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Special Report The requested resource (/editor/default/) is not available Empowering Youth through ICT Innovation Information and communication technologies are projected to be potent future influences on youth in developing countries. Young people (15-24 years) are today among the primary users of the Internet, accounting for 40 percent or more of Internet users in a range of developing countries. With this in mind, the 2006 Development Gateway Award focused on "ICT for Empowerment of Youth" aimed at recognizing outstanding ICT projects by and for youth in developing countries. Mindset Network from South Africa is the winner of the 2006 Development Gateway Award, selected from more than 160 nominated projects worldwide including the following 30 short-listed nominees. Recognized at the ITU Telecom World Youth Forum in Hong Kong from December 4-6, the winning project will receive an award of $100,000. Half of this amount is earmarked to mentor prospective leaders in ICT, disseminate lessons learned, and other outreach activities. To read more about the Award process, visit the DG Award website. 2006 Development Gateway Award Winner Mindset Network - South Africa Mindset Network is a non-profit organization that provides educational content on a mass scale to schools, colleges, training institutions, hospitals and clinics in over 15 African countries. It does this through an offline on-demand satellite-based technology platform that distributes high quality multimedia educational content. Receiving equipment has been installed in over 1,500 schools and content is also available in over 1,500,000 homes through satellite broadcast. In addition to schools and hospitals, Mindset Livelihoods provides content resources to assist learners who are out of school, out of work or engaging in small business ventures. East Asia and Pacific Center for Research and Consulting on Management - Vietnam Center for Research and Consulting on Management provides training to young people and to business incubators. Part of the Hanoi Institute of Technology, it has implemented a number of ICT projects on e-learning and distance education. The TOPIC 64 project--an alliance funded by Microsoft, Qualcomm, USAID, Electricity Viet Nam, and Hewlett Packard--has established one quality IT training center in each of Vietnam's 64 provinces and municipalities. Every month, each TOPIC center provides basic and essential IT skill courses for at least 20 students who are financially disadvantaged or physically handicapped. The success of the program will be replicated in 45 centers (direct beneficiaries) and 200 centers (indirect beneficiaries) by 2007. Digital Divide Data - Cambodia Digital Divide Data is a non-profit organization started in Cambodia by Canadian Jeremy Hockenstein and an American colleague with $25,000 of their own money, a $25,000 grant, and technical advice and software donated by a firm in India. Their mission was to bring the promise of globalization and the power of technology to some of the world's most impoverished people. Over the last five years, DDD has employed over 300 youth employees and continues to expand. Since the organization does not depend on donors, its social entrepreneurship model grows by acquiring business from clients. DDD's ongoing revenue comes from helping companies and organizations digitize their materials. You and Me - China Responding to high HIV rates in China, Marie Stopes International China developed a website for youth to educate about the epidemic in a non-judgmental fashion. The title "You and Me" encompasses a number of programs, which includes a newspaper focused on lifeskills and sexual health information distributed at middle schools. The project's in-school component is comprised of teacher support and training services as well as "You and Me" student clubs. Its out-of school programs include sexual health service centers, street theater road shows, workplace peer education, and mass-media programs using the media of radio and television. The project also has peer educators in 11 cities in China. Europe and Central Asia New Perspectives Foundation - Russia New Perspectives Foundation, a non-profit organization started in Russia in 1995, operates in most of the provinces of the Russian Federation. Its aim is to improve the condition of youth in Russia and to encourage youth leaders to develop their own voices in politics, business, culture and education. Computers Worldwide, a program developed and implemented by NPF in 2000, began with a Computers Worldwide Teaching Manual, developed by IT experts that contained information on how to run a four-hour training course on using ICT. Centers equipped with computer technology were called "open access centers" and youth who had been trained in using the Teaching Manual hold free sessions for anyone interested in learning about this technology. Tech Age Girls - Uzbekistan Tech Age Girls is the only initiative in Uzbekistan that allows girls to advance their technology skills, learn from successful female leaders in their communities, develop their own projects, and join the economy as skilled workers. Tech Age Girls serves Uzbekistan's large youth population that lacks capacity in technology applications, including Internet skills and experience. Because girls have significantly less exposure to technical resources than boys, TAG addresses these unequal conditions by empowering girls to use technology to change their roles in society. Tech Age Girls has been replicated in six regions of Uzbekistan already and plans to expand to other CIS countries. Latin America BiblioRedes - Chile BiblioRedes, a project dedicated to enabling low income youth to access the internet, is present in 101 of 121 municipal districts in Chile that are considered to have low connectivity. Through its Digital Equity Fund, high connectivity costs have been subsidized in isolated areas of Chile for the last four years. Its "Digital Literacy" training program is a 14-hour course aimed at developing