Role of Telecentres in GenderEmpowerment

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o e o e ecen res nGender Empowerment:

D o t e l e ce n t r e s r e a l l y w o r k

f o r W o m e n ?

Salma Abbasi, PhD ICT ResearcherSalma Abbasi, PhD ICT Researcher

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Chairperson & Founder e WWGChairperson & Founder e WWG

3030thth August, 2007August, 2007


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Back ground Debates on Telecentre Failures

Diversity of Telecentres

Suggested Way forward

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a small room e ui ed

with one or morecomputers and a long-distance tele hone or wireless telephone.

Rogers, E.M., Shukla, P., (2001), The role of telecenters indevelopment communication and the digital divide. Journal of

44

, -31.(http://wsispapers.choike.org/role_telecenters-

development.pdf.)


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the early 1980s in Scandinavia (particularly' '

promoting the use of advanced Information

Benjamin, P. (2001), Does 'Telecentre' mean the centre is far away?

,

Information and Communication, Vol 1, No 1

55


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66

Roman, R., Colle, R. (2002), Themes and Issues in telecentres Sustainability, Paperno. 10, Working Paper Series, Institute for Development Policy and ManagementUniversity of Manchester, Precinct Centre, Manchester, M13 9GH, UK


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1990s

Isolated pilots, primarily donor funded, often lacking long term sustainability, each trying to deal with

all aspects of telemeters on its own

Led by NGOs and development agencies

Limited services, content, and applications

Challenging policy and regulatory environment

Emergence of networks and telecentre ecosystems

Larger-scale pilots in some countriesincreased Geographical reach

2000-2010New connectivity and hardware technologies and new business and organizational models

Increased involvement of government, the academic community, and the private sector

Broader range of services and applications across sectors

Improved policy and regulatory environment (in many countries)

Fully developed and dynamic telecentre ecosystem at national, regional, and international levels

Large-scale capacity building

Documented socioeconomic impacts (increased economic opportunities, access to health, education,

government services, etc.)

-e -pr m ng pump

Top-down delivery of connectivity and bottom-up approach to the supply and demand of relevant

services

Extensive partnerships and the unbundling of services

An enablin olic and re ulator environment in all but a handful of countries

77

Fillip, B. , Foote, D. (2007), Making the Connection: SCALING TELECENTERS FOR DEVELOPMENT, Information

Technology Applications Center (ITAC) of the Academy for Education Development, Washington, DC


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Telecentre initiatives launched

lobally

88Source: www.digitaldividend.org/ 02/2007


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e a es on e ecen ree a es on e ecen re


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onl one out of ever one hundred

telecentres are really useful for the localcommunity when they have been set up, in

social change

Dagron, G. (2001), Prometheus Riding a Cadillac? Telecentres asthe romised flame of knowled e Journal of Develo ment

Communication: Special Issue on Telecentres12[2],(http://ip.cals.cornell.edu/commdev/documents/jdc-dagron.doc )

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10 - K D : T l n r F il r

1. North Knows the Best

(Dagron, 2001; Gomez and Ospina, 2001; Heeks, 2002)2. No consideration to community needs

(Dagron, 2002; Heeks, 2002; Rossener, 2006; Osborne, 2007)

3. Exclusion of marginalizedRoman and Colle 2002 Hu er and Sikoska 2003 Harris et al 2007

4. Irrelevant information(Heeks, 2002; Roman and Colle, 2002; Green, 2003)

5. Lack of localized content(Heeks, 2001; Dagron, 2001; Green, 2003; Prasad and Mishra, 2006;Osborne, 2007)

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-6. Illiteracy

(Dagron, 2001; Green, 2003)

7. Inaccessibility by community, , ,

8. Insecure locations

Jor e, 2000; Heeks, 2001; Oestmann and D mond, 2001; Mahmood,2005)

9. Donor funding

, , , ,10. Expensive Services

(Proenza, 2001; Roman and Colle, 2002; Conroy, 2006)

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.

2. Telemedicine Centres.

4.

