Knowledge-based Advocacy for Achieving Millennium Development Goals OneWorld South Asia C-5, Qutab Institutional Area New Delhi-ll0016

HOW………  To take stock of the MDGs progress  To share experiences  To explore role of ICTs in development  To build CoPs around MDGs  Learn to work together with Multi- stakeholder partnership

Current Scenario……..  Progress has been made to some extent  A few South Asian countries are ahead in some spheres and a few are lagging behind.  MDG goals have been integrated into the government plans and non-government organisations working on development issues.  Development mapping is lacking in relation to contributions made by various sectors.

What is needed…….  Need to strengthen people-centric programmes.  Need for knowledge transformation with need-based communication supported by best possible mechanisms.  Need for transparency, integrity, long-term vision with defined roles of each and every player in the development process including communities.

Way forward ……  Development could only be possible with the bottom-up approach – the journey envisaged should start from Village to State and Nation as a whole.  Need to bridge the gap between rural and urban populations and amenities.  Need to address the roots of development that lie in the rural areas.

Way forward…….  Need for public discourses; public management; public vigilance with public participation.  Good examples are existing, success stories are there, but there is a need for commitment for larger goals, larger plans, and a strong administrative will.

Way forward……..  Need to strengthen CoPs for promoting and using ICTs cutting across development issues.  Need to sensitize at all levels the use and benefits of ICTs.  Need to address the requirements for promoting and using ICTs : connectivity, content, coordination, care and management and capacity building

How OWSA is doing………..  Building Communities of Practice through the following programmes at the grassroots level :  Open Knowledge Network programme  (Ek Duniya Gyan Sagar)  Voicing the Voiceless  (Ek Duniya Kayee Kahaniyan  Building Grassroots Broadcasters’network  (Ek Duniya Ek Awaaz)  Providing tools to the community to harness local knowledge and provide global knowledge  (Ek Duniya Sawal Jawab)

Some OKN projects Content dissemination Through All India Radio Content dissemination Through community newspaper

Contd……….  Having 750 partners on the e-list, sharing the best practices through e-newsletter  Providing a platform to academicians, experts and practitioners to reflect on the development issues through D groups and Mainstreaming ICTs on MDGs  Build research on various voices emanated and try to address the gaps between peoples’ perceptions and policy decisions  Try to bridge the gap between people and policy makers

Partnerships and networking

Knowledge for Development Knowledge for Development

Mission 2007  Mission 2007 an alliance of government/non-government, public and private organisations supporting the knowledge revolution in the rural areas  Connecting 600,000 villages by 2007  OWSA is playing a role in understanding the gaps, building their capacity and anchoring their voices at the policy level

MSP Model in promoting and supporting alliance  OWSA as a secretariat for supporting Mission 2007 supporting 100,000 knowledge centers in rural India  Doing NPRA with National Virtual Academy fellows for understanding the knowledge gaps and building their capacity  Prof M S Swaminathan felicitates them and President of India acknowledges their efforts through PURA programme  Telecentre.org (IDRC) initiates for the process of common training programmes and designing the modules for knowledge workers

Setting of the Knowledge Centers through Government/Non- Government initiatives  NYKS is converting YDCs into RITYDCs  CSC established by Government initiatives  Drishtee Foundation  TaraHAAT  TERI  ARAVIS  Datamation  ICTA in Sri Lanka  DigiDAG in Nepal

Various ICT tools promoted by OWSA…………..  Open eNRICH, a website for grassroots, used as a hub and spokes model for harnessing local knowledge and sharing global knowledge  Question-Answer service through telephone  Radio as a tool for addressing MDGs  Discussion groups  My colleagues will demonstrate the use of ICT tools

 Thanks