fellowship program
includes,
but is not limited to:
- Identifying means to improve support structures for children
affected
by HIV/AIDS
- Effective community strategies and policy responses to reduce HIV
transmission or malaria
- An investigation into carer networks for people with HIV/AIDS
- Psycho-social context of AIDS
- Household behaviour in acquiring and using treated bednets to
prevent
malaria
- AIDS and its impacts on local healthcare system infrastructures
- Community-based interventions to preventing malaria
- Research Linking Vulnerable Children, Communities, and Local
Government
- Barriers to accessing treatments
- Socio-economic disadvantage and HIV

The goal of the proposed research should address education and
prevention
(i.e. educating people about preventing HIV infection or malaria) and
overall explore ways to assist individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

Eligibility:

Applicants for the Fellowship program must be students or young
professionals under the age of 35 years residing in Africa having an
interest in social research. Women and individuals with disabilities
are
strongly encouraged to apply.

Application Instructions:

The following materials must be submitted:

Letter of application: The letter of application should include a
description of the proposed research, past research accomplishments
and/or interests, as well as an explanation of the projected
activities
during the period of the financial support and proposed amount of
time
to complete research.

Curriculum Vita: A vita including professional accomplishments,
publications, awards and honors. Applicant name, mailing and e-mail
address much be visible at the top of the curriculum vita.

References (2): Names and their mailing/e-mail contacts of two
persons
who have prior knowledge of your research interests and past
accomplishments.

Application materials and written references should be emailed to:
iasa_aryi@...

Applications should be submitted in English or French. Applications
in
other languages should be accompanied by English translation.
Application Deadline: April 23th, 2004.

Selection Process:
A committee consisting of members of IASA and ARYI will select the
research fellows. Applicants will be notified of the committee's
decision
approximately six weeks after the application deadline.

*The amount of the stipend will increase periodically as funds become
available and IASA and ARYI will connect participants with
organizations
that could provide more funding to further implement the programs.

About ARYI
The African Regional Youth Initiative (ARYI) is a collaboration of
youth
and community-based projects and organizations in Africa working to
fight
HIV/AIDS and Malaria. In recognition of the call for support of
community-based organizations issued by the Atlanta Declaration on
HIV/AIDS and Malaria in Africa, ARYI supports community action
through
community mobilization, rural development, and advocacy as strategies
to
combat these diseases.

The mission of ARYI is to unite the work of youth and community-based
organizations in the various African regions by collaborating on
community-based initiatives, sharing resources, collecting, analyzing
and
disseminating information, and learning from each of our experiences.
Website: www.aryi.interconnection.org/

About IASA
International African Students Association (IASA) is a non-profit
umbrella
organization for African students and adults in the Diaspora.
IASA's mission is to create constructive opportunities for Africans
and
friends of Africa to contribute to the development of Africa by
offering
work fellowships with organizations serving the African Continent and
assisting in providing resources for Africans in the diaspora.
Website: www.iasaonline.org

THAT Africa is fast becoming a big market for telecommunications was
amply demonstrated last weekend when industry stakeholders gathered
at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg, South Africa, to
explore new ways of taking the business through the roof while
expanding services to hitherto underserved areas.

But while acknowledging the vast development taking place in the
sector, nearly all the speakers agreed that operators would have to
domesticate telecom technology to make it work in the African
environment, embark on meaningful reform which can create the right
environment for business while some suggested quite strongly that the
people would have to be taken into consideration in the pricing of
telecom products.


Even before these steps are taken however, Brian Neilson of BMI-T in
his paper, Benchmarking Telecoms development across Africa:
indicators and drivers, predicted a boom in the mobile business while
also explaining that Financing the infrastructure race and access to
submarine cable, and declining average rate per user (ARPU) are some
of the challenges that operators would have to face in the next few
years.

