|
MDG#
|
Contributions from ICT Volunteers
|
|
| Entire Millennium Project (ie. whole
set of MDGs) |
See sections 1 and 2 for contributions
that are applicable across development areas
Creating/supporting initiatives of Online Volunteers that identify
simple and proven practices of using ICTs for basic development
needs such as the ones behind the MDGs
A special Online Volunteers project to help translate to many languages
of the world basic outreach and awareness materials on the MDGs
|
is a online volunteer-driven project from SouthEast
Asia that identifies and documents how ICTs can make a dent on poverty
and bring about human development.
Online Volunteers helped to translate materials for the highly successful
International Year of Volunteers 2001 campaign, in at least 7-10
languages outside English, Spanish and French. |
| Goal 1. Eradicate extreme poverty
and hunger |
Supporting activities that increase local
people´s capacity to apply ICT to increase income generation
and improve food production and nutrition. |
|
| Target 1. Halve, between 1990 and 2015,
the proportion of people whose income is less than one dollar a
day |
Accessing and using market-place online
price boards to get better prices for produce, animals, fish, etc,
as well as better offers on supplies (seeds, fertilizers, mechanical
devices, fishing geart); also more information on trading conditions.
Accessing online services that contain information about job demand/offers.
Establishing general e-exchanges (or simple e-commerce points) for
buying and selling goods and services at the local, provincial or
national level.
Training people (particularly unemployed youth) on employable ICT
skills |
Volunteers train fishermen in India to
use wireless technology while at sea to find the most profitable
fish market for their catch (Bytes for All).
Volunteers under UNITeS supporting a UNDP project to establish Community
Resource and Internet Centres (CoRICs) in the Windward Islands of
Dominica and Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines and, Barbados.
CoRICs are an integral part of the quest for solutions to eradicate
absolute poverty: they are oriented to poor communities and individuals
to broaden access to information, education, and training at the
community level.
ICT volunteers serving in telecentres in Burkina Faso, using intranets,
internet, databases, radios and other ICT tools to acquire, process
and disseminate information on hybrid seedlings, weather, agricultural
best practices, market prices and jobs. (from IICD)
An example of a hybrid bricks/clicks e-commerce initiative. A
woman's co-operative is equipped with digital cameras and trained
by volunteers to use the them to take pictures of their crafts,
and to edit the images into a compressed format suitable for online
transmission. The co-op members are also trained by volunteers to
work with a nonprofit organization to market their crafts online,
thereby reaching retail and wholesale buyers in industrialized countries.
|
| Target 2. Halve, between 1990 and 2015,
the proportion of people who suffer from hunger |
Creating/feeding online repositories
of information by academics, extension workers, government officials
and farmers, to make knowledge resources on farming and fishing
more widely available (using graphic interface for easier information
access)
Establishing/promoting networks of farmers, fishermen, co-operatives
and extension workers to share best practices on cultivation methods,
seed/fertilizers/pests, crop species, produce storage, markets/fairs,
water management, etc.
Collaboration of Online Volunteers with farming backgrounds and
expertise, providing advise to onsite volunteers and community members
regarding new farming and livestock management techniques |
In Egypt, ICT UNVs serving in rural community
telecenters showing the farmers and their children how to use the
Internet to get information on improving their crops, minimizing
crop loss, getting better prices for their produce and to promote
long term sustainable cultivation. (Technology Access Centers project
with UNDP)
A UNITeS project in Orissa, India, helped mitigate the risk to natural
hazards by dissemination information obtained via the Internet on
storms, flooding, etc., minimizing crop and livestock loss, even
avoid unnecessary and costly evacuations.
A volunteer at a local community radio station with access to
the internet to respond for user's queries on effective techniques
for breeding livestock, treating various ailments of animals, and
comparisons in economic yields among different types of livestock.
|
| Goal 2. Achieve universal primary
education |
Supporting activities that use ICT to
contribute to local communities/Government efforts to provide all
children with a primary education, and in particular, to teachers,
parents, students and school administrators. |
|
| Target 3. Ensure that, by 2015, children
everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full
course of primary schooling |
Providing ICT skills for teachers so
they can use available ICT tools, including for the access and creation
of teaching resources.
