Putting ICTs in the Hands of the Poor
09-04-2002 ()
Information, knowledge and communication needs of the poor are equal to those of all other people, yet poor are often unable to address these needs. UNESCO is launching a new project in South Asia to test and demonstrate different models that effectively put ICTs and relevant content into the hands of people living in poverty in order to empower them to address their own information, knowledge and communication requirements.
The main goal of the project is to find ways in which people living in poverty can use ICTs as tools to empower themselves, be it through access to productive information, the creation of content that is relevant to them or through opportunities to communicate and better organise themselves. The focus is not on technology itself, but on how to use technologies for a specific purpose: to empower and enable people living in poverty to change their circumstances.
UNESCO is now seeking inputs from different parties that will contribute to this project. UNESCO is ready to support the development of innovative ideas to put ICTs to work in reducing poverty. Innovations will be implemented through pilot projects in at least five different locations in South Asia.
UNESCO invites interested parties to submit a short concept paper (maximum 2 pages) outlining concrete inputs to the project.
Concept papers should clearly present a technical and/or social innovation that facilitates ICT usage by people livingin poverty and contributes to a strategy for poverty reduction.
1. Innovations may use some combination of traditional and new technologies, use ICT hardware in novel ways, adapt software or create specialised templates that suit the situations and needs of people living in poverty, in isolated areas, etc.
2. Innovations may also work with grassroots systems, for example to identify local needs and disseminate appropriate information or to develop 'human interfaces' between technology and people.
3. Specific areas of application may be education, health, local governance, micro-finance or other aspects of social and economic development, for instance ways to support entrepreneurship and livelihoods.
4. Attention should be given to the provision of combined electronic services by various agencies at the grassroots level to support local poverty reduction efforts.
5. The target beneficiaries are the marginalised and disadvantaged, people living in poverty, especially extreme poverty, and in particular women and youth.
UNESCO is also interested in suggestions for work areas and/or communities of target beneficiaries in which models can be piloted.
Collaborative implementation:
Proponents of the most suitable ideas will be invited to join a collaborative process in which different innovations will be adapted and implemented as pilots by project teams in at least five different work areas in South Asia.
The most convincing concepts and most appropriate work areas will be discussed at a consultation with proponents, experts and stakeholders to be held in June 2002. Following the consultation, project teams and detailed work plans will be finalised. UNESCO will collaborate with proponents and relevant stakeholders to establish specific pilot projects to test the effectiveness and sustainability of these new models for ICT access in South Asia.
In an effort to give maximum coverage to lessons learned and successful models, pilot projects will be well documented and the lessons learned widely shared. UNESCO will support networking through additional consultations, evaluations and publication of results.
ICTs as a tool to fight poverty:
The main thrust of UNESCO's project is to identify specific tools and ways of using them that empowerpeople by increasing access to information and communications. The project seeks to demonstrate concrete applications of ICTs as a contributing force in strategies to reduce poverty.
Information and communications are closely linked to power and the ability to affect change. By expanding information flows and by making communications more accessible, people living in poverty can make better choices, voice their opinions, demand their rights and have more power over their own lives.
ICTs can create new opportunities. They can be used by the poor to get information, organise themselves, and to communicate their interests. ICTs can also improve the efficiency and responsiveness of groups that work with the poor. On a broad level, ICTs can help to break down isolation and structures of discrimination, and to support new forms of economic and social innovation that benefit the poor.
Poor people's own view of poverty focuses in large part on the lack of power, voice and independence that subjects themto exploitation and reinforces their inability to affect changes to their situation. Based in the realities of poor people, strategies to reduce poverty must build grassroots capacity to organise, work towards changing social norms and support social movements, innovation and leadership.
Information and communication technologies, such as radio or internet, can clearly play a positive role in reducing poverty; however a great deal of work remains to figure out how to practically and sustainable put these tools to work in the hands of poor people.