basic computer skills for users. A more advanced "Complemented Digital Literacy" allows users to gain more in-depth knowledge and training in various IT tools. Its partnership with public libraries allows students access to computers and also widens the reach of BiblioRedes. City of Knowledge - Brazil City of Knowledge was begun by Gilson Schwartz at the University of Sao Paulo as a digital media project. Its purpose is to experiment, prototype and pilot innovations in the social, education, cultural and entrepreneurial applications of project-based community networks, combining ICTs, knowledge management and information economics. The most recent project examined the social and educational applications for mobile telephony, a frequently overlooked aspect of digital inclusion programs. The project aims to bridge the mobile and internet spheres in order to create job opportunities in underserved communities. Colibri: Education, Culture, and New Technologies - Mexico Mirar y Participar para Democratizar (Watch and Participate to Democratize) is a project of Colibri, a non-profit organization that uses new technologies in education. In this project, students are challenged to actively participate in government and to learn about decisions made by politicians and other authorities. By making films that monitor the activities of politicians, students become involved in the political process. The films are then shown to demonstrate how public administrators use taxpayers' money. The project has increased government transparency in government as constituents become better informed about what their politicians are doing. Committee for Democracy of Information Technology - Brazil Through the Committee for Democracy of Information Technology, students use ICT as a tool to address life skills and issues such as human rights, environment, sexual education, health and non-violence. The organization works by using a training of trainers model; teachers are trained and then these teachers train others in their communities. Teachers and students are invited to make decisions and take actions as a community, thus making the model participatory. Around 700,000 youth have been impacted by the organization since its creation and about 70,000 students graduate every year. Their target group is young people living in low-income communities. Fundación ChasquiNet - Ecuador Fundación ChasquiNet, a non-profit organization begun in 1997, was a founding member of the Telecenter of the Americas Partnership created in 2003. Its newest project, Escuela Inter@ctiva (Inter@ctive Schools) was created in cooperation with Microsoft and various Ecuadorian municipalities, including Quito, Nabon, Guayaquil, Pacto and Gualea, Chaco and Baea, Jipijapa, and Lumbaqui. The program holds workshops to teach students and teachers the benefits of ICTs and the ways that they can be taught to the community. The program focuses on developing both teacher and student capacity, so that students can be open to the teaching skills of the teacher. HackerTeen - Brazil With 80 percent of computer crimes in Brazil committed by teens, there was a need to channel negative computer skills into positive ones. HackerTeen was created to address this need by providing online training in computer skills. Seventy-five percent of the classes are taught at a distance in the student's home. Materials are presented in the form of comic books, with work plans described as "missions" that teens must complete using the skills they have learned. HackerTeen uses a belt system like Karate-from white-belt beginner to black-belt advanced-to measure training progress. Seventy-eight percent of the young people who have earned black belts have found employment in the Brazilian IT job market. Instituto de Educación y Salud - Peru Instituto de Educación y Salud (Health and Education Institute) uses the Internet to inform adolescents about sexuality and the prevention of HIV-AIDS. By creating websites, young men and women develop technical skills and, at the same time, strengthen their knowledge about sexuality and HIV-AIDS. Workshops replicating the project have been conducted with youth in Bolivia, Mexico, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic where similar portals were created. On the national level, individuals living with HIV have been trained to educate their peers about HIV-AIDS. There are plans to encourage young people from the provinces of Peru to become involved in creating Internet portals to make the project more inclusive of young people from different cultures. Líder Extensión Empresarial - Colombia Líder Extensión Empresarial aims at making ICT accessible to the Indian population of Latin America. Originally conceived for rural areas, its model has been adapted to several educational communities by using plain language and requiring simple technology. The project has already been transferred to Manizales (Capital of Caldas) where it was adopted two years ago. Some Latin American countries such as Venezuela, Panama, and Ecuador have also shown their interest in the project. Ecuador has already adopted the pedagogical model in its interactive schools. Planeta en Linea - Guatemala Planeta en Linea has pioneered low-cost Internet service distribution in rural areas, providing affordable Internet services in homes, schools, hospitals, local businesses, and local government institutions in Guatemala. Two of its projects are a Micro-Telco, a small rural telecommunications provider, and the Oportunet. Through the Oportunet brand, young local entrepreneurs set up a store franchise that provides high speed Internet and voice services--national fixed line, cellular, and international long distance. Customers may also purchase computers and other peripherals at the Oportunet store, especially through in-store financing provided by Bancafe, one of Guatemala's largest banks. Punto Comun - Colombia Begun in November 2005, Punto Comun has eight telecenters in poor and violent neighborhoods in Medellin, Colombia, that serve to steer youth away from paramilitary