Supporting ICT integration in the learning process where conditions
allow for it (in the later years of primary education, geared towards
secondary education)
Providing learning materials to support centers that encourage potential
early drop-out children to return to school
Stimulating contributions from Online Volunteers of teaching materials
to special Educational Online Knowledge Centers available to the
teachers (also available in CD-ROMs, DVDs, etc.)
Creating/Supporting special programmes, using special software and
computer interfaces, to provide basic literacy training for adults.
Facilitating and promoting online mentoring of primary and secondary
school-age children in situations with severely limited teacher
capacities (eg. where HIV/AIDS is taking a toll among teachers).
Creating/supporting Teacher Volunteer initiatives, where teachers
and students with the proper ICT capacity and special training |
In Benin, education and ICT UNV Specialists,
under the UNITeS umbrella, working with the Ministry of Primary
and Secondary Education and UNDP/SDNP to integrate ICT in primary
and secondary school curricula, establish internet connections for
schools, conduct training of trainers in each school, set up youth
internet groups.
Corporate Volunteers from a utility company in Parana, Brazil, using
ICT to teach basic literacy to adults, in the "Luz das Letras"
initiative.
In Jordan, education and ICT UNV specialists as part of the UNITeS
initiative assigned to work as part of the team of sectoral specialists
in the national telecenter network project, to identify existing
educational material online and support local educators in developing
content that can be accessed through the telecenters.
Online Volunteers through UNV/NetAid programme supporting the Two
for One initiative in Peru to help bring back to school children
at high risk of becoming drop-outs. The OVs supported volunteers
on the field by providing stories, learning materials and other
educational resources. |
| Goal 3. Promote gender equality and
empower women |
Supporting initiatives aimed at building
the capacity of women and girls to use ICTs to expand their choices,
particularly via improved access to information, enhanced participation
in society and educational opportunities at all levels. |
|
| Target 4. Eliminate gender disparity
in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005, and to all
levels of education no later than 2015 |
Developing and implementing gender-friendly
ICT policies/applications/facilities (to overcome disparities in
access to ICT by girls and women)
Setting up women's ICT networks, supporting development initiatives
aimed at promoting technology among women, ICT skills and educational
opportunities, business mentoring, ICT-related job opportunities
Providing ICT skills for women teachers, as well as pedagogical
methodologies aimed at advancing ICT-gender equity.
Advanced technical ICT skills for women (setting up special courses,
outreaching to young women)
Using ICT tools for economic purposes among women´s production
cooperatives
Help set up/promote volunteer women's networks and online self-help
groups on particular topics |
In Jordan, a volunteer from the UNITeS
University Volunteer Network provides technical support in maintaining
and developing both the regional Arab States UNIFEM as well as the
Arab Women Connect (AWC) websites; helps in the preparation of documents
for online publishing; responds to user queries, and assists in
the organization of workshops and forums.
A volunteer from the UNITeS University Volunteer Network trained
the staff of the Botswana Girl Guides Association and the Botswana
YWCA on using basic communication and computer skills, creating
and maintaining websites, identifying appropriate ICT facilities
to improve systems of communication, and using ICT as tools for
resource mobilization efforts.
In Ecuador, a volunteer from the UNITeS University Volunteer Network
Systems Development assisted the 'Coordinadora Política de
Mujeres' (CPME) with the design, preparation and utilization of
their websites, as well as advising CPME and affiliate offices on
different uses of technologies (eg. electronic groups for communication).
|
| Goals on Health (4,5,6) |
Supporting activities that use ICT
| Volunteers working with health professionals
on how to make use of online and telemedicine systems, mobile phones,
walkie- talkies, vehicle radios in the referral hospital ambulance,
and other ICT tools to become more efficient and responsive.
Volunteers work with government officials, NGO staff or community
members in using the ICTs (the Internet and radio) to find resources
and suggested practices for effective prevention methods for different
populations and cultures.
Online volunteers develop educational packages for local schools,
which address local health problems. |
| Goal 4. Reduce child mortality |
|
|
| Target 5. Reduce by two thirds, between
1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate |
Working directly with community members
in using ICTs to access health information to address pre-natal
care and healthcare for children under 5 (on issues like balanced
nutrition, child spacing or the benefits of breastfeeding).