Group Chief Executive of MTN, Phuthuma Nhleko shares in this optimism
even as he sketched the business as a win-win situation for anybody
who would dare invest in the sector. Buttressing his position with
two films, Where Eagles Dare and Who Dares Wins, Phuthuma noted that
quite a number of indices now exist in Africa encouraging
investments. One of such factors is NEPAD - New Partnership for
African Development which is intended to stimulate a relationship
amongst African countries using communication technology as a major
tripod.

Explaining why all eyes seem to be turning on Africa, he explained
that in the face of the prolonged global down-turn in the telecoms
sector, where traditional markets in Europe and the US are almost
saturated, looking at teledensity statistics, Africa remains very
much virgin territory. The reason is that Africa is the continent
with the least amount of telephones, with 7.36 per 100 inhabitants
compared to 24.41 in Asia and 92.10 in Europe.

Effects of the down-turn, according to Phuthuma was such that
investments in fixed line operations were not attractive; while for
investors, the risk of investing in developing countries, including
Africa, just does not seem to justify the rewards.

Also for Africa, lack of telecommunications skills, deteriorating
basic infrastructure, over and under-regulated environments,
political instability and financial constraints posed impediments to
major expansion in the sector.

Perhaps speaking as the boss of a company that has taken a few risks
across the continent with generous results to show, Phuthuma pointed
out:

* However, despite these challenges, Africa is a place where telecoms
companies can perform well

* The pace at which mobile markets in sub-Saharan Africa have grown
over the past few years - and the speed at which individual
operators, including start-ups, have been profitable - is a
reflection of the conducive environment

* The continental telecom performance related to the commitment to
reforms in the sector, the huge pent-up demand for telecom services
and tools and the success of bold investors, which are changing
sentiments

* Strongly related are steps taken to: privatize state-owned wireline
telco's; introduce competition to achieve FDI, teledensity, economic
development and universal access; and ensure consistent and
independent regulation.

Said Phuthuma: "The dividends of telecoms reforms are manifest in the
impressive growth of mobile communications despite global downturn;
and the related funding challenges and the inherent obstacles of
doing business on the continent.

On why Africa has become the new bride to investors, he illustrated
with developments in the mobile sector. According to him:

* Demand for mobile phones has outstripped expectations - telecoms
operators are experiencing an explosion in subscriber numbers

* As a result, in 2001 Africa became the first region where mobile
phones outnumbered fixed-line phones

* In 2002 there were 35 million mobile phone users in Africa

* Recent figures from the ITU indicate that there will be at least
100 million mobile phone users in Africa by 2005.

The Role of Nigeria in the telecom growth index With an exploding
population and a market that yielded over 3million lines in two
years, and still demonstrating insatiable appetite, Nigeria has
become the most attractive market and holds the key to massive
telecom explosion in the continent.

Within the two years of introducing the GSM technology, the country
was recently hailed by the ITU as the fastest growing market in
Africa and one of the fastest in the world. Most speakers at the
South African summit were of the opinion that Nigeria could continue
to provide the leadership needed for growth especially in an emerging
but vital market with a lot of pent-up demand.

While MTN narrated their experience in trying to satisfy the huge
demand in the Nigerian market, which is now illustrated with the
company's base station that got saturated in just 20 minutes, Vodacom
which by now may be regretting their conservative philosophy of not
taking risks in new markets, informed of their investigation in the
sector preparatory to coming into the market. The company signed a
management agreement with Econet Nigeria late last year.

However, Engr Ernest Ndukwe, whose paper, 'Encouraging African
telecoms growth - legislation, regulation and licensing', provoked a
lot of excitement gave details of what has led to telecom explosion
in the country, adding that new reforms in the sector and recent
activities in the industry, will make the Nigerian market a better
place for investors.

