New Delhi, April 22, 2008: OneWorld South Asia, the South Asia centre of the International OneWorld Foundation, is the new Regional Coordinator for Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) the worldwide multi-stakeholder network that promotes innovations in knowledge and information and communication technologies (ICT) for development.
The ten year old network comprises over 100 members in 50 countries across Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, East and South Asia, Latin America, Middle East and Oceania. It brings together the private and public sectors and civil society on a common platform to share knowledge and build partnerships the twin mission of GKP.
Based on the number of votes secured and the realisation of quorum conditions for each region, the election results for Regional Coordinators were announced on April 11, 2008. The RC elections recorded a high vote turnout at 73%, the highest ever.
OneWorld South Asia, that received the maximum number of votes in its favour, will complement GKPs global activities within Asia South. We are committed to creating a visible niche for the region while taking forward GKPs mandate to the region and beyond, said Naimur Rahman, Director, OneWorld South Asia, on the day of announcement.
OneWorld South Asia has successfully harnessed the democratic potential of ICT to give a voice to marginalised communities by creating innovative ICT4D programme interventions, developing knowledge connectivity, and building multi-stakeholder partnerships to advocate the Millennium Development Goals using both traditional and emerging media.
The overwhelming support for OneWorld is a reflection of the confidence of the civil society in the organisation, said Rahman, who incidentally was also the sole nominee for the position in South Asia.
Other new regional coordinators for 2008-10 include Eskedar Nega, UNECA, for Africa; Craig Wilson, FCD, for East Asia; Anthony Harris, eCOM-LAC, for Latin America and the Caribbean; Sherif El Tokali, UNDP, for Middle East and North Africa; Alain Berranger, FOCAL, for North America; and Martin Cocker, Netsafe, for Oceania.
The GKP Executive Committee (EXCOMM) elections results were also announced the same day. Five new member organisations were elected in yet another high turnout of voting - a record 77 %, the highest in GKP history. These new members serving term 2008-10 include the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Microsoft Corporation, Association for Progressive Communications, CommonWealth of Learning and M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation.
|
