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iEARN Sierra Leone, TakingITGlobal organise WSIS awareness activities

Report on the WSIS National Youth Activities in Sierra Leone

Radio discussion and phone-in programmes on 98.1FM & 96.2FM 5-6 September 2003
National Interactive Forum on 10-12 September 2003

Prepared by Sylvanus S. Murray
National Coordinator, WSIS National Youth Activities, Sierra Leone

There is a common perception about ICT, and people tend to view it as great technologies for improving 'access to information.' The young people of Sierra Leone have emphasized this importance over the past week, noting other important aspects of using ICT towards facilitating the poor and the marginalized to communicate, and to solving specific problems posed by health, unemployment, education etc.

The current ebb and flow in ICTs and development have moved the young people of Sierra Leone towards greater awareness of their assets and capability to build our community and generate prospects of sustainable livelihoods at the dawn of the countries transition towards peace and democracy.

TakingITGlobal Sierra Leone Network is taking the lead, together with partners at the International Education And Resource Network (iEARN Sierra Leone), Youth Empowerment for Development Ministries (YEDEM), National Youth Multi Purpose Co-operative Society (NYMCOS), Fire Stone Community Development and Cultural Organization, Earth Chapter Youth Group Sierra Leone (ECYG-SL), and other prominent youth organizations engaged in
youth and community development work.

The youth of Sierra Leone, leaders in the new round of information technology, hosted radio discussion and phone-in programmes over two days and a three-day national interactive forum to synchronize the WSIS activities with the preparations in Geneva, Switzerland.

The events created media frenzy as many of the countrys reputable radio stations and journalists became glued to the three-day activities.

On September 5 to 6, 2003 the FM 98.1 D Radio repeatedly broadcast the importance of the WSIS Interactive Forum to be held during September 10-12 at the British Council. Indeed, the radio dramatically raised national awareness on the WSIS and the national youth campaign alongside an examination of the advantages and disadvantages of ICT and youth in Sierra Leone, in terms of access and use, thus eliciting public reaction through a phone-in component of the programme.

The radio discussion and phone-in programmes helped greatly to increasing the level of national awareness about the WSIS, thus bringing ICT and young people in the mainstream of public discussion and opinion. Yet, it was not without its odds, as the British Council was literarily overwhelmed with participants beyond the expected number of 80.

The publicity was taken full blown by the FM 96.2 with messages sensitising the public to the importance of hosting such a forum. The FM 106.6 SKY Radio also ran continuous highlights of the forum with youths from the radio media deployed and determined to fire home (through their reports) the enthusiasm of the Sierra Leone populace and listeners the need to improve the ICT sector in the country. Live broadcast were made from the British Council locale where the event was hosted, and a train of TV crew from the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Service Television (SLBS-TV) took the forum to the doors of TV viewers.

The forum was a youth campaign that encouraged the participants to brainstorm and explore youth-friendly strategies to identify and tackle the growing problems that Sierra Leone youths face in accessing ICTs. Importantly, the youths were challenged to discuss the use of ICTs amongst the largely marginalized and disadvantaged youths during post-war reconstruction and national development in Sierra Leone. The theme of the forum was: 'ICT and the Youth: A Rebirth After War'.

Welcoming participants to the forum, Laura Whenzle, remarked, "If ever there was an area where young people are leaders not just of tomorrow but today, it is the emerging information society. From Web development to the use of mobile phones, young people are growing up with these technologies, and it is these that the young people of Sierra Leone know better than their parents, and what gives them an edge."

The national coordinator of TakingITGlobal Sierra Leone Network (TIG-SLN), Sylvanus Murray, reiterated the importance of the forum. In his statement, he said that it was geared towards promoting collaboration between young people involved in diverse information society initiatives. It was a platform to examine and discuss national policies and programmes related to the information society, thereby preparing a national declaration.

Murray also informed the audience about TakingITGlobal's role in the WSIS youth activities as a global facilitator. Participants were encouraged to be part of the good work that TIG is doing for young people by firstly becoming members of the network and endeavour to "inspire, inform and involve" others in the different communities. They were called upon to access the TIG-SL Web page and use it to showcase their activities and success stories.

Before introducing the chairman for the forum, Cornelius Deveaux, general secretary of the Earth Charter Youth Group Sierra Leone (ECYG-SL), gave a brief background about the ECYG, its mission and objectives. He said that ECYG-SL had started and would continue using ICTs in promoting the values of the Earth Charter amongst youths, youth-serving agencies, business organisations and the government for sustainable peace and development.