He advocated strong regulatory environment, pointed sector reform,
and market liberalization that can encourage the sector. Sector
reforms, he explained, are expedient for the following reasons:

* Improve services

* Eradicate misuse of monopoly powers

* Attract local and foreign investment

* Encourage innovation and introduce advanced services

* Generate government revenues

* Increase sector efficiency through competition

He insisted that liberalization of the sector is even more urgent
because in Africa government is unable to support funding or appoint
the right people that can change the sector radically.

As a regulator, he informed that things have moved in the right
direction in Nigeria. For instance, the new law which came into being
in July last year, significantly empowers the NCC by giving it
operational and financial independence from the Ministry of
Communications. He submitted that regulators across the continent
will need such independence from the government if they are to
perform meaningfully to the satisfaction of their people.

Pressed to speak on the situation in the West African sub-region,
Engr Ndukwe who is also the Chairman of WATRA (West African
Regulators Association), declared: "Many countries don't have good
laws, no funds, no good regulatory bodies. One of the big problems in
Africa is that quite a number of regulators go cap in hand begging
for funds."




In the emerging telecom world, he counseled, the regulator must be in
a strong position to enforce certain laws and decisions that may be
resisted by the operators but which are taken in the interest of the
subscribers who ultimately are the most important in the market place.

The summit with the theme, 'Identifying market potential for growth
of mobile and fixed line communications', was organized by the
Institute for International Research. It featured a number of
industry operatives, professionals, academicians among others at the
three-day summit. Nigeria had a fairly large representation which
include the Chairman of the NCC Board, Chief Ahmed Joda, Engr Muthari
Zimit also of the NCC, Shola Taylor, Kunle Bello and Prof Melvin
Ayogun who teaches Economics at the University of Cape Town.

Dear Friends,
    Below is an opportunity to participate in an open
source conference in Ghana;

African Free and Open Source Software Training
March 1st - 28th, 2004 at FOSSREC, Accra, Ghana

http://www.fossfa.org/tiki-read_article.php?articleId=12

This is a Train-the Trainers Programme with the
objective of building high-end human capacity in
Africa on Open Source and Web technologies to
support the gradual integration of Free and Open
Source Software into the continent as a whole.

The focus of the training is in Open Source systems
administration and network management, productivity
solutions based on web and client/server technology
and platform integration via TCP/IP.

Focusing on groups of sub-regional technology experts
that can map out a strategy for Open Source solutions
to benefit NGOs and Civil Society.

This practical training workshop will, for the first
time, will help advocate Free and Open Source Software
(FOSS) across Africa.

This course aims to impart a sound knowledge of system
administration of Linux systems, train young men and
women to become programmers.

Areas covered include user administration, storage and
the file system, network services (Web service, FTP,
file sharing, LDAP, etc) and security.

On completion, attendees should have the skills and
resources required to manage a Linux-based server
system with minimal
supervision.
..
Visit also http://www.ghana.net/fossrec for more
information or send an
email to fossrec@...


Regards,

Leopold Armah,
Accra - Ghana


________________________________________________________________________
BT Yahoo! Broadband - Free modem offer, sign up online today and save £80
http://btyahoo.yahoo.co.uk

The Intellectual group, a youth led organization based in Ladoke
Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) in Ogbomoso, held a day
IT seminar on Saturday 24 January, 2004 at the 1200 seaters lecture
theatre.

The seminar tagged "IT as a tool for youth empowerment" was well
attended by the students and other young people from across the
country. Though the turn out was a bit low to the number of people
expected to attend the seminar, the seminar was still able to do
justice to the purpose it was designed for.

In his welcome address, the president of The Intellectual Group,
Olawale Rotimi, made it known that many people have given up trying
and as if that is not enough. He said they have convinced many other
people from making an attempt. He encouraged the gathering to
improve, develop, and also to groom themselves. He told them that
their talent is their passport to fulfillment in life. He finally
charged the young people to reach for the top, to acquire the
necessary skills, to refine their talents, to nurse an idea and then
they shall surely make.

