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Submitted by Sokari Ekine on Wed, 06 Jun 2007 16:32 |
Last week in Nairobi saw the first gathering of 40 African social justice and civil society activists to discuss and share ideas around the use of mobile phones as a tool for, improved communication, activism and advocacy.
The three day workshop was organised by Fahamu: Networks for Social Justice in conjunction with Tactical Tech – a collective of social technology builders for non-profit organisations. Fahamu already had considerable experience in the use of mobile phones in their campaign to ratify the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa as well as extensive knowledge of developing and running ICT projects across Africa. Tactical Tech’s brief was to listen to the activists – their experiences, knowledge and needs and to use those for the basis of developing a toolkit.
"The toolkit we plan to create will help people to negotiate the 'mobile landscape'; giving people tips and tricks on how to get started on using mobiles to facilitate their projects and tackling tricky issues such as carriers and service delivery. It will also review existing services and tools and give people the inspiration and skills they will need to start thinking about how to use mobiles combined with the internet (such as MoBlogging), or with other telephony services (such as VoiP)."
The event was particularly significant on two counts. First it brought together activists from across the continent working on a range of projects and social movements. Secondly it laid the foundation for a Pan African network of mobile phone activists with a broad range of skills and knowledge including many who had used mobile phones and were therefore able to share their experiences with those who had not.
The 3 day workshop was both a teaching and learning experience which was aimed at answering a number of questions roughly divided between mobile phone usage and how to form and develop an ongoing network of activists. Some of the questions raised on mobile phone usage were: : What are the trends in the use of mobile technology in urban and rural areas? Are their ethical considerations when using mobile phones particularly in cases where both activists and beneficiaries may be at risk? What are the barriers for use of mobile phones in Africa such as cost of phones, sim cards and airtime; lack of electricity particularly in rural areas; issues of language and how to use the phones themselves? How can mobile technology be integrated with other technologies such as the internet and computers in general and when is such integration appropriate? How to use mobile phones effectively and identifying areas where their use will enhance the work of the organisation rather.
With regard the formation of a network of activists, participants were asked to discuss how would a network of activists improve their organisation and working conditions? How would the network function, what would it provide and what contribution could each individual and organisation bring to the network.
First Steps
The main focus of day 1 was to take a broad look at the technology and how it is being used in Africa today, the challenges faced by existing and future users and solutions. Presentations from Ken Banks who developed the Frontline sms Software used recently to monitor the Nigerian elections. Over the two day elections, some 11,000 messages were received by the monitors. Dorothy Okello of WOUGNET (women of Uganda) gave a presentation on the use of mobile phones in a rural agricultural project in Uganda along with radio broadcasts. The project, Enhancing Access to Agricultural Information using Information and Communication Technologies (EAAI) has been running since 2000 in the Apac region of Northern Uganda. SMS messaging was used to provide mainly women farmers with agricultural information with the aim of improving productivity. The sms messages work in a two-way format. Receiving of messages in local languages from information officers. Messaging was also used in conjunction with local radio broadcasts by sending questions to the radio programme via sms.
Everlyne Nairesiae – GROOTS Kenya’s presentation centred on community based organisations of women in Kenya using the technology in three specific project areas: women and property, women leadership and government, resource livelihood. In one of the projects relating to women and orphans, and property rights, mobile phones have been used to report land grabbing from women particularly those who are widowed or who have been ostracised because of HIV/AIDS. In this project mobile phones were used with speakers phones to enabled more than one person to listen and participate in phone calls.
Other examples of how mobiles have been used for activism and social justice in Africa range from promoting political participation, empowerment of women and support of local enterprise building, human rights, payment of wages and the protection of child soldiers in the DRC, for HIV patients as a reminder to take their ARV drugs on time, a tool for school pupils to ask questions, the collection and dissemination of information between grassroots communities and NGOs and local government.
Challenges
The main challenges were : the cost of handsets, the sim card, tariffs; gender issues - who has ownership of the phones and the technology - often wives and daughters would have to ask permission and face interrogation on why they want to use a phone; literacy, use of indigenous languages and understanding how to use phones; network jamming (Ethiopia has banned SMS for the past two years); the 160 limit in characters leading to multiple messages and therefore additional costs; the numbers of people sharing handsets led to issues of access and again cost; poor electricity supplies meaning that charging phones was not always possible; privacy - this was particularly an issue in cases of domestic violence. In families, fathers and husbands were generally the guardians of the phones which has implications for women wishing to report violence against them and or their children; lack of knowledge on the features available on mobile phones; lack of expertise and where to find it; security issues (encryption technologies) for activists at risk;
Network
The final day of the workshop was spent discussing the formulation of a Pan African network of activists. The most important issues for everyone were that the network should be be inclusive and consist of committed members. It must have a gender, project type and skill balance and a shared common vision and remain connected to the beneficiaries. 9 committee members were selected from across the regions based on the above plus Fahamu as an organisational member. The network has now been formed and is called PAMONET - Pan African Mobile Network. Initially communication will be via a listserve of all participants with the aim of increasing the numbers through future networking and inviting other activists to join. However it was also agreed that eventually a website and a wiki space would be essential if the network is to develop.
Conclusion
The workshop succeeded in raising an awareness of the different uses of mobile phones for social justice as well as the need for learning about the full extent of mobile technology as well as other technologies such as telephony and the internet. Most importantly participants were able to share their experiences and strategies for advocacy and thereby address issues such as gender, cost, language, rural versus urban usage and the overall development of projects.
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