Technical and social innovations are critical in overcoming A) lack of awareness of and motivation to use ICTs, B) the absence of facilities to access ICTs, and C) the lack of locally relevant content and appropriately packaged information products, especially in terms of the languages used.
Other considerations:
Of particular importance to UNESCO are the integrated training and action research components of the project. As the purpose is to demonstrate new models and methods, action research and reporting - from monitoring and analysis to widespread dissemination - will be built into each pilot initiative. The goal is to test not so much the technologies, but the methodologies for applying them.
Selection of pilots will be determined in large part by the degree of self-reliance and prospects for sustainability, both in human and financial terms.
Basic guidelines:
1) Include full contact information and a short description of the proponent
2) Total costs for each pilot should not exceed USD 35 000
3) Duration of the pilot phase should not exceed one year
4) Concept papers should be received by UNESCO by April 30
5) Concept papers should clearly present one or both of the following:
6) Atechnological or social innovation to be tested;
7) A location and group of target beneficiaries in which to apply innovations;
Please address the following questions:
A) Innovations to be tested:
1) What is the main innovation or idea-?
2) How do you envision the innovation being applied to meet the needs of the poorest people-?
3) How would the innovation fit together with other components, both technical and social, into a larger scenario and strategy for poverty reduction-?
4) What sort of human and organizational resources would this scenario/strategy require-?
5) What training requirements are associated with the project-?
6) What relevant means are there for grassroots 'ownership' and sustainability-?
7) How will you ensure quality, diversity and relevance of information provided-?
8) What costs, both for set-up and operation, can be anticipated-?
9) What barriers or challenges do you anticipate-?
B) Potential areas and communities to work with:
1) Provide a descriptive picture of the proposed work area and the socioeconomic situation of the target community.
2) What specific work or planning has already been done in terms of using technology to address poverty?
3) How do you envision ICTs being used by the poorest in this area/community-?
4) What training requirements are associated with the project-?
5) What is the anticipated role of local stakeholders (i.e. community groups, local government, NGOs, etc)-?
6) What relevant strategies are there for grassroots 'ownership' and sustainability-?
7) What costs can be anticipated-?
8) What barriers or challenges do you anticipate-?
Some additional information to assist in submitting a concept paper is available:
¯ ICTs for Poverty Alleviation Project - Background and Objectives
¯ Examples of innovations to address issues of access and content
¯ Kothmale Community Radio and Internet - Background and Lessons Learned
UNESCO is now seeking inputs from different parties that will contribute to this project. UNESCO is ready to support the development of innovative ideas to put ICTs to work in reducing poverty. Innovations will be implemented through pilot projects in at least five different locations in South Asia.
UNESCO invites interested parties to submit a short concept paper (maximum 2 pages) outlining concrete inputs to the project.
Concept papers should clearly present a technical and/or social innovation that facilitates ICT usage by people livingin poverty and contributes to a strategy for poverty reduction.
1. Innovations may use some combination of traditional and new technologies, use ICT hardware in novel ways, adapt software or create specialised templates that suit the situations and needs of people living in poverty, in isolated areas, etc.
2. Innovations may also work with grassroots systems, for example to identify local needs and disseminate appropriate information or to develop 'human interfaces' between technology and people.
3. Specific areas of application may be education, health, local governance, micro-finance or other aspects of social and economic development, for instance ways to support entrepreneurship and livelihoods.
4. Attention should be given to the provision of combined electronic services by various agencies at the grassroots level to support local poverty reduction efforts.
5. The target beneficiaries are the marginalised and disadvantaged, people living in poverty, especially extreme poverty, and in particular women and youth.
UNESCO is also interested in suggestions for work areas and/or communities of target beneficiaries in which models can be piloted.
Collaborative implementation:
Proponents of the most suitable ideas will be invited to join a collaborative process in which different innovations will be adapted and implemented as pilots by project teams in at least five different work areas in South Asia.
The most convincing concepts and most appropriate work areas will be discussed at a consultation with proponents, experts and stakeholders to be held in June 2002. Following the consultation, project teams and detailed work plans will be finalised. UNESCO will collaborate with proponents and relevant stakeholders to establish specific pilot projects to test the effectiveness and sustainability of these new models for ICT access in South Asia.