The current Information Technology youth ambassador, Edward Popoola,
a computer science student at the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo
University Ife, a web designer and also represents ideal Nigerian
youth talked about making positive use of the internet. He
highlighted so many positive things youth can do with the Internet
and several other opportunities available to youth on the Internet.

Babatope Soremi, the project manager of West Africa NGO Network
(wangonet) based in Victoria Island, Lagos also made a wonderful
speech at the seminar. Babatope, a young dynamic and very vibrant
young Nigeria, spoke on "IT and the future of Nigerian youths". He
talked about the challenges facing Nigerian youths as well as
opportunities available to them on IT. Babatope Soremi a crusader in
the effort to raise the level of IT awareness amongst young
people .He speaks at various workshops and conferences across the
nation. He has represented Nigerian youths at conferences around the
globe.

Another wonderful speaker at the seminar was Mr. Igho Oferen, who
spoke on "Youth as a catalyst in Building a New Nigeria". Igho Oferen
was until recently a Senior Manager at Midas Bank PLC,a new
generation Bank based in Lagos Nigeria. He is currently the CEO of
Rohic Consulting also based in Lagos. Igho is a speaker of substance
who believes in inspiring, motivating and empowering youth people to
make something good out of their lives. He made a fantastic speech at
the seminar and urges the youths to be the change they want to see in
their respective community.

Nigeria's first and ex- IT youth ambassador, Gbenga Sesan was another
incredible speaker that graced the occasion. Gbenga Sesan, the
Coordinator of Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, a youth led group based
in Nigeria. He is also the co-founder of Africa Youth Initiative.
Gbenga Sesan who has represented Nigerian youths for over two years
at various seminars worldwide is also an advisor to The Intellectual
Group.

In the paper he delivered titled "IT: a tool for positive change"
Gbenga Sesan dealt with the issue of the need to embrace Information
technology as the only valid passport allowing entry into the
Information Society. The full presentation explored such important
concepts as the digital divide, Information and knowledge
technologies, and the new economy.

Gbenga Sesan who has received several national and international
awards amongst them are, "Frontier of Technology in Nigeria" awards,
Excellent in Information Technology Awards, International
Telecommunications Union's Africa 2001 Youth Fellowship" awards and
the "Ten outstanding Great Ife Alumni" Awards. Only recently, he was
honored as one of the "Ten outstanding persons in Nigeria".

The seminar was indeed a great one as it served the purpose it was
designed for and everybody was happy about it. All the speakers
really inspired, motivated, and empowered the gathering with their
powerful speeches. The seminar was indeed a great one.

Announcing The World Summit in Reflection: a deliberative dialogue on
WSIS

The journal of Information Technologies and International Development
(ITID) and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law
School invite you to contribute to a special dialogue on the outcomes,
outputs, and experiences from the World Summit on the Information
Society. As an impartial academic platform, we will give voice to a
diverse range of thoughtful viewpoints – some critical some
congratulatory – but all constructive. These contributions will be
assembled into a series of deliberative reports that we hope will help
chart a course towards the 2005 meeting in Tunis.

For more on ITID: http://mitpress.mit.edu/ITID
For more on the Berkman Center: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu

Call for Submissions
Initial short editorial and opinion pieces are solicited for a special
edition of the ITID Forum to be published in early 2004 by the MIT
Press. Contributions should be 500-1000 words and submitted on or before
14 January 2004. We particularly encourage unique voices and
contributions, a range of opinion and style, and specific comment as
opposed to broad generalities.

Instructions for authors can be found at the ITID website,
http://mitpress.mit.edu/ITID, and submissions are preferred by email to
itid-ed@....

Longer research pieces and commentaries on the summit are also
solicited; expressions of interest in developing longer pieces are
welcome and should also be sent to the Editors at itid-ed@.... It is
anticipated that these longer research and editorial works will form an
edited volume to be published in late 2004.