In his opening remarks, chairman Andrew Benson Greene, national coordinator of iEARN Sierra Leone, lamented the digital divide that still haunts Africa and especially Sierra Leone. Drawing from his long experience in using ICTs at home and abroad, through the Sierra Leone programme, Greene noted, "Every step towards advancing ICTs, left in itself, benefits the well off, and exacerbates the divide between the rich and the poor. Therefore, Sierra Leonean youths need to pay special attention to see that there is a constructive, intelligent and innovative use of the new ICTs so that the poor and marginalized are not left behind."

Greene emphasized, "Information technology has been a key engine for the growth and development of societies since the 1970s and sadly Sierra Leonean youths are still striving to catch up with peers around the world due to the years of war and skirmishes." He believed that there was no longer any excuse, for not using ICTs as the war was now over.

He reflected on British Prime Minister Tony Blair's speech at the recently held Cable and Wireless ChildNet Award Ceremony in UK April 2003, which he witnessed together with Wilfred Mohamed Kuateh, pupil of Sierra Leone Grammar School, and an iEARN Sierra Leone Youth Award recipient. Quoting from Blairs speech, he said: "The Internet is for everyone, proving social and economic advantage and limitless opportunities to all those who use the Web." He called on the participants which included over 80 youths and young adults from diverse organisations to respond to these challenges by sharing their views meaningfully towards promoting an ICT-enabled environment in the country.

Among the stakeholders in ICTs who were present were representatives of the state-owned SIERRATEL company, including Max Thompson, its acting controller of commercial services. One of the participants' overwhelming feelings was that SIERRATEL monopolized the information sector particularly with the use of ICTs.

Thompson contested this idea vehemently, noting that ICT is the right and new term for what has been telecommunication in the past, and its use is now totally different from what it was. He emphasized that the ministry of transport and communication has been able to liberalise its use such that individuals and private firms are now granted licenses to operate their own VSATs. It was limited to banks in the past.

He noted that SIERRATEL is making giant strides to bring the Internet closer to the people in spite of the damaged infrastructure during the war in Freetown and other provincial districts.

Damson Smith, representing the ministry of information and broadcasting, informed participants that ICTs' use is also reflected in the new democracy, as the government is making sure that there is unhindered information flow, which is critical for freedom of the press.

The views from participants were as diverse as the participants themselves. Princess Davies, head of Project Management-Based Academy College in UK, noted that people were joining hands to make the world a global village, but women were being excluded from the share of the ICT cake.

Theresa Macauley stressed the need for a youth movement for achieving youth development and urged women to stand up, be self-motivated and make personal endeavours whilst maintaining their moral standards and dignity.

Vincent, a youth from Voice of Children Radio (UNAMSIL), noted that marriage between Radio and ICTs for advancing education but was wary of the adverse effects of picture messages in mobile phones with often-nude pictures and obscene text characters. This was clearly mentioned in the statement by Sulaiman (of Children's Forum Network) that pornographic images can blur the good intention of Websites and awful language with the use of instant messages amongst youth is a barrier to the use of ICTs. Nonetheless, Wilfred Kuteh of iEARN Sierra Leone believed that best practices and constructive collaboration from his iEARN experiences can be of added value to networking and collaboration, and appealed to government and stakeholders to encourage the youths to develop skills in ICTs.

Nathaniel Thomas Beckley, a young presenter and producer from FM 106.6 Radio, noted that the radio is a very important medium that is sometimes neglected. He stressed that the "media is our friends and we must meet the media and not shy away from it" to make our views expressed to a large audience.

Matthew Curtew from Radio Democracy FM 98.1 expressed a similar view and suggested that in the future, radio and television must continue to be a viable channel for sensitising youths and stakeholders in the area of ICT for development.

Sulaiman S. Kamara from the Fire Stone Community explored the state of youth unemployment and youth in community development that has been a real challenge amongst the youths since years of neglect and corruption. He believed that once ICT infrastructure improved, lots of young people would have an outlet to develop their potentials for even self-employment.

Umar Akin Conteh took this into consideration while facilitating a session on youth and development. Representing the ministry of youth and sports and the United Network of Young Peacebuilders (UNOY), he also stressed that the gap must be bridged between those who have access to information technologies and those who do not.

