The Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) is seeking an evaluation consultant to establish the achievements, outcome and challenges registered by the ICT4Democracy in East Africa Network during the period November 2013 – October 2015. The evaluation will assess the appropriateness, effectiveness and outcomes of the network in relation to the program objectives.
Closing date for applications: 17:00 hours East African Time (EAT) on Thursday November 19, 2015
Further details on the scope, eligibility and how to apply are available here.
“In November 2014, internet statistics source Socialbakers estimated that there were 3.6 million Kenyans on Facebook, with 64% of them male and 36% female. The majority of Facebook users (75%) were aged 18-34 years. As of September 2015, the Kenyan Twitter account with the highest number of followers was @UKenyatta, the Kenyan President’s account that had over one million followers, followed by @ntvkenya with 979,838 followers.”
This report reviews government and non-government Information and Communication Technology (ICT) initiatives in Kenya, and examines how ICT-related policies and other legislation affect citizen participation and democratic governance. Among others, the study covers the link between ICT and political participation, social accountability, public services delivery and citizen engagement. The report is based on policy analysis,
stakeholder interviews and literature review, and aims to inform awareness raising initiatives and advocacy for more progressive policies and practices regarding the use of ICT in governance and civic participation in Kenya.
In our research series this month, we review government and non-government ICT initiatives in Uganda. We examine how ICT-related policies and other legislation affect citizen participation, democratic governance and influence the link between ICT and public services delivery.
The report is based on policy analysis, stakeholder interviews and literature review, and aims to inform awareness raising initiatives and advocacy for more progressive policies and practices regarding the use of ICT in governance and civic participation in Uganda.
Read the full report
By ToroDev Staff Writer |
Radio has proved to be a key tool in promoting public accountability and improved service delivery in the Rwenzori region of western Uganda. Toro Development Network (ToroDev), a non-governmental organisation that trains marginalised communities on service delivery monitoring and participation in governance processes, has reached wide audiences by supplementing their radio activities with additional Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) tools and traditional offline engagements. ToroDev members in an online training session led by Women Of Uganda Network (WOUGNET)
ToroDev is working in partnership with two popular regional radios stations, Hits FM and Better FM, on public accountability radio talk shows focusing on topics such as corruption, politics, poor public infrastructure and health services delivery. ToroDev has enabled wider participation in the radio discussions through the installation of the online polling application Trac.FM at partner radio stations which is supported by pre-paid SMS enabling citizens to share their opinions. Journalist Forums, social media platforms and live call ins further facilitate the debates.
The convergence of these ICT tools has spurred audience participation from 304 monthly responses from citizens in early 2014 to 4,835 responses per month by November 2014, based on aggregated social media responses, radio station SMS and call in figures as well as Trac.FM statistics.
In December 2014, the Orukurato radio talk show on Hits FM discussed the issue of electricity load shedding in the region. According to the show’s host William Kasigazi, over 5,000 responses through call ins on, Trac.FM and social media were received on the topic, of which 85% of respondents were affected by lack of electricity for a few hours at least once every day.
This unusual influx of responses during the December 2014 load shedding debate led to the regional Director of Umeme (the national electricity supplier) to request for a slot on the show to educate citizens on the cause of the power cuts.
Meanwhile, in order to promote more rural debate and participation (where access and cost of ICT remains a limiting factor), ToroDev also conducts monthly physical accountability meetings as opportunities for communities to directly engage with local duty bearers. The number of citizens participating in these meetings rose from 60 individuals per meeting in December 2013 to an average of 200 per meeting by August 2014. An increase in women participation in these meetings was also registered, from five in 2013 to 50 in December 2014. Half of the participants at each meeting were youths.
Instrumental to the success of the project has also been the use of 15 advocacy forums which were initiated to encourage rural service delivery monitoring and monthly governance deliberations.
Andrew Twesige of the Bufunjo Peoples Forum noted that its lobbying work for improved service delivery at the Bufunjo Health Centre III was a success. Through online and offline community engagements and increased awareness on the state of service delivery at the health centre by the Forum, the issue of low staff levels at the Centre reached the attention of local duty bearers and six additional nurses were recruited for the health centre.
Such outcomes are helping more citizens in communities where ToroDev works to embrace the use of ICT tools in public services monitoring.