Training people working in health and education initiatives to use
ICT to support their activities to address maternal and pre-natal
health
Volunteers "on-site" communicating with online volunteer
doctors, who could provide advice for parents |
Volunteers using internet, television,
radio, broadcasting vans etc to give information to communities
on the need for the rural community to vaccinate their children
against killer diseases, vaccination campaigns, the availability
of vaccines, vaccination centres,etc. |
| Goal 5. Improve maternal health |
|
|
| Target 6. Reduce by three quarters, between
1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio |
ICT training of gynecologists and child-delivery
staff
Accessing information on birth control methods
Promoting and coordinating online volunteer communities of nurses
and pregnant/recent mothers; the mothers and nurses mentoring the
pregnant women
|
Specialist teaching health workers
to use ICT to facilitate remote consultation, diagnosis and treatment.
Nurses in remote villages use digital cameras to download images
of symptoms onto a PC and transfer them to nearby towns for examination
by doctors. |
| Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and
other diseases |
|
|
| Target 7. Have halted by 2015 and begun
to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS |
Spreading the use of e-networks among
HIV-affected people and HIV-related organizations
Creating telework opportunities for HIV-affected people
Enabling e-Learning opportunities for HIV-affected people
Using mobile devices (eg. PDAs) to gather local information on
disease spread, treatment and evolution, to be aggregated on central
databases
Using ICTs to support capacity-replacement initiatives in countries
ravaged by AIDS epidemic (for teachers, government staff, etc.)
| In Nepal, a UNV Specialist for Information
Delivery and Dialogue Promotion under the UNITeS contributes to
a UNDP pilot project to empower women and girls in poor communities
through information delivery and dialogue to address HIV/AIDS and
other development needs via the use of digital radio.
In Trinidad and Tobago, a UNV ICT Specialist supports the networking
of several organizations grouped in a regional Caribbean program
designed to help prevent HIV/AIDS and to provide better conditions
for HIV+ people.
In Botswana, a UNV Health and ICT Specialists under UNITeS was responsible
for the training of trainers of medical workers in ICT Programmes
for the Ministry of Health (MoH); in particular the volunteer assisted
UNDP in supporting an initiative to train and network teachers on
HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment through the application of ICTs
Volunteers on-site, supported by online volunteers, work with
government officials, NGO staff or community members to create a
culturally-specific CD rom to be distributed in all CTCs regarding
AIDS education. |
| Target 8. Have halted by 2015 and begun
to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases |
Similar to Target 7 above |
Onsite ICT volunteers work with public-health
centres and test laboratories to develop Short Message Service (SMS)
technology to send test results to clinics in remote regions. As
a result doctors can begin treating the diagnosed diseases immediately
instead of letting the patients return to their villages risking
the further spread of disease.
Onsite volunteers train doctors and nurses in using the internet
giving them access to the most up-to-date medical journals on disease
prevention and cures |
| Goal 7. Ensure environmental sustainability |
Supporting activities that drive the
use of ICTs in building community capacity to access, record and
track environmental information, in particular related to water
and sanitation (in relation to WSSD's 2002 action plan)
Supporting activities promoting the use of ICTs in helping slum
dwellers gain better access to adequate housing, healthcare and
education, and activities that support governments and institutions
in providing these resources. |
|
| Target 9. Integrate the principles of
sustainable development into country policies and programmes and
reverse the loss of environmental resources |
Using remote sensing and/or GIS systems
to monitor environmental degradation or recuperation in local/provincial/national
territories
Gathering data and establishing distributed databases for biodiversity
Accessing information on energy-efficient devices (eg. new designs
for wood-stoves)
Accessing information and practices on sustainable agriculture/animal
husbandry/fishing practices
Providing information requirements from various environmental conventions
(eg. information on green-house inventories for UNFCCC national
reporting requirements)
Using ICTs to attract visitors towards sustainable tourism offers
|
In India, a university student under
the UNITeS University Volunteer Network collaborates with the State
Government of Orissa, assisting its Dept. of Tourism to identify,
develop and protect sensitive zones of eco tourism sites. Tasks
comprise updating a website, coordinating tour operators with tourism
promoters, and preparing promotional materials such as CD-ROMs and
brochures.
