IICD signs MoU with Ghana’s Ministry of Communications

The collaboration between these two parties, supported by the memorandum, will focus on enhancing the development impact and sustainability of the Community Information Centres ( CICs). A development which is perfectly synchronised with IICD’s programme objectives as it will deploy the expertise, gained while implementing programme components, at these centres. IICD will be using their particular expertise in the realms of content development and deployment and the mobilisation of user groups at community level.

IICD has been deploying an ICT programme in Ghana since 1997. The principal role has been to support governmental and non-governmental organisations, especially in the areas of agriculture, education and governance. IICD support has extended to a number of areas, most notably to the role of assisting the government in the development of the National ICT Implementation Plans and the Agriculture and Health ICT Policies. Alongside this, IICD has supported the Ministry of Information and National Orientation in managing the national e-Government portal as well as facilitating in the operation of the Ghana Information Network for Knowledge Sharing (GINKS).

What targets and who benefits?

The Ghana ICT4D (ICT for Development) process is one of the most documented and most consultative in Africa. Discussion and debates centred on ICT4D are broadcast on radio and television, reported on in the news, and are firmly on the local political agenda. The Ghana ICT4D policy has been approved by Cabinet and Parliament, and considerable improvements have been seen at various levels. Quite significantly, Ghana’s own Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) has asserted that in the process of poverty alleviation, deployment of ICTs through projects like the CIC initiative will play a key role.

Operating in the context of the Millenium Development Goals (MDG), the GPRS has set its sights on a number of important targets: improving access and quality of education; empowerment of women through training and the provision of small-scale business information; provision of communication technologies in rural areas and the improvement of local governance. Indeed, the belief that underlies strategy is that to achieve these goals all agents – both individuals and groups – must be included. Consequently, targeted beneficiaries of the CIC initiative include school children, unemployed youth, women and women’s groups as well as private business, farmers, non-governmental organisations and local government authorities.

The collaboration with IICD will support the Ministry of Communications and GIFTEL (Ghana Investment Fund for Telecommunications) and from here in up to ten existing CICs in the Northern and Upper West regions and in the Volta and Upper East regions of Ghana.