ICT4D Training for Forty Ethiopian MPs
By Mercy Wambui,
Communication Officer, DISD, ECA
13 May 2004
Forty Ethiopian MPs from the various standing committees of the House of People’s Representatives of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia attended the opening session of an ECA-sponsored intensive ICT4D training. The training began on 12 May and will run for 4 months.
In her opening remarks, Ms Karima Bounemra Ben Soltane, Director of the Development Information Services Division (DISD) told participants that ECA is convinced that information and knowledge have a direct link to development, and parliamentarians have a role to play in sensitizing other policy makers on this issue.
“This second round of training is part of a broader plan to establish an African Parliamentarian Network on ICT4D, and follows on recommendations made during the third meeting of the Committee on Development Information (CODI 3) held in May 2003.” She said. The Network will be officially launched during the upcoming Forth African Development Forum to be held in October 2004.
In his presentation, Makane Faye, Regional Advisor on ICT Policy informed participants that the training will focus on ICT policy issues and hands-on approaches to using ICT applications to enhance their work as legislators. In addition, discussions on ICT infrastructure and applications for their constituents will feature in the training. He pointed out that similar workshops for parliamentarians in Kenya, Senegal and Tanzania are being planned.
The training, which will be held at the Information Technology Centre for Africa (ITCA) builds on other activities done in collaboration with Ethiopia''s Ministry for Capacity Building, These include:
ICT for decentralization (a study on the use of ICTs in districts (known as Woredas) to enhance the efficiency of the country''s decentralisation programme;
Development of indicators with a baseline study to measure progress in ICT penetration in several key sectors of the Ethiopian economy;
The introduction of innovative applications for e-government, such as the use of Amharic and other languages for a web-based, multilingual and multi-alphabet platform to be used by local and central government offices; and
Support to the Addis Ababa Municipality with touch screens and Information Kiosks in local languages for citizens'' easy access to public services and records.
Speaking on behalf of the Federal Government, Dr. Petros Olango, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, said, “Ethiopia cannot afford to be left out of the information highway”, and added - “The parliament of Ethiopia needs to be linked to the African parliament and other global parliamentary initiatives.” He pointed out that “access to ICTs is important for the oversight function of the Parliament and through ICTs, the parliament can network with other ministries and administrative offices in the country.”
Dr Petros thanked ECA for the opportunity to provide training that will help share information and knowledge, and said that ICTs will make administrative procedures more open and transparent to the public at the zonal, regional and district levels. He honed in on the seriousness with which the Ethiopian government is taking the use of ICT for decision-making and stressed that MPs needed to make informed decisions to facilitate working relationships between themselves and the citizens they represent.
ITCA is an information and communication technology (ICT) focused exhibition and learning centre which, in the framework of the Africa Information Society Initiative (AISI), aims to demonstrate to African policy makers and planners the value of ICT for development and to enhance their awareness and commitment in championing the diffusion and utilization of ICT4D. ITCA has organized training and several awareness-raising workshops for various stakeholders, including ambassadors, parliamentarians, the media and women.
For more information on ITCA achievements and activities, contact Makane Faye (mfaye@uneca.org) or visit www.uneca.org/itca/ or http://www.uneca.org/aisi for information on AISI.