Sahr Yilla, national coordinator for the Campaign for the Blind, talked about technology and disability. He said that because of the growing use of technology, disabled persons faced even harder challenges in todays growing ICT world. He said that the approach that the disabled persons are misfits and liabilities in the society must change and NGOs must not overuse and misuse the blind for their selfish ends, but must maximize their potentials to help the disabled catch up in the race. Through efforts from the disabled, Sierra Leone School for the Blind recently performed wonders in a UK competition, and swept the first prize in the Mount Everest Quiz competition in Freetown.

Several workshop sessions were held and facilitated by key players in the education and communication field. Claudine Hingston from the Mass Communication Department of Fourah Bay College (FBC) facilitated a discussion on the theme "Education, Sensitization, Training, and Gender", bringing her insight and practical experience in the interactions that ensued.

Charles Lahai and Ngollo Thomas Katta touched on the ever-growing need for youth to network their ideas and garner resources from the pool that ICT can bring. The aspect of good governance and human rights and ICTs' role in promoting them were also discussed. Abdul Kuyateh, a student of the Fourah Bay College and facilitator of this workshop, posed a question to the participants: "How do we ensure that good governance and human rights prevail in our country?"

Many participants believed that young journalists have a daunting task to use the new media to report positively. They also said the constitution and laws of Sierra Leone must not be ambivalent and must be understood by even the layperson.

Pat Lewis facilitated the discussions on "Culture, Health Care and the Environment" and provoked a huge debate on the neglect of Sierra Leone culture, and entrusted the responsibility to all who use the media to project the culture of the countrys people. He said, "Technology can be used in the best way to help improve our environment rather than destroy it, and that traditional health practices and traditional technology must be encouraged."

On the last day of the forum, Director of the British Council Rajiv Bendre informed the audience how his institution has been offering free or low-cost Internet services to its members. He also expressed deep concern and compassion for the vast majority of people especially young people who are finding it extremely difficult to access ICTs as compared to other countries such as Ghana, Senegal, Nigeria etc in the sub-region.

The minister of information and broadcasting, Prof. Septimus Kaikai, in his keynote address thanked the organisers and the participants for organising the first ever forum of such kind in Sierra Leone. He said it was a challenge for his government to do everything in its power to ensure that access to ICT becomes available to the citizens especially young people of the country. He said he would represent his government at the upcoming WSIS to be held in Geneva in December 2003 and carry with him the clear message from the youths of Sierra Leone, who now have a growing thirst to explore and make meaningful use of the opportunities available through ICT usage.

Greene, who chaired the three-day forum, reaffirmed the clamour of the young people of Sierra Leone for access to ICTs and for catching up with its global counterparts, and urged the minister to take necessary steps to improve ICT access.

Murray, coordinator of the forum, thanked the minister and based on the recommendations made by the over 80 youth participants, enumerated the following points as part of a declaration:

The governments presentation at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) should reflect the views and concerns of young people in Sierra Leone on the information society.
The government to review existing media laws and national policies and provision of basic infrastructure and other facilities to enhance the access and use of ICTs by youths in the community development work.
The ministry of youth and sports in collaboration with other line ministries, international, local NGOs and youth serving agencies, organise regular training for youth leaders in collaboration with public relation officers of youth/community-based organizations to enhance their knowledge, practice and use of ICTs in enhancing youth development.
The ministry of youth and sports should be fully occupied with modern ICTs to make it more effective in the discharge of its duties.
Sierratel to host a youth in community development Web site to showcase profile of youth organizations, activities and events and network events, ideas and resources which will be managed by TIG-SLN and iEARN Sierra Leone.
Precedent to this, TIG-SLN and iEARN should make effective use of the TakingITGlobal Sierra Leone country page Website to showcase the profile of youth community development organizations, activities and events and network events, ideas and resources with other TIG partners.
TIG-SLN, iEARN, YEDEM and UNOY explore responsibilities to set up community ICT resource centres where youths in development can freely or at a cost get effective access and use of ICTs to enhance and smoothen development work.
The government should include/sponsor at least one youth delegate to the WSIS 2003 in Geneva.

In the forums closing ceremony, Prof. Kaikai honoured participants for their roles in raising awareness about the use of ICTs among the largely marginalized and disadvantaged young people in post-war Sierra Leone.

Networked Intelligence for Development is a Toronto based network of independent consultants and trainers specializing in new media, information and communication technologies (ICTs), the creative industries and international development. Our consultants have held senior positions in multilateral organizations, governmental and intergovernmental organizations, broadcasting and media institutions, research institutes and non-governmental organizations.

iEARN Sierra Leone, TakingITGlobal organise WSIS awareness activities

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