Dear GKD Colleagues, One of the most important ways we in Africa will spread access to ICT is through changing the policy structure. Right now, most countries have policies that discourage companies, and even nonprofits, from bringing ICTs to the rural areas. We have to press our governments to make changes in policies, but it is hard to know what the "right" policies are. I do not necessarily believe that whatever the World Bank or other donors believe to be the right policies are actually best for us in Africa. And what is good for one country in Africa may not be good for another. I came across this APC website that I think will help us examine policies and decide what is best for ourselves.
Best regards, Jane ------------------------------------------------- APC PROJECT LAUNCHES ICT POLICY MONITOR WEBSITE Source: http://africa.rights.apc.org Issue date: 2002-05-23 The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) has recently launched an online Africa ICT Policy Monitor website aimed at providing a central easy-to-use, linked, African regional website containing essential national and regional ICT policy information for communication advocates to promote and use the right to communicate, and for civil society and especially to understand Internet Rights issues. The website is aimed at civil society organizations, NGOs, communications advocacy organisations, human rights workers, and civil society content providers. We believe that the service will also be of benefit to mainstream and alternative media, politicians, ICT policy makers, Internet users, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and the community radio sector. APC Project launches ICT Policy Monitor Website: The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) has recently launched an online Africa ICT Policy Monitor website aimed at providing a central easy-to-use, linked, African regional website containing essential national and regional ICT policy information for communication advocates to promote and use the right to communicate, and for civil society and especially to understand Internet Rights issues. The website is aimed at civil society organizations, NGOs, communications advocacy organisations, human rights workers, and civil society content providers. We believe that the service will also be of benefit to mainstream and alternative media, politicians, ICT policy makers, Internet users, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and the community radio sector. The African regional website was launched alongside other ICT Policy Monitor Websites for Latin America as well as Europe for organisations working for human rights, freedom of expression, and progressive government policy to monitor proposed and new legislation and regulation affecting the Internet in their region. A mailing list, which will highlight alerts and features from the website, as well as regular updates on Africa ICT policy, is being launched alongside the website to keep organisations and interested individuals informed as to the latest developments in the field. The mailing list will also alert users to the availability of exclusive resources on ICT policy in Africa from the website, as well as the latest developments in African responses to global, regional and national Internet Rights campaigns. We extend a warm invitation to interested individuals and organisations to visit this website: <http://africa.rights.apc.org> and send your comments and ideas to the project team. For subscription and general information about the mailing list visit: http://lists.sn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/africa-ir-public Regards, Heather Ford ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE APC ICT POLICY MONITOR WEBSITES Africa ICT Policy Monitor: http://africa.rights.apc.org (in English) Europe Internet Rights: http://europe.rights.apc.org (in English) Latin America and Caribbean ICT Policy Monitor: http://lac.rights.apc.org (in Spanish) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONTACT Heather Ford Website Manager Africa ICT Policy Monitor Project E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------ Emmanuel Njenga Njuguna Project Coodinator Africa ICT Policy Monitor Project Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, an NGO that is a GKP member*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. 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/>