Under which conditions can information and communications technologies (ICTs) empower poor communities? This paper investigates this question, focusing on the role of information and communications technologies in promoting indigenous people’s development in Latin America. First, the paper analyzes key factors under which information and knowledge can be instrumental and substantive for the empowerment of marginalized groups. Hereby, we argue that improved access to information and ICT skills, similar to the enhancement of a person’s writing and reading skills, can enhance poor peoples’ capabilities to make strategic life choices and to achieve the lifestyle they value. Furthermore, the paper develops an alternative evaluation framework for ICT interventions based on Sen’s capability approach. This framework places, in contrast to the current discourse around the “digital divide”, the human development of the poor and not technology at the center of the analysis. The paper concludes that there does not exist a direct and causal relationship between ICTs and empowerment, but that in fact this relationship is being shaped by a dynamic, multi-dimensional interrelationship between technology and the social context.

Including the Excluded- Can ICTs empower poor communities? Towards an alternative evaluation framework based on the capability approach

This study presents information and communication technology (ICT) as a phenomenon that fits into the globalization project of empowering gender and sustainable poverty alleviation in Nigeria Poverty amid plenty is the greatest challenge facing Nigeria Men and women in poverty use diverse coping mechanisms conditioned by their access to various support systems While women traditionally have access to the family network, the men utilize public and community systems, from which women are excluded Hence the social dimension of poverty is largely a gender issue and gender is a key issue in the ICT profession with the greatest weight of poverty been borne by women household heads and children from poor homes This article is a descriptive analysis of the use of ICT for gender empowerment and sustainable poverty alleviation in Nigeria It describes the roles that ICTs have played in the lives of the poor and the ones yet untapped in Nigeria, and how ICTs can assist women in addressing the chronic issues of widespread poverty The result of the study using Likert rank order scale shows unemployment, income inequality, polygamy, business failure, sickness and environmental degradation as the main causes of poverty in Nigeria and sustainable poverty alleviation is unlikely to be achieved without the proper use of ICT Using ICTs to support poverty reduction is found to be possible, practical and affordable if Nigerian government acknowledges its role as a major employer and user of ICT beginning with a development commitment that targets poverty alleviation In addition, the development and access to social networks through low-cost ICTs, telecentres will enhance timely access to accurate and reliable information by the poor ICTs will not only empower the gender but sustain poverty alleviation programmes which in time past have failed in Nigeria through provision of new and enhanced opportunities for participation in the process of self-determination, economic, social, educational and cultural advancement and employment beyond the scope of traditional institutions and any forms of governance Key words: Information Communication Technology (ICT), Gender, poverty, sustainability, usability and Nigeria INTRODUCTION Poverty means different things to different people1 It is a hydra-headed concept, hence conceptualized in different ways in the literature On a wide dimension, there is poverty when a household or an individual is unable to meet what is considered as a minimum requirement to sustain livelihood in a given society (Ogwumike 2001) Poverty is painful The Poor suffer physical, emotional and moral pains (Deepa et al, 2000), live without fundamental freedoms of action and choice that the better off take for granted (Sen, 1999) They often lack adequate food and shelter, education and health deprivations that keep then from leading the kind of life that every one values They also face extreme vulnerability to ill health, economic dislocation, and natural disasters And they are often exposed to ill treatment by institutions of the state and society and are powerless to influence key decisions affecting their lives These are all dimensions of poverty (World Bank, 2001) A hungry man that is fed at a particular time has not been delivered out of poverty A person that is alleviated from poverty must be empowered/helped to permanently overcome poverty rather than just for sometime This could be done by helping him or her to: secure a sustainable job2, acquire skills that would be enough to provide regular source of earning and actively contribute towards the national productivity level The Nigerian paradox has continued to baffle the world because the poverty level in the country contradicts the country's immense wealth as over 70 percent of the people wallow in absolute poverty with no food, clothing or shelter (Oshinonebo, 2002) Academic studies on ICTs3 and society show that there is a range of issues, which make it clear that the Information Society like any society will have winners and losers, beneficial consequences of ICT and harmful applications …

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Analysis of the uses of information communication technology (ICT) for gender empowerment and sustainable poverty alleviation in Nigeria

The acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) epidemic is spreading fast in Africa in spite of the various efforts and resources put in place to prevent it. In Kenya, reproductive health programs have used the mass media and other communication interventions to inform and educate the public about the disease and to promote behavior change and healthy sexual practices. This effort has led to a discrepancy between awareness and behavioral change among people of reproductive age. In this article I examine the discrepancy in Kenya from a communications perspective addressing social cultural and related factors contributing to the lack of change in behavior and sexual practices. I draw on the theoretical framework of Grunig's model of excellence in communication, the importance of understanding and relationship building between programs and their stakeholders. Data were gathered qualitatively using focus groups and in-depth interviews among men and women in rural Kenya. Key findings indicate that although awareness of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) including human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS is high in Kenya, a majority of the population, particularly those in the rural communities, lack understanding of the communicated messages. They also lack the knowledge of other ways of transmitting HIV particularly among those not sexually involved. Cultural beliefs, values, norms, and myths have played a role in the rapidly increasing epidemic in the rural communities and yet HIV/AIDS communication programs have not addressed these factors adequately. I conclude that successful behavior change communication must include strategies that focus on increasing understanding of the communicated messages and understanding of the audience through application of appropriate methodologies. Building a relationship with the audience or stakeholders through dialogues and two-way symmetrical communication contributes toward this understanding and the maintenance of the newly adopted behaviors and practices.

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Communication for HIV/AIDS prevention in Kenya: social-cultural considerations.

Under what conditions can information and communications technologies (ICTs) enhance the well-being of poor communities? The paper designs an alternative evaluation framework (AEF) that applies Sen's capability approach to the study of ICTs in order to place people's well-being, rather than technology at the center of the study. The AEF develops an impact chain that examines the mechanisms by which access to, and meaningful use of, ICTs can enhance peoples, 'informational capabilities' and can lead to improvements in people's human and social capabilities. This approach thus uses peoples human capabilities, rather than measures of access or usage, as its principal evaluative space. Based on empirical evidence from rural communities uses of ICTs in Bolivia, the study concludes that enhancing people's informational capabilities is the most critical factor determining the impact of ICTs on their well-being. The findings indicate that improved informational capabilities, like literacy, do enhance the human capabilities of the poor and marginalized to make strategic life choices to achieve the lifestyle they value. Evaluating the impact of ICTs in terms of capabilities thus reveals that there is no direct relationship between improved access to, and use of, ICTs and enhanced well-being; ICTs lead to improvements in people's lives only when informational capabilities are transformed into expanded human and social capabilities in the economic, political, social, organizational and cultural dimensions of their lives.

https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/19011/882360NWP0Box30series0no10March2011.pdf?sequence=1

Informational Capabilities : The Missing Link for the Impact of ICT on Development

The UN Millennium Development Goals call for not only greater financial commitment in international assistance programs but also innovative strategies to tackle the serious economic, health, education, and other basic human rights problems in the developing world. This paper is organized as follows: Chapter 2 is an overview of key theoretical models of development communication. Chapter 3 describes the characteristic patterns of recent empirical studies in development communication in terms of theoretical models and types of communication strategies. Chapter 4 presents some outstanding evidence of the impacts of communication on development initiatives. Chapter 5 discusses weak spots in the evidence. The concluding chapter will make suggestions for further research by drawing attention to the theoretical, methodological and empirical gaps in the existing academic research in development communication.

Kent Sidel

Papers

Communication for Development in the Third World- Theory and Practice