“Before the radio talk shows were introduced, leaders were very hard to reach and we used to fear them, beg them, they were taken as special people. But radio talk shows, TracFM and accountability meetings have helped citizens to work hand in hand with both political and technical leaders,” said Jane Ahimbisibwe who heads the Butiti Peoples Forum in Kyenjojo district. She added that through these tools citizens are shedding the fear previously held for duty bearers noting, “we are brave enough to approach any leader because we have been given a good platform.”
Indeed, the increasing popularity of the talk shows, the use of polls on on Trac.FM and the accountability meetings have attracted national and local duty bearers to more willingly engage with citizens on the platforms availed through ToroDev. During 2014, a total of 60 leaders at sub-county and parliamentary level participated in the monthly accountability meetings, and jointly with the advocacy forums drew up action plans for priority public service issues. A notable participant in such engagements was the State Minister for Finance (Uganda), Aston Kajara.
ToroDev’s work is part of the ICT4Democracy in East Africa Network, a regional coalition of civil society organisations coordinated by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA). The network is supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
By Catherine Kamatu |
Joseph Kitaka, a resident of Yatta in Machakos County, Kenya, has always had an interest in defending human rights. His community is faced with numerous challenges, including gender-based violence, police brutality and many other human rights violations. Mr. Kitaka had little hope of utilising Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to advance his ambition in bettering his community, until he was elected the chairman of Yatta Paralegal Network, a local Human Rights Network (HURINET).
Today, Yatta, is among 15 HURINETs in Kenya that are being supported by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) to strengthen democratisation by widening civil society use of ICT to advance political accountability, freedom of expression and respect for human rights. The initiative is part of the ICT4Democracy in East Africa Network, a regional coalition of civil society organisations coordinated by the Collaboration on International ICT Policy for East and Southern Africa (CIPESA).
The network maintains various ICT platforms and undertakes activities including research, capacity building, mentoring, advocacy and civic engagement toward strengthening democracy. The network’s partners use digital technologies to hold leaders accountable to citizens, fight corruption, enhance communication and the right to freedom of expression, as well as the right to seek, receive and impart information and respect for human rights.
In Kenya, KHRC maintains an SMS short code and crowd mapping platform which enable citizen reporting of human rights violations, and building a vibrant social movement of citizens who monitor government performance toward a society free of human rights violations.
Through KHRC’s project, 10 HURINETs have received computers, modems, generators and digital cameras to support their work. Mr. Kitaka received a modem, a computer and a digital camera to enable the smooth operations of his network. He asserts that the equipment greatly eased information sharing among the networks and other human rights defenders.
“Three years ago, sharing information was a challenge. It took very long for human rights defenders to share reports, it was also very expensive since we could only access ICT equipment in cyber cafes at a cost. With the equipment given to us by KHRC, everything is moving on well,” he said. Joseph Kitaka from Yatta Paralegal Network is interviewed at a communications training workshop.
Earlier in 2014, KHRC conducted two community outreaches in the Kibera and Kangemi informal settlements in the capital of Kenya where active audiences of 109 and 138 respectively were trained in the use of ICT platforms for promoting human rights and good governance. These engagements enabled hundreds of ordinary citizens to use web tools (such as SMS, Facebook, HakiReport, HakiZetu) to report on governance processes.
Kenya has high rates of access to digital technology, with mobile access rates at 80% and internet access rates at 57%. However, most citizens do not have the skills to use simple technology tools in pursuance of good governance at a time the Kenyan government is making laws and regulations that limit freedom of expression.
In a bid to enhance the quality of the content generated by the human rights networks, KHRC further trained human rights defenders on communications skills in February 2015. The training focused on news writing, multimedia use, interview skills, social media and use of the KHRC e-library as a research tool.
The training was attended by 15 local human rights workers, who will collectively contribute to the newsletter Mizizi ya Haki (The Roots of Justice), which focuses on activities of human rights networks. “From the skills obtained from the communications training facilitated by KHRC, I have managed to train other human rights defenders on how to file good reports,” added Mr. Kitaka.
The training evaluation indicated an overall change in the knowledge, skills and attitudes of all beneficiaries. Social media and article writing were indicated as the most useful training sessions toward the beneficiaries’ more effective human rights work.
However, further training needs were also identified, including digital security, media laws and multi-media content generation. Participants also identified a need for training in proposal writing and resources mobilisation as well as in paralegal work.
Read the full evaluation report here http://bit.ly/1Pu1w6h
The work of KHRC and the ICT4Democracy Network is supported by Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).