The WSIS Discussion Blog
Bloggers are invited to an open real-time discussion blog on the Summit
hosted by the Berkman Center. Please visit
http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/wsis/ to add your thoughts and read other
contributions. With the permission of the author, commentaries blogged
to this site will be considered for re-publication in World Summit in
Reflection outputs.

Project Editorial Committee
Michael L. Best, Editor-in-Chief, ITID
Ernest J. Wilson, III, Editor-in-Chief, ITID
Shanthi Kalathil, Managing Editor, ITID
Colin Maclay, Berkman Center for Internet and Society
Geoffrey Kirkman, Watson Institute for International Studies

Additional contact information
The World Summit in Reflection
Attn: Dr. Michael L. Best
The Nunn School of International Affairs
Georgia Institute of Technology
781 Marietta Street, NW
Atlanta, GA  30332-0610 USA
michael.best@...

HUMAN RIGHTS EDUCATION GRANTS AVAILABLE
http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/9/civilsup/actproj.htm
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
(OHCHR),
together with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is
launching
the 4th Phase of the Assisting Communities Together (ACT) Project,
which
makes grants up to US$ 5,000 available for community-based
organisations to
support them in their human rights education activities.


SOUTH AFRICA: PROJECT COORDINATOR
The International Human Rights Exchange (IHRE)
The International Human Rights Exchange (IHRE) is seeking a dynamic
and
energetic full time Project Coordinator to work on this intensive,
month-long, international, interdisciplinary course in human rights
that is
offered each June-July. The IHRE consists of a consortium of 14
partner
universities and colleges in Southern Africa and the United States.
The
Project Coordinator is formally employed by the South African
secretariat
which is based at the University of Cape Town and is subject to its
personnel and administrative policies.
Further details: http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=18308





I'm very excited to be able to tell you that the delegate
applications for the 2004 Tunza International Children's Conference
on the Environment are available on-line as of TODAY! Please note
that the deadline for the applications has been extended to December
15th 2003.

If you go to our website at www.icc04.org and click on the APPLY NOW
link you will be brought to a page where you can get all the details
of the conference by downloading the conference brochure. The
brochure is available in English, French and Spanish. (Thank you to
all our translation volunteers!) Then you can click on the link that
brings you to where we explain the application procedure. From there
you can fill out the form ON-LINE to get a group number, apply as a
child delegate or as an adult chaperone.

The on-line forms are currently available in English only, but the
French and Spanish will be available soon.

Please forward this message to everyone you know who might be
interested in applying or who might know children interested in
applying. The conference is open to children who will be between the
ages of 10 and 13 as of July 19, 2004. I have also attached a text
message with information on the conference for you to use if you want
to forward this e-mail to people who do not already know about the
conference.

APOLOGIES FOR CROSS-POSTINGS
WORKSHOP ON WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY ON THE
THEME "THE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF THE INFORMATION SOCIETY TO
GHANA"

Dear Colleagues,
Special invitation has been extended to young Ghanaians to
participate in a workshop on World Summit on the Information Society
(WSIS) under the theme "The Opportunities and Challenges of the
Information Society to Ghana".
  The workshop is been organized by Ghana's Draft Committee on the
WSIS under the auspices of the Ministry of Communication and
Technology and in collaboration with the United Nations System in
Ghana.  It will take place at the Civil Servants' Auditorium at
Ministries on Wednesday, 26th November 2003. Registration starts at
08.00am with discussion beginning at 09.00am prompt, ending at 1.00pm.
As you may be aware the first phase of the World Summit which takes
place in Geneva from 10 – 12 December 2003, will provide a forum for
states and various organizations and groups to develop a better
understanding of the Information evolution and its impact on the
international community. It will also consider the smooth co-
ordination of the practical establishment of the Information Society
worldwide.
Ghana's workshop will consider the opportunities and challenges the
Information Society will offer and pose to various sectors how
prepared the country is to be part of the emerging Information
society.
The youth are therefore invited to participant and  promote the
interest of young people in the whole Information Society under the
umbrella of Ghana's WSIS Youth Caucus, which is been coordinated by
African Youth Initiative. This is a great opportunity for us as young
people  to push for youth involvement in decision making and
implementation since we make up over 60% of Ghana's total population
(based on Ghana's year 2000 population census)
To participate as a youth representative, please send a mail to
info@... with the subject "Ghana's WSIS Youth Caucus" .
You can also  call either +233 – (0)24 – 699905 or +233 – (0)20 –
8165057.
              The Government, International Organizations, women, the
disabled, internet service providers, telecommunications operators,
the media, academia, TUC, financial institutions, security services,
NGOs among others are also expected to be part of the workshop.
               Colleagues, this is an opportunity for us to speak for
ourselves and take our rightful place in the whole Information
Society process. I believe with one voice the appropriate bodies
will  hear us.