(see target 18 below) In Benin, part of a team of volunteers under
UNITeS helped the Government set up a national information nodes
on Environment, Rural Development and Tourism.
Volunteers work with community members in using computer databases
to monitor and report local environmental conditions for local,
state and national officials (including the use of PDAs)
Volunteers directly assisting farmers, and those that work with
farmers, to use the Internet to explore growing options that increase
yields while not harming the environment
Volunteer GIS specialist to train community groups and cooperatives
in using geographical databases to better manage their natural assets.
|
| Target 10. Halve by 2015 the proportion
of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water |
Applying ICT tools (eg. GIS) to help
communities become involved in water-basin management
Access to information on water-efficient methods of agricultural
cultivation |
- Specialist participating in water quality/flows sampling,
data collection, analysis and reporting, using ICT-enabled procedures
(eg. with PDAs . uploading this data regularly via the Internet
to Govt. databases that tracks the status of water-basins.
- ICT Volunteers with good knowledge in GIS calculate water
levels and input data to determine amount of water available
and sustainable extraction rates.
|
| Target 11. By 2020 to have achieved a
significant improvement in the lives of at least 100 million slum
dwellers |
Supporting community telecenters in slums,
and provide IT training for slum dwellers (including employment-oriented
skills); encourage recipients of the training to become voluntary
trainers themselves.
Accessing information on government services and regulations
Using ICTs for property records and registry
Using ICTs by social workers (to communicate among themselves, to
access information on new programs and services) |
Two Info. Systems Specialist UNVs under
UNITeS are collaborating in Ecuador and Zimbabwe with IULA (International
Union of Local Authorities) as in a project to oster "Municipal-International
Cooperation". They help set up the platforms to facilitate
matching demand and supply urban development expertise, including
in the support to marginalized urban settlements.
In South Lebanon, an ICT Specialist UNV under UNITeS collaborates
with a programme of socio-economic rehabilitation, working with
local authorities in collecting relevant data, setting up platforms
to access and manage it, and carrying out computer training activities
(following a train-the-trainers approach). |
| Goal 8. Develop a global partnership
for development |
|
|
| Target 12. Develop further an open, rule-based,
predictable, non-discriminatory trading and financial system. Includes
a commitment to good governance, development, and poverty reduction
- both nationally and internationally |
Accessing updated information on market
and trade conditions
Establishing e-commerce / e-exchanges applications for "fair
trade" systems |
|
| Target 13. Address the special needs
of LDCs. Includes: tariff and quota free access for LDC exports;
enhanced programme of debt relief for HIPCs and cancellation of
official bilateral debt; and more generous ODA for countries committed
to poverty reduction |
|
|
| Target 14. Address the special needs
of landlocked countries and small island developing States (through
the Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small
Island Developing States and the outcome of the twenty-second special
session of the General Assembly) |
|
See target 1, for contributions of Volunteers under UNITeS supporting
a UNDP project to establish Community Resource and Internet Centres
in Dominica and Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines and,
Barbados.
In Maldives, a UNV under UNITeS is helping to bridge the digital
divide in remote and isolated islands as a part of a projects
by UNDP and UNV for atoll development for sustainable livelihoods.
The tasks include the co-ordination of the establishment of ICT
centres in 10 islands, technical and management advice to the
ICT centres as well as develop ICT awareness programmes at national
level in support of ICT policy development.
In Niue, a UNV under UNITeS was assigned to the Information Services
Office, and is assisting local staff in the creation of software
applications and government databases, training in programming
and web site creation, and maintenance schemes at the government
ICT training center.
|
| Target 15. Deal comprehensively with
the debt problems of developing countries through national and international
measures in order to make debt sustainable in the long term |
Using ICTs to monitor information on
debt-swap arrangements |
|
| Target 16. In cooperation with developing
countries, develop and implement strategies for decent and productive
work for youth |
Developing advanced/professional ICT
capacity among youth as a means of increasing opportunities for
meaningful and productive work |
(note: almost all community-wide ICT
activities carried out under UNITeS have a strong focus on youth
participation, and training for employment; some e-learning assignments
also feature this orientation towards work preparation for youth;
also, see reference under Target 18 below, to the joint Cisco-UNDP-UNV/UNITeS
Networking Academies Initiative (directly geared towards highly
employable technical ICT skills, mostly aimed at youth)
In Uzbekistan, a UNV under UNITeS is acting as National Focal Point
for ICT, conducting field research on projects related to the promotion
of a market economy, building infrastructure and reconstruction
of social sector. Much of the direct implementation is done with
youth organizations and student associations, promoting local ICT
volunteering, conducting workshops and training for local ICT volunteers,
and exploring possibilities of cooperation with other donors and
aid agencies involved in ICT promotion.
