Communication Rights

Skipping Lunch to Afford a Mobile Phone in Africa

Skipping Lunch to Afford a Mobile Phone in Africa
Published date: 
10 May 2012

Kristin Palitza interviews GABRIELLE GAUTHEY, executive vice president of global telecommunications provider Alcatel Lucent

CAPE TOWN, South Africa , May 8, 2012 (IPS) - On a continent of over one billion people, where half the population have mobile phones, the use of mobile communication and internet technologies is crucial to boost development in Africa.

This is according to Gabrielle Gauthey, executive vice president of global telecommunications provider Alcatel Lucent. She was one of the presenters at the United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG) Review Summit held in Cape Town, South Africa, from May 3 to 4.

"We did not anticipate how rapid mobile broadband would be appropriated in Africa. There will be a computer in every pocket sooner than we think," Gauthey told IPS. She added that Kenya has made rapid progress, having already rolled out 3rd generation mobile communications

Voices from digital spaces: Technology related violence against women

Voices from digital spaces: Technology related violence against women
Published date: 
10 Apr 2012

Drawing on findings from APC's MDG3i: Take Back the Tech!i project with women's rightsi organisations in twelve countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, this paper explores the links between the interneti, cell phones and violence against womenwww.takebackthetech.net/whatstheissue " class="glossary-indicator">www.takebackthetech.net/whatstheissue " href="http://www.genderit.org/glossary/12/letterv#term986">i and illustrates that technology related violence impacts women as seriously as other forms of violence. Women'sNet, a member of the APC, participated in the research that lead to this paper.

 

The complex relationship between violence against women (VAW) and information communication technologies (ICTs) is a critical area of engagement for women's rights activists. ICTs can be used as a tool to stop VAW, while on the other hand VAW can be facilitated through the use of ICTS. However few women's rights activists are working actively on this issue. Consequently, a political and legal framing of the issue is not established in most countries.

The purpose of this paper is to assist women’s rights groups working to end VAW to understand some of the implications of the intersection between these violations and ICTs. It also aims to encourage these groups and other key actors to invest in policy- making processes and advocacy work in this area.

Download the full paper here.

Read also the executive summary of the paper.

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