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OneWorld
South Asia resolves to achieve
the MDGs
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“The objective was to
strengthen the partnership by sharing information and exploring
potential areas of co-operation towards the achievement of Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs). |
We believe that Information
and Communication Tools (ICTs) are a powerful tool to help NGOs achieve this
goal at the grassroots, particularly by allowing local communities to have a
voice in their own development. OneWorld wants to catalyze the use of these
tools by our partners in collaborative ways that are really effective. The
response at the meeting was very positive with a number of practical strategic
alliances emerging out of the discussions,” commented Basheerhamad Shadrach,
Director, OneWorld South Asia. He was speaking at the closing session of the
two day “3rd Annual Meeting of OneWorld South Asia Partners’, organized in
New Delhi, India from 11-12 February, 2004.
The
theme of the meeting was ‘Working Together to Achieve Millennium Development
Goals’. The representatives of
over 100 NGOs from the sub-continent that are partners of OneWorld South Asia
attended the meeting. The director of One World International Foundation,
Anuradha Vittachi, while speaking in the inaugural session said, “ I believe
that Media for All should be included as another MDG”. This statement is an
indication of the critical role media can play in achieving the MDGs. She
further said that communication tools are being made available in the local
language with local content to reach out to the grassroots. “Mobiles, for
example, are becoming the new medium for reaching out to people”, she added.
The President NASSCOM mentioned how “ ICTs
instead of being thought of as a tool in the hands of the oppressor
could be used to empower the oppressed”, said Kiran Karnik, President of the
National Association of the Software Companies, India. He cited the example of
the Bhoomi project in the state of Karnataka where land records have been
computerised and farmers do need not to grease palms anymore to get a copy of
their land record.
In his speech on the first day of the meeting, Mr. Peter Armstrong, Co-Founder
of OneWorld International spoke about the aim and purpose of Open Knowledge
Network (OKN) project. He also briefly mentioned about its operation at the
grassroots level. Recognising the diversity and richness of initiatives to
collect and disseminate local content which already exist in many parts of the
South, the OKN represents an attempt to ‘join up the dots’, in order to
increase their capacity and impact. It is best thought of as a flexible
framework or dynamic to link and support information initiatives among poor
and marginalized communities though shared standards and values: local
content, local people, and local languages.Among the other eminent speakers at
the meeting were Mr. Shankar Ghose, President, Charkha Development
Communication Network, Mr. Dileep Ranjekar, Chief Executive Officer, Azim
Premji Foundation, Dr. Dennis Pain, Senior Social Development Advisor,
Department for International Development, India and Mr. Sanjay Trehan, Chief
Executive Officer, Internet, Hindustan Times It was suggested by the
participants that the OneWorld South Asia was the appropriate platform to
carry on the advocacy work. At the same time more partners were to be roped
in. This would not only broaden the reach but also provide strength to the
voices from the ground.
The meeting saw OneWorld South
Asia and its partners coming out with an agenda that will help in the
achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), a series of measures that
the United Nation has mandated for a better world. The MDGs, aim at the
elimination or substantial reduction of poverty by 2015, by focusing on issues
related to health, hunger, education, gender, environment and partnerships
with the private sector. OneWorld South Asia http://southasia.oneworld.net/
based in New Delhi is a part of the OneWorld Network www.oneworld.net, an
international non-profit network that aims to use ICTs for promoting
sustainable development and human rights and is the world’s first online
platform solely devoted to human rights and social justice worldwide.
With
a strong network of 260 non-governmental organizations as its partners,
OneWorld South Asia works symbiotically to achieve its goals. Its key
activities are
Development Communications, Grassroots Communication, Capacity Building,
ICT Advocacy and Partnership with civil society. To know more about
partnership with OneWorld South Asia, contact jaba.menon@oneworld.net
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