Arise Ghana Youth for your country, you nation demands your devotion.

Below is the programme outline.


Regards,

Leopold Armah



PROGRAMME FOR ONE DAY WORKSHOP ON THE WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION
SOCIETY 26TH NOVEMBER 2003. AT CIVIL SERVICE AUDITORIUM


THEME:            THE OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES OF
THE
                                      INFORMATION SOCIETY TO GHANA

08.00 a. m : Arrival and Registration of Participants.

08.30 a. m : Arrival of Officials and Resource Persons.

09.00 a. m. : Introduction of Chairman / Panel Members

Chairman's Response - Hon. Akwasi Afrifa
Chairman, Parliamentary
Select Committee on
Communications.

10 minutes statement by Ag. Director general of National
Communication Authority.

10 Minutes statement by the UN Resident Representative.

Keynote Address by the Minister of Communications.

9.30 a.m. : OBSERVATION / CONCERNS / RESPONSE BY PANEL/
                                     DISCUSSION

. Youth Caucus
. Civil Society
. Trade Union Congress
. Civil Servants Association
. Media
. Association of Persons with Disabilities
. NCWD / Women's Groups
. Private Sector Entrepreneurs
. Academic Sector etc.

12.30 p.m. : Closing

Refreshment.

Job Title: OKN Mobile Business Manager, Open Knowledge Network East Africa

Background: The Open Knowledge Network (OKN), www.openknowledge.net is a
non-profit initiative linking existing grassroots information and
knowledge-sharing initiatives.  Its aim is overcome the digital divide by
promoting the creation and the exchange of local content as widely as possible
across the developing world, supported by a range of different information and
communication technologies (ICTs).  It arose from the G8 Digital Opportunity
Taskforce (DOTForce) and is supported by DfID and Industry Canada.

OKN Mobile, supported by the Vodafone Group Foundation, is developing mobile
data/Voice/Text-To-Speech services (on health, agriculture, employment, etc)
targeting OKN beneficiaries via a sustainable business model. This is a unique
12-month opportunity for an experienced hands-on social entrepreneur to
implement our business model. This highly motivated individual will be capable
of managing a small team and achieving results quickly in order to ensure
success.

Location: Nairobi, Kenya

Salary: Negotiable (depending on skills and experience)

Candidate Profile
„h You have 5-10 years business experience ideally in the telecommunications
and/or media sectors
„h Outstanding marketing & communications capabilities
„h Superior relationship management and representational ability
„h Understanding of and appreciation for Bottom of the Pyramid business models
and/or practical experience managing commercial operations (ideally) including
an element of social entrepreneurship
„h Track record in fundraising/revenue generation, project & team management
„h Passionate belief in the role of ICTs/GSM for Development

Responsibilities
Responsible for successful implementation of the OKN Mobile business plan.

Oversee work streams in the following areas:
„h Relationship Management with telco operator
„h Negotiating content and advertising partnerships with third parties
„h Technical project management
„h Community Outreach/ Market Research

Duration: 1 year. The idea is to establish an ongoing operation. Part of the
challenge will be generating funds through grants until the initiative is fully
self-sustaining through its own revenue generating activities.