groups that recruit in these areas. Each Punto Comun has become a family place where children and parents get together to research and to help with homework. Training in MS Office and a new culture of e-learning and supported in these centers where youth are taught in ways typical of e-learning: CD-ROMs, games and videos. Other benefits are social, such as tolerance, patience and respect, are also learned. The project has the financial support of the City of Medellin. Superatec - Venezuela Superatec supports ICT training centers that have trained 900 people, primarily young people. The project has several centers in Venezuela, including in Parroquia La Vega, one of the most populated low-income districts of Caracas. Since 2004, the program at this location has included 200 students from different public schools and over 100 adults from the community. In December 2005, a feasibility study was conducted in Cagua, the central region of Venezuela and in September of 2006 the third Center was inaugurated, which 150 youth and 50 adults from low income communities are attending. North America Counterpart International - U.S. Counterpart International is a non-government organization that creates partnerships among governments, communities and corporations to encourage development in areas that need the most help. A large number of its students in El Salvador and Brazil find work in the Tourism and Hospitality sector which has high demand for students trained in information processing. As demand for employees trained in ICT skills increases, the number of companies participating in the program has also grown. Counterpart's program for Training, Mentoring, and Employment of At-Risk Youth teaches students how to use state of the art technologies employed by the Lodging, Food and Beverage, and Travel and Tourism segments of the hospitality sector. Medical Missions for Children - U.S. Medical Missions for Children uses technology to address the issues of inadequate patient care and poor access to medical information. Using state-of-the-art communications technology and the expertise of pediatric specialists to remotely examine and diagnose critically-ill children, the project also counsels their less specialized colleagues about appropriate treatment therapy. Each "telemedicine" session takes place in real-time using videoconferencing and remote diagnostic equipment, as well as a growing number of volunteer specialists with a willingness to share their expertise. A digital medical video library (Global Video Library of Medicine) and an FCC-licensed satellite broadcast facility, the Medical Broadcasting Channel, are also managed by the project. TakingITGlobal - Canada TakingITGlobal supports one of the world's most popular online communities for young people interested in connecting across cultures. It offers many online opportunities for youth. Aspiring writers can develop their skills through submitting pieces to the Panorama online publication which now includes more than 4,000 submissions. Aspiring artists and photographers can upload their work to the Global Gallery which now holds over 11,000 images. Discussion Boards have had over 30,000 posts to date. The Resources section allows people to connect with over 9,500 organizations that work on issues related to their interests as well as access to an events calendar with over 7,500 listings. The TakingITGlobal Russia web site developed through the initiative was awarded "Best Youth Web Site" by the Russian webmasters association, and the pilot increased Russian youth participation on the TakingITGlobal online community by over 500 percent. Video Volunteers - U.S. Video Volunteers' Community Video Unit has created a global social media network, using video to expand and accelerate social change, overcome illiteracy, and provide a platform for voices from marginalized people in the developing world, especially youth and women. The program creates sustainable "Community Video Units" (CVUs) of up to ten local people who work with a local NGO to assure its success. Members learn how to write, shoot and produce a monthly video magazine focusing on certain social issues chosen by the members. The producers of the monthly magazine then share them with others in the community, thus sharing solutions towards escaping poverty. World Links - U.S. World Links works to actively incorporate ICT in schools, not just into a computer lab. Begun in the Dominican Republic, World Links partnered with Microsoft to reach semi-rural communities in the Dominican Republic and, with the Secretary of Education, developed 17 regional workshops to discuss how to operate the labs and how to become sustainable. As part of the program, World Links created a school computer lab sustainability plan--called the School Based Telecenter (SBT) Model--that teaches schools how to afford maintenance of the school lab. The model teaches schools how to generate a profit for the maintenance of its technical equipment while at the same time reaching out to the community and giving them the chance to have access to ICTs. South Asia All India Society of Electronics and Computer Technology - India The All India Society of Electronics and Computer Technology is an NGO that has set up over 4,500 multipurpose IT centres in rural and tribal areas of the country. The project has overcome several difficulties, including a lack of power and connectivity, lack of training facilities, absence of awareness about ICTs and lack of content in local languages. AISECT also supports technology development such as books and course material in Hindi and Indian languages; a solar panel based computer system; a mobile IT van, a multilingual website for basic IT skills, Suchna Mitra Software for linking up districts and blocks, entrepreneurship development modules and manuals, and project profiles for entrepreneurs. Datamation Foundation - India Datamation Foundation Charitable Trust targets women, youth, and other economically and socially disadvantaged communities in India. It works with Muslim women, dealing with social problems that affect their every day lives. To do this, the Foundation has created more than 50 interactive multimedia empowerment and skills development CDs that teach women about issues ranging from health to life-skills topics. Women are provided with multimedia training, learning and counseling materials to promote confidence building and personality development. The Foundation has set up a portal (www.seelampurmart.org) that allows online display and purchasing of the products created by the women. Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi - Pakistan Idara-e-Taleem-o-Aagahi (ITA) is a non-governmental organization which uses ICTs to address the growing concerns among youth, notably growing levels of unemployment, poverty, armed conflict, functional illiteracy and substance abuse, among others. Its Community Learning Centers (CLCs) offer afternoon and evening classes on ICT training, as well as summer schools where anyone can take IT courses. The centers, which reach out to underprivileged student, such as domestic laborers and rag pickers, is active in 36 schools, with total enrollment of about 12,327 students, 331 teachers and support staff. Children who used to be child laborers are now able to find employment in the IT sector. Urmul Seemant Samity - India URMUL Seemant implements a program called GramSat (village satellite) in three blocks of Rajasthan, West India. Through the program, villagers from around 50 villages ask questions on issues about community well-being through one-way video and two-way audio relayed through the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Community based organization representatives, including youth groups, are trained as local facilitators to operate the system and to conduct pre- and post-discussions during the live telecast. Two hours of Interactive Training Programme (ITP) comprise of one hour of lecture and presentations and another for interaction and discussion. Sub-Saharan Africa FATE Foundation - Nigeria FATE Foundation is a non-profit organization focused on entrepreneurial development and training for Nigerian youth via its FATE Foundation School of Entrepreneurship. ICT training forms a crucial part of the School's curriculum. Based on these computer trainings, participants use computers to write business plans and proposals using Microsoft word, make effective presentations using PowerPoint software, and draw up financial projections using Excel spreadsheets. The organization also has a computer / internet centre, open for use by the general public, and an information technology portal which serves as a means of communication between FATE's participant and all its other stakeholders. Ikamva Youth - South Africa Ikamva Youth is an NGO operated for and by youth on a volunteer basis in South Africa. It offers free programs to disadvantaged youth in supplementary tutoring, career guidance and life skills training, computer literacy development, access to media for expression, and facilitated access to HIV training. Each volunteer learns basic computer information, providing most of them with their first chance to have an e-mail address and use messaging systems, as well as have an input on the day to day functioning of the organization. Its general e-literacy program is designed so that anyone with a minimum of computer skills can use the online information to teach others how to use computers and relevant technologies. Nairobits - Kenya Nairobits works with underprivileged youths in the slums of Nairobi, giving them a chance to learn how to use computer and the Internet at very advanced levels. Students can put their own content online, giving them a voice to combat the negative images of Africa that are widely portrayed. The program reaches out to both genders in the slums, providing females with the opportunities that were only given to their male counterparts. Since the beginning of the program, Nairobits has trained more than 240 youth in ICT skills. Ninety-percent of these students received job offers based on the skills that they learned. The program is in the process of being replicated in Mumbai and in Rwanda. Slums Information Development & Resource Centres (SIDAREC) - Kenya SIDAREC has two community telecenters that provide Internet connectivity to about 1,200 youths every month who would normally do nothing in Nairobi's slums. Children come to the center to read books, watch educational movies, cartoons and play games. Among the core activities of the project is a library program that gives youth access to ICT and media and helps to develop their information literacy. A community radio station will be based at SIDAREC's Telecentre located at Majengo (Pumwani) slums, east of Nairobi with a population of over 500,000 people. In its ICT/Media programs SIDAREC aims at establishing channels of information dissemination at the grassroots level to foster development. The requested resource (/editor/default/) is not available Email this page Sign-up Learn about AMP...   From Our Members What did Development Gateway members have to say in our Youth Survey? Should Youth Try to Influence Policy Change? How Are Countries Promoting Youth Employment? What Steps Sustain Health and Well-Being for Youths? Partners Key Resources 2007 World Development Report "Development and the Next Generation" 2006 Global Employment Trends for Youth: ILO UN World Youth Report 2007 UNICEF Voices of Youth Global Youth Network Glocal Youth Parliament Staying Alive Our Time Is Now: Young People Changing the World Employability, Leadership and Engagement, Health and Education Global Events Sept. 13-16: 3rd Global Youth Employment Summit, Nairobi, Kenya Oct. 29 - 31: UN Global Youth Leadership Summit Nov. 14-20: Youth and ICT Week: Making ICTs Available for African Youth Dec. 2-10: BBC: Generation Next Dec. 4-6: ITU Telecom World Youth Forum, Hong Kong Jan. 21-25, 2007. Brightest Young Minds Annual Conference, Australia Feb. 22-25, 2007: International Youth Volunteerism Summit, Chicago, USA

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