UNITeS named finalist in Stockholm Challenge - 13 June 2001

UNITeS is pleased to announce that it has been selected as a finalist in the Stockholm Challenge through its very first initiative in the Orissa Super Cyclone Rehabilitation project (India), which involves Volunteers helping to provide information services in a major collaborative rehabilitation effort underway in India. The state of Orissa was devastated by a major cyclone in October 1999.19,000 villages were fully or partially destroyed, affecting an estimated 13 million people. Several UN agencies came together to work jointly in relief and rehabilitation efforts, including UNITeS. The primary objective of the Orissa UNITeS project is to provide information services to institutions involved in the rehabilitation effort, enhancing transparency, accountability and efficiency for this effort. The project is narrowing the gap between "information rich" and "information poor".

The Stockholm Challenge is a non-profit initiative of the City of Stockholm, and a unique awards program for pioneering ICT projects world wide. The Stockholm Challenge focuses on the positive effects of today's information society, and the benefit information and communication technology can bring people and society. The technology itself is not the issue. Its web site notes, "The Stockholm Challenge is not only a competition, but a meeting place for people who share a vision about the future. The big challenge is to bridge the digital divide."

100 projects were selected as finalists for the Award out of 742 submissions from 90 countries. There are 11 other finalists in the same category, Health & Quality of Life, as UNITeS. The winners in each category will be announced and celebrated on September 26, 2001.

For more information on the contributions of UNITeS-affiliated UN Volunteers in Orissa or in other locations around the world, please go to the section on Ongoing Assignments in this site, or write to info@unites.org