Report (Part 3): Conference on Volunteering and ICTs

Panel: Successful Examples of Information Technology Applications to Volunteering

Date: 8 December 2003, 9h00 to 10h00
Moderator: Diane Trahan, Netcorps Cyberjeunes
Reporters: Topias Issakainen, ICVolunteers
Speakers:     

• Luis Felipe Murray of Sociedade Iko Poran
• Pierre Carpentier (Afrique Initatives)
• Mohamed Ibrahim Cisse, Mayor of Timbuktu
• Arman Vermishyan of Internet Forum Environment Armenia
• Bill Gunyon, OneWorld Project Manager and Coordinator of the OneWorld Volunteer Editors

Presenters from a local government, as well as NGO and private sector organizations presented examples of successful partnerships between the volunteer sector and other sectors. Luis Felipe Murray of Sociedade Iko Poran (Brazil) explained how partnership is leading to synergies both between NGOs and NGOs and the private sector. Pierre Carpentier of the private sector Afrique Initiatives explained how volunteers and the private sector play complementary roles in sustainable development. Mohammed Ibrahim Cissé, Mayor of Timbuktu (Mali), used his city as an example of how both governments can benefit from multi-actor partnerships including the volunteer sector, especially in developing countries. Arman Vermishyan of the Youth Environment Center Network (Armenia) focused on how combining volunteering and ICTs can increase participation of youth in decisions affecting their lives and their futures, especially for pressing issues such as the environment in Eastern Europe. Finally, Bill Gunyon, head of OneWorld Volunteer Editors, illustrated how combining the spirit of volunteerism with the reach of global media can increase transparency, self-empowerment and sustainable development.

Partnership Equals Synergy in Brazil: the Example of Iko Poran

Luis Felipe Murray of Sociedade Iko Poran (Brazil) (www.ikoporan.org) is an NGO whose mission is to strengthen and support the growing number of NGOs in Brazil. It sees volunteerism as a partnership which must satisfy the volunteers involved as well as benefit the NGO concerned: fulfilled volunteers are more committed and mutuality of interests between the organization and the volunteer will produce value for each partner. Third sector organizations will not prosper if they try and work alone, but the traditional philanthropic basis for volunteering is giving way to strategic alliances. IKP, for example, has amongst its main partners IBM, UN Volunteers, UNESCO, Yes Brazil (a large fashion store), tourist organizations and International Volunteer Programme Associates (based in the US).

One of the most interesting partnerships is the one with IBM. IBM buys relevant services from IKP, which opens new markets for the latter. There is one program in which ten employees drawn from different sections of IBM are working to install computers in schools in small Brazilian villages. The benefits are twofold: there is the obvious benefit to the school, but IBM also achieves its aim of spreading corporate responsibility. The IBM employees discover the realities in the field, and go back to their work more motivated, and able to share their experience with their colleagues. The interests of IBM and IKP are not identical, but they are mutually supportive.

Working with Volunteers to find Models for Sustainable Development in Africa

Pierre Carpentier (Afrique Initatives, people@net) presented Pésinet, a non-profit organization focused on preventive health care, and Saint Louis Net, S.A.R.L., a for-profit business that intends to offer a range of IT-based services to the community, are social development-focused enterprises operating in Saint Louis, Senegal. Both are entities of Afrique Initiatives, a Brussels-based company focused on investing in small business development in Africa. Both operate in Saint Louis, a city of about 150,000 in northern Senegal, and share an Intranet site and related IT infrastructure provided by Afrique Initiatives. Both also have a social purpose, but have developed different operating models. Carpentier explained that he progressively learned to appreciate volunteers as partners of choice to him. According to him, cooperation between the private sector and civil society is not only possible but necessary. Both the private sector and all other actors need each other to effectively address world problems, such as sustainable development. A sustainable project is a model that is economically viable and therefore can also be reproduced elsewhere. Carpentier explained that considering that his company is mainly active on the African continent, “solidarity” is a key element. Afrique Intatives needs real and strong partners. The Volunteer Family is an ideal partner: being in the field, volunteers are familiar with development problems and real needs. Pésinet, a project of Afrique Initatives based in St. Louis (Senegal), shows that there are ICT applications that can become sustainable. Out of thirty ideas, eight proved to work out and are today used by the local population. Pésinet developed the system with a team of ten people, in collaboration with Enda Tiers Monde. Different services are provided, such as weather forecast for fishermen, and a health service for young children. This program allows doctors to monitor the health of very young children, by plotting the curves established by regular weighing of babies. Carpentier considers that the possibilities of e-commerce are still rather limited in this region of the world, as online services remain science fiction. Viable systems can be implemented with the help of financing and technical partnership. Last but not least, the good implementation and sustainability of a project often depends on the work and presence of volunteers, as shown in the context of the implementation of the virtual city hall of Timbuktu (Mali).

