How ICTs are helping to address MDGs in Kenya

Poverty Reduction and ICT WorkshopApril 12th, 2005

Jacaranda Hotel, Nairobi

Case Studyby

Wainaina Mungai, OKNmobile.co.ke

What are the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)  

1. Halving extreme poverty and hunger

2. Achieving universal primary education

3. Promoting gender equality and empower women

4. Reducing under-five child mortality by two-thirds

5. Reducing maternal mortality by three quarters

6. Reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB

7. Ensuring environmental sustainability

8. Developing a global partnership for development, with targets for aid, trade and debt relief 

 

……All these in the next 10 years ……..(by the 11th Parliament)

GOAL 1. Halving extreme poverty and hungerIncrease access to market information and trade

opportunities SMSokoni provides agricultural market prices to

farmers via SMS. ABS-TCM sends out a weekly analysis of market

prices for farmers. Also, see Simu ya Jamii

Kazi560 SMS vacancy alerts

Enhanced global trade.

Websites such as MagicalKenya,.com, Biashara.biz, Mamamikes.com

Increase access to information on income opportunities.

Kazi560 provides SMS vacancy alerts at 3/= to the bottom of the pyramid market (BOP), and free advertising to employers. Hundreds employed.

www.oknmobile.co.ke

GOAL 2. Universal primary education▪Broaden availability of quality educational materials/resources

-World Space digital radio’s Africa Learning Channel used in some schools-Computers in SOME schools. -Missing electronic books.-

Q. Keeping children in school……..

Q. Enhance literacy rates of 15 to 20 year old……

??? Address poverty.

??? Replace entertainment with educational / edutainment content on youth and mass media

Q. Access to teachers, training of teachers……E-learning through the AVU concept

ICT training for teachers to improve their relevance

GOAL 3. Promoting Gender equality and empowering women

Empowerment by addressing the info needs of women (career, finance, family, romance etc).

A women focused service, Her560, sends out informative tips via SMS. The target being all women with an interest in seelf improvement.

Breast Cancer and Her560 SMS Tips

SMS tips and question and answer service on Breast Cancer.

- Tips by Kenya Breast Health Programme (KBHP)

- Mobile users remain anonymous as they ask short questions via SMS2Email service on issues around Breast Cancer.

GOAL 4. Reducing child mortalityGOAL 5. Improve maternal health care

ICTs can help to easily avail information on affordable healthcare.

In Kibera, a free Community News service (OKN News) that send SMS to over 2000 phones (reaching about 10,000 residents), avails information on free clinics for mother child and whole family. Talks on PMCT-HIV/AIDS, eye care are also publicized.

By mobilising on behalf of health providers such as Mbagathi District Hospital, Christ the King church, MSF-Belgium etc, free and affordable health care for mother and child is availed.

-- OKNNews is also available at OKN Access points (computers in various remote parts of Africa)

Free Local news to Kibera

GOAL 6. Reversing the spread of HIV/AIDS , Malaria, TB, etc

ICTs to educate on HIV/AIDS.

Informative tips via SMS through a Health tips service accessible to 2.5 million Safaricom subscribers.

HIV/AIDS information via

SMS

SMS to remind HIV/AIDS patients on medication.

An SMS reminder service accessible to remind patients to take ARV and other medication .

SMS question and answer service on HIV/AIDS.

Mobile users remain anonymous as they ask short questions via SMS2Email service.

GOAL 7. Environmental sustainability

We are eating at our environment.- 57% of us living below the poverty line.- 64% of actively employed depend on agriculture- Yet 83% of our land is not good for agriculture- We fight over water and grazing land.

Environment and ICTs.

Awareness; Empower NEMA to use ICTs to monitor; Remote sensing and Disaster warning; (EIS); use ICTs that improve efficiency; optimize resource consumption; “no assumptions”

Baking a new national cake (service, knowledge economy).•ERS suggest use of ICTS to substitute reliance on agriculture •Draft Policy suggests a move to knowledge economy (see: Malaysia)•Remember Prof. Wangari Maathai as we develop final policy

GOAL 8. Developing a global partnership for development, with targets for aid, trade and debt reliefTarget 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. ---- ? A lot remains to be done. Advocacy via ICT. (Learn from Pambazuko’s global campaign on the Rights of Women….. email, SMS, webforms etc were used)

16: In cooperation with developing countries, develop and implement strategies for

decent and productive work for youth, --- Kazi560 addressing the issue of placement; more jobs need to be created.

17: In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable drugs

in developing countries, and ---ARV generic drugs being manufactured locally; free medication for TB and AIDS.

18: In cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new

technologies,especially information and communication - KICTANet, WSIS process and others. Thanks to IDRC etc

OKNMobile

is

Finalist of this year’s

APC Hafkin Communication Prize for 2004/5

For details, visit

www.OKNMobile.com

www.openknowledge.net

Information via SMS