More than a billion people in the developing world live on less than a dollar a day. Without enough money to buy food, millions go hungry every day and more than half of all child-deaths occur due to under-nourishment. Pervasive poverty and inequality are the major threats to prosperity, stability and peace at the dawn of the 21st Century.

The role of ICT in combating poverty and fostering sustainable development has been the subject of much debate and experimentation. The contrast between the complexity and expense of the technologies and the basic needs of the poor has led to some doubts whether ICT should be a priority area for developing countries to eradicate poverty. But our experience in the last decade has shown that ICT can become a powerful economic, social and political tool for the poor and for all those who work to eradicate poverty. On making the opportunities that ICTs open up for individual and social improvement accessible to all citizens; and on applying ICTs to empower common folk and engage their participation in national and local development initiatives, ICT can be of immense help for poverty alleviation.

Here, we are going to discuss a few success stories. They have been successful in creating an impact in the lives of poor people by giving employment opportunities, bringing connectivity and empowerment. These can be taken as pointers and inspiration for others to follow.


ICT creates employment opportunities
ICT, as a sector, can create employment opportunities directly for the poor. Because of the low educational levels and skills of the poor, we can expect that there are more employment opportunities in the service sector. Grameen Bank in Bangladesh is a good example of this. It started a mobile telephone program called Grameen Phone and has become the largest mobile operator in Bangladesh, having 70 per cent of the market share and now more than 5000 Telephone Ladies in Bangladesh villages are doing roaring business selling telephone service.

Uplifting poor: Kamuli Project
Uganda
www.ugandadev.com
Uganda is one of the world’s Least Developed countries. Uganda remains basically unindustrialised, ravaged by civil war. Structural adjustment programmes and AIDS have further increased their poverty. Kamuli project aims to help the poorest uplift themselves, in consultation with them, by providing appropriate: information to facilitate development, communication to receive and distribute information and training people in its practical applications. It imparts computer training to the youth and individuals from community-based organisations (CBOs), thus building capacity for employment opportunities.

Under Kamuli project, Development Support Centre has been developed in the Kamuli district of Uganda. The beneficiaries of this project are rural communities, primarily targeting women, youth and farmers. The project is carried out by Uganda Development Services (UDS). UDS is a non-governmental organisation whose mission is to contribute to the socio-economic development of communities in Uganda, through information sharing and technical empowerment.

At the Kamuli centre, the project provides a growing range of services, which includes training in computer skills using in-house computer facilities for micro-business women, agricultural information dissemination and training to farmers, business services like photocopying, typing and printing, library facilities for youth and public phone. The Kamuli project has identified 3 target groups: private individuals wanting IT training, local NGOs / CBOs and small-scale local businesses and government offices.