The Lost City joins the Global Community

Mohamed Ibrahim Cisse, Mayor of Timbuktu, presented the Online City Hall of Timbuktu, an ancient isolated city, situated near the Niger river, but otherwise surrounded by desert. It is a center of culture and education, and also the center of a large administrative area within Mali. In Timbuktu, there is an increasing interest in the new technologies and connectedness with the outside world.

In 1998 a Telecentre Communautaire Polyvalent incorporating a cyber cafe was constructed. Unsurprisingly, youngsters are the main users of the center, but other groups, including women and religious groups, use it for the administration and management of their organizations. Connection is almost free and students use it for educational purposes. The website www.tombouctou.net provides visitors with information about the area. It offers new services under the slogan 'la Mairie vous écoute', which gives local people access to local government services. As a result of this technology, Timbuktu has become less isolated and local government has become less centralized and more transparent, Timbuktu being one of Mali’s 703 communes. Funding has come through the UN, and it is hoped to extend the project to other communes. In addition, Swisscom has equipped Timbuktu’s high school with 16 state-of-the-art computers. UNVolunteers is providing training to both teachers and students.

One further application of new technology is in telemedicine: doctors in isolated rural areas can benefit from the experience of colleagues who may work thousands of kilometers away. Such connectedness enables patients to be treated in their own communities. Traveling to the city would often be difficult or virtually impossible.

Combining Youth, the Environment and the Internet in Eastern Europe

Arman Vermishyan of Internet Forum Environment Armenia presented his project of a Youth Environment Center Network. He pointed out that the high price of Internet services in developing countries results in no or very limited access. This is particularly detrimental to students. Even where access to the net exists, information is not always used in an effective and useful manner. The environment is a subject of interest among Armenian youth, but there is a shortage of training centers. This results in poor coordination of activities at both local and national levels. There are many local problems and a network would make it possible to involve the rural communities in the decision-making process. Vermishyan explained that he and his colleagues would like to create a Network of Youth Environment Centres (YECs) for which they are currently seeking funds. The objectives of YECs are to promote environmental activities, provide information, as well as training and seminars. The aim of the network is to provide a connecting link between the various branches of the YECs, as well as between the YECs, government and international organizations. It would be invaluable in providing much needed coordination, the lack of which is currently a major problem.

OneWorld Volunteer Editors: Building News in the South for the North through Volunteer Involvement

Bill Gunyon, OneWorld Project Manager and Coordinator of the OneWorld Volunteer Editors presented his organization. Through its network of 12 regional centers, OneWorld supports and facilitates an online community of over 1,500 global partner organizations working for human rights and sustainable development. Its most visible product is the development portal www.oneworld.net, which since 1996 has become a new media site for multi-lingual audiences in over 100 countries seeking news and analyses on issues neglected by mainstream media. Until recently all its editors were professional journalists or development workers, but now there are some volunteers who edit specific pages. Volunteers (there are now about 35 volunteer editors) are recruited through Netaid, OneWorld's own site, as well as through regional offices. Volunteers have changed the strategic outlook of the whole organization and help reduce the old imbalance of a predominance of editors from the North. Starting this new strategy, the web page for Senegal has been edited by a local volunteer. In the past, volunteers from the developed world assisted in developing countries. In the case of Senegal and other countries where local volunteers are updating the web content, the information is provided by people from the South and is primarily read by an audience in the US and Europe. With no prospect of face-to-face training for the volunteers, OneWorld has also developed a simplified version of its content management system, designed to allow volunteer editors to input their material directly into the OneWorld portal. Conventional workflow tools enable the OneWorld coordinator to edit and authorize the content. In the context of this project, this tool is the most explicit demonstration of the application of ICTs in developing countries, linking southern volunteers directly to a global audience.