Introduction to the discussion from September 20-26

Introduction to the discussion from September 20-26

The role of women and youth in moving Africa into the Information Age

Dear subscribers,

Thanks for your contributions last week on the role of the African diaspora in improving African's competitive position in information technology. Clearly, the subject is a huge one with many dimensions that have not yet
been exhausted.

This week's topic is "The role of women and youth in moving Africa into the information age (20-26 September)." For starters, I'd like to suggest that we look at:

how can ict be used to improve women's disadvantaged position in the region
what policy actions are necessary to ensure that women have access to ict's as they become more available in the region
what actions are already taking place in this regard?

Specifically, with regard to youth,

what is the situation of our youth in Africa if they do not have access to ICT's? does it matter?

What are some of the interesting initiatives already happening to ensure access for youth in the region to ict's?

Again, what policy actions are necessary to ensure that this happens on a sustained basis?

One of our list members suggested, offline, that since the time for the last 4 topics is so short and since all involve participation of various stakeholders, who may work together and whose interests may converge, that
we not cut off the discussions regarding previous stakeholders (in this case, the African diaspora), but try to weave our continuing comments on this topic into the present discussion. I invite you to do this.

Have a good week,

Nancy Hafkin, ECA
hafkin.uneca@un.org or
nhafkin@hotmail.com

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