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ICT Policy and Civil Society Workshop in Africa: Nov 6-10, 2002
Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
October 15, 2002

Johannesburg - The Association for Progressive Communications (APC), ARTICLE 19 and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) will be holding a five-day information and communications technology (ICT) policy and civil society workshop from November 6th to 10th, 2002 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

According to Emmanuel Njenga Njuguna, APC's project coordinator, "Few civil society organizations are aware of the policy developments taking place at the global, regional and national levels that can impact on their ability and potential to use ICTs as a tool in their work, let alone own or control the production and application of these technologies locally. This workshop will help build people's awareness and capacity to understand ICT policy concepts, issues, and how these impact on their work and their communities."

Says Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane of Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), "Increasing the participation of civil society in harnessing ICT for development in general and ICT policies in particular is one of the key objectives of the African Information Society Initiative and is considered a priority for ECA." Ms Bounemra further adds, "ECA is working with some thirty-two countries in Africa, assisting them in developing national ICT policies. It is hoped that civil society in these countries will work with these governments in this regard."

The workshop, which will bring together approximately seventy representatives from civil society organizations from all regions of Africa, is particularly timely, closely following a month-long discussion on the African Information Society Initiative forum on the role of civil society in promoting the use of ICTs to strengthen and stimulate participatory approaches to policy issues especially governance in Africa. The forum discussions will provide the basis for a strong African civil society input to the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in December 2003 in Geneva, and then again in Tunis in 2005.

The workshop has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), HIVOS and the Open Society Institute (OSI).

About APC
The Association for Progressive Communications (APC) is an international network of civil society organizations dedicated to empowering and supporting groups and individuals through the strategic use of information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially Internet-related technologies. APC and its members pioneer practical and relevant uses of ICTs for civil society, especially in developing countries. APC is an international facilitator of civil society's engagement with ICTs and related concerns, in both policy and practice.

Our network of members and partners spans the globe, with presence in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and North America. APC: http://www.apc.org.

About APC's Policy work in Africa
The Africa ICT Policy monitor website, launched in May 2002, is a user-friendly resource which aims at demystifying the concepts of ICT policy-making. APC hopes that the Website content will stimulate discussion between users from around the continent about the use and relevance of ICTs for development in Africa, and facilitate the development of a network of civil society organisations promoting African Internet rights issues. Africa ICT Policy Website: http://africa.rights.apc.org

About ECA
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is the regional arm of the United Nations, mandated to support the economic and social development of its

53 member States, foster regional integration, and promote international cooperation for Africa's development. The Commission is a key pioneer in the area of ICT for development over the last 25 years. ECA is an implementing agency for the African Information Society Initiative (AISI) - an action framework for bridging the African digital divide that was adopted by the conference of ministers of planning and economic development in 1996 and endorsed by African Heads of State. AISI's major activities and objectives include the development of national ICT policies and strategies, and building Africa's information and communication infrastructure and capacity involving all major stakeholders. Website: http://www.uneca.org/aisi

For further information
For more details about the workshop please contact:

• Emmanuel Njenga Njuguna
  Project Coordinator, AFRICA ICT POLICY MONITOR PROJECT
  Association for Progressive Communications (APC)
  E-mail: njenga@apc.org or africa.rights@apc.org
  Tel/Fax: +27 11 726 1692
• Aida Opoku-Mensah
  Team Leader
  Promoting ICTs for Development
  Development Information Services Division
  Economic Commission for Africa (ECA)
  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
  E-mail: aopoku-mensah@uneca.org
  Tel: +251-1-51-11-67
  Fax: +251-1-51-05-12

APC Forum is a meeting place for the APC community - people and institutions who are or have been involved in collaboration with APC, and share the APC vision - a world in which all people have easy, equal and affordable access to the creative potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve their lives and create more democratic and egalitarian societies.

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