CIDA and IICD supporting grassroots development and learning from it

In a nutshell...

• CIDA will be joining the UK, Swiss and Dutch agencies for development cooperation - DFID, SDC and DGIS respectively - in supporting IICD activities.
• Part of this strategic partnership involved CIDA's participation in the 'Building Digital Opportunities (BDO)' programme; a combined bilateral agency initiative to tackle obstacles to realising development through ICTs.
• The agreement between IICD and CIDA is directed at:
  - Supporting a multi-stakeholder Roundtable process on rural development in Burkina Faso, which will generate on-the-ground experience in implementing poverty-focused and locally-owned ICTs for development in the form of projects; and
  - Contributing to the BDO Learning Study.
• The objectives will be achieved through IICD Country Programmes and Thematic Networks, as well as through the BDO fora

The partnership

CIDA and IICD crossed paths quite some time ago in the context of the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) Executive Committee (ExCom). Over the years, the dialogue between our two organisations has strengthened in intensity. The fruit of these talks has now been harvested in this formal agreement to work together at a strategic level.

The 'Bridging Digital Opportunities' agreement between IICD, DFID, DGIS and SDC has played a strong role in bringing this dialogue to a real collaboration in clearly identified programmes. CIDA through this agreement with IICD, will be joining the BDO partnership. By doing so, CIDA and the other bilateral development agencies strengthen their effort to coordinate donor resources in support of ICTs for development. Not only will the implementing partners such as IICD, be able to achieve more activities on the ground, but equally important will be the improved ability for all BDO stakeholders to learn and share learning among a broader set of policymakers and stakeholders. The agreement will be valid for one year, spanning part of 2003 and into 2004. The CIDA/IICD partnership will find its venue both inside the BDO forum and inside the Burkina Faso Country Programme.

As a BDO stakeholder, CIDA will be joining the quarterly BDO meetings to share ICT enabled development results and knowledge. Along these lines, CIDA will together with DFID and SDC, finance the BDO Learning Study this summer. This study has the objective to review the impact on poverty being done by BDO partners in the context of three African countries. It will be a significant study in the field of ICTs for development and will be extensively disseminated at WSIS and among local DFID, DGIS and SDC desks in countries. Other national and international fora will also be venues for dissemination. It is worthwhile noting that a poverty expert will be overseeing the study and the poverty framework, while African consultants will be approached for national reviews. The BDO Learning Study will absorb 50% of the resources made available through this partnership.

CIDA emphasis is not the learning alone, but learning grounded in grassroots development through ICTs. As such, CIDA will be supporting IICD in the Burkina Faso Country Programme. The remaining 50% of the CIDA financial support will be applied to a Roundtable workshop in rural development as part of the Burkina Faso Country Programme. As such, this portion of the money will be used to lay the groundwork for local stakeholders to identify development projects making use of ICTs. These locally-owned and operated projects shall help set the stage for impact and learning as the full IICD roundtable process unfolds.

A strategic alliance

A key aspect of this partnership is that the alliance of DGIS, DFID, SDC and CIDA in the context of the BDO programme. The joint support for ICT enabled development represents a great effort by donor agencies to augment coordination and complementarity in policies, approaches and resources.

The activities CIDA will be supporting - both the Learning Study and the Burkina Faso Country Programme, will help to ensure that learning from concrete ICTs for development activities gain voice in and strengthen the discussion found at multi-lateral meetings such as WSIS 2003 and the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP).

More information

If you have any questions on the CIDA-IICD partnership or if you are interested in more information on how to partner with IICD, please contact IICD's Partnerships Manager at partnering@iicd.org. Be sure to visit the websites of CIDA (www.acdi-cida.gc.ca) and its BDO donor agency partners: DGIS (www.minbuza.nl/english), DFID (www.dfid.gov.uk), and SDC www.sdc.admin.ch). To learn more about IICD and its activities in ICTs for development, have a look at (www.iicd.org ).