Languages: English, Kiswahili

Start Date: Jan 2004

Closing Date: Please apply to Ann Longley (ann.longley@...) with CV and
covering letter by Nov. 24, 2003

Interviews: To be held in Nairobi, Nov 26-28, 2003


--- You are currently subscribed to okn as: titiakinsanmi@... To
unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-okn-41455I@...

The program, which provides 430 scholarships, is intended for women in the African countries of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco, and the Asian countries of Bangladesh, Mongolia, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

IT SCHOLARSHIPS FOR NORTH AFRICAN AND ASIAN WOMEN JOURNALISTS

Internews has launched a major information technology (IT)
training program for African and Asian women working in the media and other communication sectors.

The program, which provides 430 scholarships, is intended for
women in the African countries of Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco,
and the Asian countries of Bangladesh, Mongolia, Nepal and Sri
Lanka.

The scholarships are reserved for "exceptional" women from low-
income communities who already use IT for public benefit, who can demonstrate entrepreneurship, and who have the potential to become local role models for girls in their societies.

The initiative forms part of Internews' DOT-GOV program, funded by USAID, and managed by the International Institute for education (IIE). Successful applicants will join CISCO's Networking Academies, which are already located in the North African countries.

Training will include advanced courses in writing, problem
solving, Web design, and a series of other technical IT subjects.

Anyone interested in participating learning more should contact
Sarah Tisch at Internews at Tel.: (202) 833- 5740, ext. 203, or
via e-mail: stisch@....

The Internews Web site is <http://www.internews.org.>http://www.internews.org.

IMPACT YOUR GENERATION!!!

Hi all,

I need copies (soft/hard) of IT/ICT policies across Africa. If your country has either or both could you send me the relevant link or email it as an attachment to titi.akinsanmi@...?

 

Thank you.

 

Titi Akinsanmi

IMPACT YOUR GENERATION!!!

---

Do you Yahoo!?
Protect your identity with Yahoo! Mail AddressGuard

To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
wsisyouthafrica-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com



Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.

IMPACT YOUR GENERATION!!!

Feel free to distribute and translate. Also available on
www.crisinfo.org

Terms of Reference: CRIS/EED South Participation fund

EED (The Church Development Service, Germany) has generously granted
funds for the facilitation of participants to CRIS related activities.
The CRIS campaign is glad to inform you that it will be able to partly
sponsor active CRIS members and supporters to events that we feel are
key to the campaign for Communication Rights in the Information Society.

Criteria:
1. support available is primarily for participation in CRIS campaign
meetings, including working groups, the coordinating committee and
regional events
2. the event which the beneficiary attends should be an important one
for
the development of CRIS, and the beneficiaries presence should
contribute
to this
3. beneficiaries should be from countries/organisations who could not
afford to take part in CRIS meetings if such assistance was not
available
4. beneficiaries should be (or become) active members of one or more
CRIS working groups and should bring relevant expertise to the meeting

Overall requirement:
Please provide a short statement showing how your application fits
within the above criteria together with a budget estimate. The panel is
particularly interested in any information related to past activities
within the CRIS campaign. Additionally, specific activities and
requirements will be asked of the grantee, based on the specifics of the
event (please see below).

Process:
The applications will be sent to a grant allocation panel constituted of
3 CRIS participants. The decision will be made by the panel and the
candidates will be advised of the allocation in due course. All grants
will be allocated only on the basis of receipts sent to the
administrator of the grant. CRIS is currently looking to support 3
individuals to attend the following event. Please note that CRIS will
only cover part of the costs, up to Euro1418 per participant. The rest
of the costs will have to be covered by other sources.

The World Summit on the Information Society: 7th to 14th December 2003

The World Summit on the Information Society will be held in Geneva from
10th to 12th December 2003. The CRIS campaign will be heavily involved
in Summit activities as well as in parallel events, in particular as the
coordinator of the World Forum on Communication Rights, to take place on
11th December 2003.

