Launch of Commonwealth Connects project in Uganda

The provision of information and communication technology (ICT) tools to young people will assist them in becoming dynamic agents in the transformation of Commonwealth societies, said Dr Michael Frendo, Chairperson of Commonwealth Connects, a programme aimed at bridging the digital divide among communities and countries in the Commonwealth.

Dr Frendo, who is also Malta’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said this during the opening of a Hole-in-the-Wall Computer Learning Station at the Kiswa Community Centre in the Nakawa Division of Uganda’s capital, Kampala, on 19 November 2007.

This US$100,000 project launched by Commonwealth Connects in collaboration with the Government of India is aimed at enhancing access to ICT through the provision of computers within communities, and will enable young people to access the internet for information-gathering, knowledge acquisition and skills development. Dr Frendo noted this move will help young people to compete on a level playing field in the face of globalisation.

The Hole-in-the-Wall project, which features four computer terminals installed at a solar-powered learning station in the community at Kiswa, located 3km east of Kampala, is designed to address the development needs of the young people through the replication of similarly successful projects in India.

“We are making best use of assets, expertise and experiences which are already present, tried and tested in other Commonwealth countries – by adopting an approach which focuses on the sharing of experience and expertise between ICT-developed Commonwealth countries and those which are ICT-challenged,” stated Dr Frendo.

Uganda’s ICT Minister, Dr Ham Mukasa Mulira, said the Hole-in-the-Wall project will help young people, particularly those from disadvantaged communities, to be computer literate thereby reducing the digital divide between communities in urban and rural areas.

India’s Additional Secretary at the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, Madhavan Nambiar, pointed out that the project in Uganda will help to improve their skills in communications through online interaction with their peers and boost their knowledge of interactive processes and multimedia. He added that the Commonwealth Connects programme is developing plans to set up similar computer learning stations in other Commonwealth countries.

In launching the Hole-in-the-Wall project in Kampala, Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon said ICT access is critical in changing the lives of young people.

“If kids do not participate in ICT, they’re marginalised,” said Mr McKinnon. “If millions of kids lose out on ICT, we’ll pay for it in the end as these children will be left out of the opportunities that ICT can bring to them.

“Hopefully we can see this project multiplied many times all over the developing world because we must make available this kind of information to kids by educating them through technology.”

Key Links:

• Country Profile: Uganda
• 'Pictures' - 'Hole in the Wall'

Related News:

• Commonwealth Connects