In Bosnia-Herzegovina, students from the UNITeS University Volunteer
Network have participated in a UNV Youth Confidence Building Project,
thru building capacity on the updating and management of the project's
web-site, technical support and troubleshooting, as well as training
on specific ICT programs.
In Ecuador, students from the UNITeS University Volunteer Network
cooperated with another UNV and a group of local students to support
the management development project 'Loja Competitiva' in its goal
to enhance the creation of new enterprises and investments. They
focused on creation and maintenance of the project's web page, and
on generating indicators and objectives to improve technology communication
systems in the La Loja Competitiva context.
Online volunteers work directly with youth in guiding them on
the basics of setting up a business, of managing money, of behavior
in the workplace, in preparing CVs, etc. |
| Target 17. In cooperation with pharmaceutical
companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing
countries |
|
|
| Target 18. In cooperation with the private
sector, make available the benefits of new technologies, especially
information and communications |
Note: This entire table illustrates
contributions of Volunteers to make ICT effective tools of development
(though not necessarily in collaboration with private sector). For
this specific target, roles of Volunteers (1) ICT-related Corporate
Social Responsibility, and (2) ICT policy and direct Government
support are shown.
Helping private sector implement initiatives related to ICT
for Development, in particular by maximizing the volunteering component
of such initiatives, their benefits to local communities and their
socially inclusive character.
Establishing corporate volunteering programmes supporting the application
of ICT for diverse developmental purposes.
Supporting national policy making aspects related to developmental
application of ICT and e-inclusion.
Contributing to strengthen institutional capacity in government
institutions (i.e. Ministries) |
UNVs under UNITeS are playing a key role
in a major project in collaboration with Cisco Systems and UNDP,
the Networking Academies LDC Initiative. In its first phase, they
helped in 19 countries to extend highly valuable technical training
from the Cisco curriculum to people from poor communities, and to
extend these Academies outside of capital cities.
In Chile, a UNV in the UNITeS framework is working with ProHumana,
a Chilean NGO specialized in Corporate Social Responsibility. Among
the services provided, was to programme and support an innovative
Spanish-language Online Volunteering service (using UNV's expertise
in managing the NetAid OV service since early 2000). The Volunteer
also designed and implemented ProHumana's website, ,
where the OV service is accessed.
In Bhutan, a country very new to the digital revolution, UNVs in
a project included in the UNITeS framework were introducing the
use of ICTs in many of its official institutions, like the Ministries
of Finance, Agriculture, Trade and Industry, and at the Division
of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications
In Honduras, a volunteer from the UNITeS University Volunteer Network
is contributing as a Junior Technical Adviser for HONDUTEL's project
"Support to management, modernization and expansion of HONDUTEL",
related to the design of the future national telecom network. In
particular, the volunteer assists in revising and elaborating terms
of reference and technical specifications in some of the 25 sub-projects
in modernization and expansion plans of HONDUTEL, as well as offering
advice in operation systems, net maintenance and quality control.
In Tanzania, an international UNV through the UNITeS initiative
supported the Government to set up a National ICT Council to expand
access to ICT training and Internet use in the country. His activities
included the provision of substantive advice to each member on ICT
policies and strategies, as well as develop outreach activities
to institutions and companies served by the Council.
In Benin, a team of volunteers under UNITeS helped the Government
set up a national information network on 8 sectoral activities,
by strengthening each institutional node in their human and institutional
capacities to implement Information Management strategies. The sectors
were: NGOs and Development Associations, Planning and Development
Cooperation, Health and Social Development, Environment and Rural
Development, Media, Culture, Arts and Tourism. |
