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Title: CHINKOKOLOLA (THE RURAL YOUTH NATIONAL CAMPAIGN ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY (RYNIC) IN MALAWI
Location:
Categories: Technology
Digital Divide
Globalization
Social Entrepreneurship
Sustainable Development
Social Entrepreneurship
Status:
Completed
Timeline:
Ongoing
Description:
"Chinkokolola" simply means a heavy sweeping wind or force in our vernacular language in Malawi.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have and continue to prove quite therapeutic to the social and economic transformation in various countries. This is through the generation of unprecedented employment opportunities; the provision of core knowledge resources; the enabling of convergence for communities far afield and the enabling of business between firms and people in distant places among other things. However, the abject poverty that Malawi is mired in render the fruits of the Information Society quite elusive to tame. There are so many factors that have hindered efforts to have better Information Society, chiefs of which are the lack of infrastructure and modern telecommunication systems and astronomic costs for ICT services. Worse still the Internet services and bureaus are confined to the major cities and towns leaving the vast majority of the rural masses progressively excluded in the Information Society. This situation only helps in widening the gap between the haves and the have-nots in their access to technologies as well as increasing the rate of urbanization, which is relatively high in Malawi.
Some of the major hurdles contributing to the current state of affairs that the project would like to address:
1. Lack of fair knowledge regarding the importance and benefits of ICTs;
2. Lack of capacity (on the part of entrepreneurs) to install, maintain/manage/operate a reliable Internet network and ICT access points due to high tariffs of fixed telephone lines and high computer prices, hence low levels of entrepreneurship; and
3. Lack of conducive policies at national level to accelerate ICT related development; and
4. The inequitable distribution of telecommunications infrastructure due to poor
electrification of rural areas and poor living standards, hence low demand for
ICT services.
The National Youth Campaign on the Information Society in Malawi therefore will no doubt present some invaluable input to the ICT policy yet to be formulated in Malawi. To this end, the campaign would undertake to engage the youth in identifying the problem areas and make recommendations to the authorities for redress. The young people, who are the untapped resources in the fight for a better Information Society in Malawi, are invariably the greatest users of new technologies in Malawi and the world over. It is thus important to give them the right forum to express their concerns on the Information Society. The activities of the intended campaign therefore present such opportunities since they would accord the youth of Malawi the opportunity to join the other youths across the globe in removing the various obstacles to a better Information Society.
It is expected that the outcome of our multifaceted campaign will be documented together with the other similar campaigns in various other countries and presented at the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
The youth campaign in Malawi is currently being promoted by Takingitglobal, an organization headquartered in Toronto, Canada, through the Youth Creating Digital Opportunities (YCDO) portal. Currently the campaign has a discussion portal where, among other things, the youth of Malawi discuss various themes relating to the Information Society. It is expected that a lot more partnerships are going to be created with local youth organizations so that the campaign gets a larger input from the widest cross section of the Malawian youths. It is the synergy from such partnerships that could catalyze the growth and nature of the campaign. The campaign is expected to blanket the whole country.
6.GOALS AND SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES.
The goals of the Youth campaign are:
1. To gather input from young people to be integrated into global policy making around the World Summit on the Information Society
2. To connect key youth actors locally to forge collaboration about the issues and implementation at the national level.
3. To help the youth realize their role in the Information Society
7.SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES.
The specific activities during this campaign have been put under six categories namely the Advocacy program, the Entrepreneurship drive, the Local Access Points project, the Mentorship program, the Role of the Youth in the Information Society (RYIS) program and WSIS participation.
The general activities in this campaign include conducting a series of workshops for various stakeholders, enlightening radio programs, conferences, e-discussions, visiting educational institutions, publications, training other youth in technology skills at Local Access Points (Telecenters) and mobile clinics, meeting with decision-makers, and implementation of local projects. The overriding objects of these activities are:
Objectives:
The goals of the Youth campaign are:
1. To gather input from young people to be integrated into global policy making around the World Summit on the Information Society
2. To connect key youth actors locally to forge collaboration about the issues and implementation at the national level.
3. To help the youth realize their role in the Information Society
Needs:
The project requires financial contributions and other contributions in kind. We lack computers for the mobile clinics and Internet cafes.
We also invited youths across Malawi to coordinte activities at district as well as regional level.you may express your interest through the Coordinator Kenneth Msiska- e-mail:kenman@takingitglobal.org or kennethmsiska@yahoo.com
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