Village Phone programs5. gr cu ura e ecen res

6. Fishery Telecentres

7. Business telecentres8. Multipuprose Telecentres

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CENTERS

YOUTHTELECENTRESMULTIPURPOSE

TELECENTRES

TELECENTREVILLAGE PHONE

PROGRAMSBUSINESS

TELECENTRES

AGRICULTURALTELECENTRES

FISHERYTELECENTRES

15151515


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e a es on en ere a es on en er


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1. Women are not considered in policy making

, , , ,Singh, 2006; Wanasundera, 2006; Kuga, Rinalia, Cino, 2007 )

2. Illiterac(Huyer, 2002; Green, 2003; Wanasundera, 2006; Conroy, 2006)

3. Discrimination(Markoff, 1989; Alper, 1993; Wanasundera, 2006; Harris,

Yogeesavaran, Lee, 2007 )

. ec nop o a(Koirala, Acharya, 2005)

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5. Lack of Access and Mobilit

(Pichappan, 2003; Gurumurthy, 2004)6. Social and Cultural constraint

(Huyer and Sikoska,2003; Wanasundera, 2006; Walsham et al ,2007)

. (Heeks, 2001; Roman and Colle, 2002; Green, 2003; Osborne,2007)

. (McConnell. 2001; Proenza, 2001; Roman and Colle, 2001;Mahmood, 2005; Conroy, 2006)

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Largely because of the absence of gender-sensitive policies and design rules, many

women are still unable to harness new

technologies to redefine their roles in the

Johnson K. (2003), Telecenters and the gender dimension: an examination

of how Engendered telecenters are diffused in Africa, Graduate School of

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, ,


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-

Girls were hesitant to even touch thecomputer since they feared it will explode in

case they make any mistakes. Boys on the other

hand found themselves computer-friendly

Koirala, Acharya, (2005), from access to engagement, communityaccess Centres, UNESCO.

2020


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Lack of computer skills is a severe

accessing the new ICTs

Green L., (2003), Gender-based Issues and Trends in ICT

Applications in Education in Asia and the Pacific

2121


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-

When literacy became a hindrance,SEWA members found a solution.They learnt video vocabulary

Green L., (2003), Gender-based Issues and Trends in ICTApplications in Education in Asia and the Pacific

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-

ManyMany parentsparents tendtend toto encourageencourage onlyonlytheirtheir sonssons toto attendattend computercomputer campscampsandand areare willingwilling toto spendspend moremore moneymoney totosendsend theirtheir sonssons toto thesethese campscamps thanthan theirtheir

Gurer,Gurer, DD.. ,, Camp,Camp, TT.. ((20022002),), InvestigatingInvestigating thethe IncredibleIncredible ShrinkingShrinking

PipelinePipeline forfor WomenWomen inin ComputerComputer ScienceScience,, FinalFinal ReportReport -- NSFNSFProjectProject 98120169812016,, httphttp:://women//women..acmacm..org/documents/finalreportorg/documents/finalreport..pdfpdf

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How to make TelecentresHow to make Telecentres

Requirements to ensure womens access toRequirements to ensure womens access to

ICTsICTs

11 Conduct Active OutreachConduct Active Outreach

22 Ensure Financial AccessibilityEnsure Financial Accessibility

33 Ensure Physical AccessibilityEnsure Physical Accessibility

44 Provide TrainingProvide Training

55 Ensure RelevanceEnsure Relevance

66 Build ConfidenceBuild Confidence

77 Enable ParticipationEnable Participation

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orge, . , en er erspect ves on e ecentres, , e ecomAmericas Telecom Development Symposium Communications: Universal

Access and Community Telecenters.


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MSSRF India

Telemedicine Online discision support system

service

Tele fishery ea er serv ces

Water management

New Strategy:

Creating Women managers

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. .

Conroy, c. (2006), TELECENTRE INITIATIVES IN RURAL INDIA:

Failed Fad or the Way Forward?, Natural Resources Institute,University of Greenwich, UK


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- Telecentre run by Womenfor Women

India

e Homemakers

--

MalaysiaMalaysia

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. .

www.ehomemakers.net


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- Housewives confectionary,

,

New Delhi

- -

India

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www.tortasperu.com.pe/ingles/who.php

www.seelampurmart.org


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considerations are needed for the design U n i q u e H um a n co n s i d e r a t i o n

Relevant useful , local language,

specific services and centres are needed More gender focused research: design,

and services are needed to examine if

Telecentres really make an impact tobridge the Gender Divide

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a n o u

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Documents

Role of Telecentres in GenderEmpowerment