In an effort to give maximum coverage to lessons learned and successful models, pilot projects will be well documented and the lessons learned widely shared. UNESCO will support networking through additional consultations, evaluations and publication of results.
ICTs as a tool to fight poverty:
The main thrust of UNESCO's project is to identify specific tools and ways of using them that empowerpeople by increasing access to information and communications. The project seeks to demonstrate concrete applications of ICTs as a contributing force in strategies to reduce poverty.
Information and communications are closely linked to power and the ability to affect change. By expanding information flows and by making communications more accessible, people living in poverty can make better choices, voice their opinions, demand their rights and have more power over their own lives.
ICTs can create new opportunities. They can be used by the poor to get information, organise themselves, and to communicate their interests. ICTs can also improve the efficiency and responsiveness of groups that work with the poor. On a broad level, ICTs can help to break down isolation and structures of discrimination, and to support new forms of economic and social innovation that benefit the poor.
Poor people's own view of poverty focuses in large part on the lack of power, voice and independence that subjects themto exploitation and reinforces their inability to affect changes to their situation. Based in the realities of poor people, strategies to reduce poverty must build grassroots capacity to organise, work towards changing social norms and support social movements, innovation and leadership.
Information and communication technologies, such as radio or internet, can clearly play a positive role in reducing poverty; however a great deal of work remains to figure out how to practically and sustainable put these tools to work in the hands of poor people.
Technical and social innovations are critical in overcoming A) lack of awareness of and motivation to use ICTs, B) the absence of facilities to access ICTs, and C) the lack of locally relevant content and appropriately packaged information products, especially in terms of the languages used.
Other considerations:
Of particular importance to UNESCO are the integrated training and action research components of the project. As the purpose is to demonstrate new models and methods, action research and reporting - from monitoring and analysis to widespread dissemination - will be built into each pilot initiative. The goal is to test not so much the technologies, but the methodologies for applying them.
Selection of pilots will be determined in large part by the degree of self-reliance and prospects for sustainability, both in human and financial terms.
Basic guidelines:
1) Include full contact information and a short description of the proponent
2) Total costs for each pilot should not exceed USD 35 000
3) Duration of the pilot phase should not exceed one year
4) Concept papers should be received by UNESCO by April 30
5) Concept papers should clearly present one or both of the following:
6) Atechnological or social innovation to be tested;
7) A location and group of target beneficiaries in which to apply innovations;
Please address the following questions:
A) Innovations to be tested:
1) What is the main innovation or idea-?
2) How do you envision the innovation being applied to meet the needs of the poorest people-?
3) How would the innovation fit together with other components, both technical and social, into a larger scenario and strategy for poverty reduction-?
4) What sort of human and organizational resources would this scenario/strategy require-?
5) What training requirements are associated with the project-?
6) What relevant means are there for grassroots 'ownership' and sustainability-?
7) How will you ensure quality, diversity and relevance of information provided-?
8) What costs, both for set-up and operation, can be anticipated-?
9) What barriers or challenges do you anticipate-?
B) Potential areas and communities to work with:
1) Provide a descriptive picture of the proposed work area and the socioeconomic situation of the target community.
2) What specific work or planning has already been done in terms of using technology to address poverty?
3) How do you envision ICTs being used by the poorest in this area/community-?
4) What training requirements are associated with the project-?
5) What is the anticipated role of local stakeholders (i.e. community groups, local government, NGOs, etc)-?
6) What relevant strategies are there for grassroots 'ownership' and sustainability-?
7) What costs can be anticipated-?
8) What barriers or challenges do you anticipate-?
Some additional information to assist in submitting a concept paper is available:
¯ ICTs for Poverty Alleviation Project - Background and Objectives
¯ Examples of innovations to address issues of access and content
¯ Kothmale Community Radio and Internet - Background and Lessons Learned
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