Activities:The delegates will be asked to actively support the
activities of CRIS during the Summit, especially in getting involved in
the logistic preparations for the Forum as well as in taking part and in
helping coordinate other CRIS related meetings (4 have been planned so
far).


Specific requirements:
Only individuals with previous involvement in the CRIS campaign will be
considered this time.


All information related to the Summit is available on:
<http://www.itu.int/wsis>

All information related to the World Forum on Communication Rights is
available on:
www.communicationrights.org <http://www.communicationrights.org>

Deadline: 14th November 2003

All applications should be sent to mh@...
<mailto:mh@...> as soon as possible and at the latest by the
above deadline. The application statement should highlight how the
applicant fulfils the overall criteria and the requirements for
activities and the specific requirements. Applications that do not
clearly cover the stated criteria will not be considered. Decision on
allocation of the grants will be done by 21st November.

Myriam Horngren
CRIS Advocacy and Network Coordinator
c/o WACC
357 Kennington Lane, London SE11 5QY
Web: http://www.crisinfo.org
Tel: 44 (0) 20 7582 9139 ext 226

IMPACT YOUR GENERATION!!!

IMPACT YOUR GENERATION!!!

Hi All,
          Below is the declaration of the first ever
National Youth Information Campaign in Ghana tagged
“New Academic Year ICT School’ organized by African
Youth Initiative under the auspices of World Summit on
the Information Society (WSIS) youth caucus in
partnership with Ministry of Communication and
Technology on the 24th , 25th October 2003 at Busy
Internet (one of the largest state of the art Internet
Cafes in West African).
The Campaign attracted over one hundred and twenty
(120) young people from every corner of Ghana and
really marked the genesis of a movement, which
embraces the idea that young people have the potential
and spirit to be useful agents of transformation
through the emerging Information Society in Ghana.
Activities such was launching of African Youth
Initiative web site for young people, presentation of
awards to National Youth ICT Essay Competition winners
which was published in your newspaper, presentation
and discussion on the National ICT Policy, report on
Monthly Sensitisation program in some selected first
and second cycle schools, Media encounter, excursion
to ICT establishments among others was part of the
Campaign.

Read Below;

DECALRATION BY THE YOUTH OF GHANA AT THE NATIONAL
YOUTH INFORMATION SOCIETY CAMPAIGN FROM 24TH-25TH
October AT BUSY INTERNET. IN ACCRA-GHANA

THE YOUTH AGREED THAT:


• The advertisement of ICT should be intensified by
the Government.
• Development partners, private sector,
non-governmental organizations, community based
organization and other benevolent organizations should
be encouraged to help by providing schools with
computers and other items to promote information and
communication technology (ICT).
• Companies, co-operations and other bodies who import
computers and other accessories and enjoy tax-free
should be socially responsible for the promotion of
ICT.
• Computer lessons should be included in the school
curriculum.
• ICT should also be made an elective subject in the
senior secondary schools.
• Heads of schools should be informed and convinced
about the importance of ICT, who will then convince
the philanthropist in the community to helps promote
ICT and furthermore convince them with incentives like
naming the centers after them.
• A special fund should be set up to promote and
develop ICT.
• Government should expedite action to train teachers
to teach ICT to teachers in training colleges before
they come out.
• The youth should be encouraged to be more sexually
responsible by abstaining from sex in order to live
long to bridge the digital divide through curiosity,
developing a sense of confidence and exploring.
• Parents and guardians should be well informed about
the need to contribute to the development of ICT in
schools.
• Female should be encouraged to purse careers in ICT
at the tertiary level.

Best Regards,

Leopold Armah,
Accra - Ghana


________________________________________________________________________
Want to chat instantly with your online friends?  Get the FREE Yahoo!
Messenger http://mail.messenger.yahoo.co.uk