ICTDAR, the UNDP's Information and Communication Technologies for Development in the Arab Region, is participating in the First International Conference and Exhibition of all Actors of Development Co-operation, being held in Tenerife from June 26-28, 2006.
Najat Rochdi, ICTDAR Regional Coordinator, is addressing a roundtable group on "Eradicating Extreme Poverty and Hunger", on Tuesday June 27 at the Assembly Hall "Caja Rural De Tenerife", chaired by Mr. Javier Morales, External relations Counselor of the Government of the Canary Islands.
The main topic of the conference is "Evaluation of the Millennium Development Goals and Proposals for the Future". The Conference aims to bring together in Tenerife the world’s key players in order to create a forum for thought on development problems and will be a link in the chain making up the fight to eradicate poverty and promote aid development.
Najat Rochdi, ICTDAR Regional Coordinator, said, "Millions of people still live in poverty as ICT tools catalyzing social and economic change lie unused and little understood".
In this era of globalization there are still 850 million people in developing countries who are excluded from a wide range of information and knowledge and in effect remain isolated economically, socially and culturally from progress in the arts, science and technology.
ICTDAR recognizes that the challenge to eradicate extreme poverty is not a challenge for a single country or region but one that faces the entire human race and requires the world community as a whole to take responsibility and interest in achieving. Eradicating poverty and hunger is one of the MDGs, which ICTDAR has been working on since its establishment in October 2003, through the use of ICT.
Rochdi added," the greatest humanitarian challenge ahead is to narrow the gap and ultimately eliminate poverty and provide more opportunities for growth".
By using ICT as a tool to empower people through the incubation of knowledge in human minds, ICTDAR encourages countries in the Arab Region to transform from seeing people as human resources to seeing them as human capital, from concentrating on global economy to promoting knowledge economy.
ICTDAR’s flagship implementations include:
AJIALCOM initiative aims at empowering & enabling Arab youth achieve their potential through educating and training them on the use of ICT.
MASHROUATI initiative helps in improving the business capacities of M/SMEs through the utilization of ICT to develop and prosper thus generating sustainable growth & employment.
WRACTI initiative provides women in difficult circumstances with opportunities to access information using ICT and hence become fully aware of their rights and those of their dependents.
ICRARB initiative empowers the visually impaired, through the use of ICT, to become productive & independent members of their societies.
e-GOVERNEMNT various initiatives aiming at improving governmental services based on efficiency, optimization and transparency leading to participatory citizenship.
The First International Conference and Exhibition of all Actors of Development Co-operation Tenerife 2006 is an initiative promoted by the Tenerife Inter-Island Council with the support of the Canary Isles Regional Government, the Spanish Government through the Department of the Secretary of State for International Cooperation, and the European Commission.
ICTDAR (Information & Communications Technologies for Development in the Arab Region) was established in October 2003 and aimed at assisting Arab States in harnessing ICT to reduce poverty. Covering all Arab countries, ICTDAR’s main priorities and pillars for progress include: awareness raising, capacity development, policy formulation & strategy implementation, pro-poor growth and employment generation. ICTDAR played an instrumental role in assisting the Arab countries in their preparation to WSIS and implementation of their own action plan.
Several initiatives and programs have been implemented by ICTDAR in the countries of the Region addressing Youth empowerment, support to M/SMEs, Women empowerment, e-Governance, support to visually impaired and set up of Arab sharing and collaborative platform.
