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MISTICA: European Union Development Ministers conclusions on ICT4DEV

From: Daniel Pimienta ([email protected])
Date: Fri Jun 14 2002 - 07:13:47 AST

>From: [email protected]
>Subject: RE: European Union Development Ministers 'conclusions' on ICT in
>development, FYI Amos Tincani
>Date: Fri, 14 Jun 2002 08:51:48 +0200
>
>8958/02 (Presse 147)
>EN
>DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL
>BRUSSELS, 30 MAY 2002
>(Abstract)
>INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN DEVELOPMENT -
>Council conclusions
>1. Introduction
>The Council
>1.1 recognizes that ICTs offer both challenges and promises for political,
>social, economic and environmental development and this is nowhere more
>apparent than in the world's poorest countries. ICTs can make a significant
>contribution to poverty reduction and the achievement of the Millenium
>Development Goals. Our aim should be make ICTs available to the broadest
>possible range of people at affordable prices so that the poor can benefit
>from them.
>1.2 shares the G8 Digital Opportunity Task (DOT) Force conclusion that, 'if
>wisely applied, ICT offer enormous opportunities to decrease social and
>economic inequalities and to support sustainable local wealth creation, thus
>helping achieve the broader development goals'. On the other hand, if
>miss-applied or not applied, 'ICTs can result in the marginalisation of the
>poor and unconnected, thus adding a digital divide to the existing social
>and economic one'.
>1.3 acknowledges that, as with other development challenges, the decision to
>embrace these new opportunities belongs to developing countries themselves
>and the relevant stakeholders, including the local communities. Ownership by
>them is indispensable. For its part the international community can play a
>catalytic role, by pointing to the potential benefits of new policies and
>assisting interested countries in designing and implementing appropriate
>policies in line with their situation and priorities.
>1.4 recognizes efforts launched by the international community to address
>the ICT and development agenda - notably the G8 DOT Force, the UN ICT Task
>Force, the International Conference on E-Governement, the forthcoming World
>Summit on Information Society; they demonstrate the willingness among
>donors, multilateral organizations, the private sector and NGOs to highlight
>the ICT and development agenda.
>1.5 welcomes the Commission Communication on 'Information and Communication
>Technologies (ICTs) in development, the role of ICTs in EC Development
>Policy', as well as the European Parliament's and ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary
>Assembly's resolutions on ICT and development.
>2. The Council therefore recommends the following principles and priority
>actions:
>2.1 the principal aim of the EU support for ICT in development is to reduce
>poverty and to contribute to reaching the Millennium Development Goals. 2.2
>the Commission should play an active role in the field of ICT and
>development within the context of the Joint Council and Commission
>declaration on EC development policy adopted on 10th November 2000, and
>notably within the priority areas and cross-cutting themes. ICTs are to be
>considered as part and parcel of an overall development strategy and the
>policy dialogue with beneficiary countries and regions. A more systematic
>approach should be introduced for the use of ICTs in Community development
>projects and programmes.
>2.3 the EC, in coordination with other international actors, should provide
>support to ICTs in particular within the priority area of institutional
>capacity building. Viable ICT strategies imply: broad and interlinked
>policies in many areas, such as telecommunications, e.commerce, health,
>education, government affairs financial services; regulatory frameworks that
>favour an open and competitive environment, while ensuring affordable access
>for the poorest segments of the population, the creation or strengthening of
>autonomous regulatory authorities; the improvement of human resources in ICT
>skills. ICTs applied to the redefinition of the role of the State
>(e.government) can also contribute to the improvement of government services
>and increase the efficiency and transparency of National and Local
>Authorities. Participation by developing countries in international
>discussions and decisions on regulatory issues should be encouraged and
>supported.
>2.4 the EC should provide support and assistance to regional integration
>organizations that wish to develop common rules on telecommunications and
>e-commerce regulations, based upon the work of international bodies.
>E-commerce is becoming a necessary component for the insertion into the
>world economy and regional regulatory convergence can help create a
>level-playing field.
>2.5 the EC should incorporate appropriate use of ICTs in its support to the
>health and education sectors. If properly integrated into health and
>education systems, ICTs can become a cost-effective way of delivering the
>Millennium Development Goals.
>2.6 the EC welcomes the benefits of open-source software and promotes the
>use and development of local content, in order to favor cost-effective
>solutions for low-income countries, local content and cultural diversity.
>2.7 the gender aspect should be included in EC ICT policies and programmes,
>in order to ensure that particularly women benefit from new opportunities
>arising from ICTs; it is imperative that young girls should reap the full
>benefit of the use of ICTs.
>3. As regards "Process", the Council stresses that:
>3.1 the status of ICT policies and actions should be considered in the
>context of Country and Regional Strategy Papers.
>3.2 specific ICT activities decided in the context of a Country and Regional
>Strategy Papers should be supported in the context of multi-stakeholder
>participatory processes so as to ensure civil society participation and
>local ownership.
>3.3 the Commission and Member States should co-operate proactively in their
>ICT operational support in the context of Country and Regional Strategies,
>and work in partnership, where appropriate, with other donors and
>organizations, the business community, (encouraging private/public
>partnership) development NGOs and civil society
>3.4 the Commission should make more active use of its thematic budget lines,
>such as those concerning NGO co-financing and democracy and human rights, to
>encourage, within their specific remits, the use of ICT tools by civil
>society actors in developing countries.
>3.5 it is ready to engage in a dialogue with the ACP, in the context of the
>Cotonou Partnership Agreement, at their initiative, as well as with Africa
>namely in the context of the New Partnership for African Development-NEPAD;
>it furthermore welcomes the region-to-region dialogue on ICT policies and
>programs between the EU and Asia, the Mediterranean and Latin America..
>3.6 the Commission should, work with Member States and their experts,
>sharing their experiences and lessons learned in order to move forward in
>coordination with existing bilateral and multilateral programmes. ICT and
>development is a relatively new area of cooperation and more needs to be
>known on what actually works and why. To this end, the Commission is
>requested to present an evaluation of the state of play in this area in its
>annual report on external assistance.
>4. Concerning International Initiatives, the Council notes
>4.1 the existence of several international initiatives working to address
>the international digital divide as a welcome effort to bring the
>opportunities offered by the new technologies to the poor and invites the
>Commission and Member States to collaborate in these various fora within the
>spirit of the present conclusions.
>4.2 the decision of the UN General Assembly to convene the World Summit on
>Information Society in 2003 in Geneva and 2005 in Tunis, and invites the
>Commission and Member States to work together, to ensure that the
>development and poverty eradication dimension, and particularly the
>interests of the poorest countries, are fully taken into account. To this
>end, they could jointly prepare concrete proposals. It also notes the
>importance of ensuring full transparency and wide participation and, in this
>context, of the need for the private and non-governmental sectors to be
>fully associated to the Summit and its preparatory process."

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