The APC Hafkin African Information Society Prize to recognize use of ICTs for development in Africa
Background on the APC
Since 1990, the Association for Progressive Communications – - has been working with civil society organisations and social movements to harness information and communication technologies (ICTs) for development, and social and environmental justice. APC currently has member organisations in every region of the world, and works in close partnership with many more. APC is incorporated as a not-for-profit organisation under United States Law, and has ECOSOC status with the United Nations. APC is recognised as a civil society partner organisation by the African Information Society Initiative of the ECA, and has participated in PICTA (Partnership for Information and Communication Technologies in Africa). APC members in Africa, in particular SANGONeT in South Africa and ENDA in Senegal, participate in a variety of projects and advocacy work aimed at strengthening the information society on the continent.
The APC’s Betinho Prize
APC, with the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), has initiated the “APC Betinho Communications Prize” to recognise and document outstanding examples of how the Internet is being used for social change. This award, created to commemorate the inspirational life and work of Herbet de Souza (Betinho), a visionary Brazilian social activist and exemplary communicator, has provoked an excellent response. More than 160 applications were received, in English, French and Spanish, from all over the globe. The first Betinho Prize was presented to “The Max Foundation” at the APC Forum Day in Hungary on May 2, 2000.
The Need for an Africa Award
APC is convinced that there is need for an Africa-specific award to encourage and recognise African initiatives in ICTs for development. The African Development Forum, convened by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in October 1999, demonstrated convincingly that Africans are embracing the information society with energy and entrepreneurship, in spite of the lack of sufficient access to infrastructure and resources. An award would affirm and inspire African initiatives. It would also serve as a mechanism for documenting African creativity, as was done effectively by the UNESCO Top 50 African Website awards.
Why the ‘APC Hafkin Prize’?
APC, in consultation with key ICT for development actors throughout Africa, came to the decision that the award should be named for Dr. Nancy J. Hafkin, to recognize and honour a true pioneer of networking and development information and communications in Africa over the course of a twenty-three year career. Nancy was among the first to enter the field of electronic communications in Africa. Her advocacy around this issue has drawn attention to the growing potential of ICTs in Africa, and the cost to Africa of remaining outside the process of social and economic change brought about by the development of the global information society. Her dedication, enthusiasm, and hard work have been exemplary. Nancy's devotion to African networking and her confidence in the African continent and its human resources have helped build Africa's ICT framework through partnerships with governmental, nongovernmental and development institutions.
Nancy Hafkin founded and spearheaded the Pan African Development Information System (PADIS) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), as Officer-in-Charge from its inception in 1980 until 1997. She later served as Team Leader for Promoting of Information Technology for Development, of the Development Information Services Division of ECA (UN) from 1997 until 2000. There she also served as Coordinator of the African Information Society Initiative (AISI), the African mandate to use ICTs to accelerate socio-economic development in Africa. Nancy also served as a facilitator in establishing the Partnership for Information and Communication Technologies in Africa (PICTA), a coordinating body of donor and executing agency partners in support of the AISI.
Nancy Hafkin played a central role in facilitating the APC’s work to enable email connectivity in more than 10 countries during the early 1990s, before full Internet connectivity became a reality in most of Africa.
Award Details
Who is eligible?
The competition for the $7,500.00 US prize is open to civil society organisations, government initiatives, community-based groups, networks, social movements or individual efforts anywhere in Africa that have successfully used ICTs as an essential ingredient in their work for development and social and environmental justice.
Nominations will be judged by our African jury according to the following criteria:
- Significant and specific development achievements at local, national, or regional levels.
- Utilisation of ICTs to accelerate the socio-economic development of Africa and its people.
- Partnership in action.
What kinds of projects are eligible?
We are looking for initiatives that have these qualities:
1. Significant and specific development achievements, locally, nationally or regionally.
- The initiative's activities build its participants' skills and capacity.
- The initiative has made a conscious effort to take gender concerns into account.
- The initiative's efforts have demonstrable impact on policy awareness and on national information and communication infrastructure policies, plans and implementation.
- The initiative makes significant contributions to democratising access for Africans to the information society.
The initiative's activities may include, but are not limited to:
- development of national plans for building ICT infrastructure;
- creation of an enabling regulatory framework;
- fostering the free flow and exchange of development information;
- development and implementation of ICT use in the public sector;
- facilitation of the establishment of locally based, low-cost and widely accessible Internet services;
- planning and implementation of human resource capacity building in any aspect of ICT development and use;
- activities that strengthen primary, secondary and tertiary education in Africa through the use of ICTs;
- initiatives that facilitate ICT access and use in rural areas, grassroots communities and other disenfranchised groups, particularly women, young people and the disabled;
- initiatives that successfully create awareness of the potential benefits of ICTs for Africa’s development.
2. Utilisation of ICTs to accelerate the socio-economic development of Africa and its people.
- The initiative participates in the elaboration and implementation of National Information and Communication policies and plans involving development of institutional frameworks, human, information and technological resources in all African countries and the pursuit of strategies, programmes and projects which can assist in the sustainable growth of an information society in African countries.
- The initiative builds Africa's information society, thereby helping Africa to accelerate its development plans, stimulate growth and provide new opportunities in education, trade, healthcare, job creation and food security, spurring African countries to raise the standard of living of their citizens.
- The initiative's impact, activities and efforts will continue beyond the duration of the initial project.
3. Partnership in action
- The initiative facilitates effective partnerships between different agencies, institutions and sectors.
- The initiative is characterised by the participation of the people it aims to benefit, and the involvement of all relevant stakeholders.
4. Building democracy and peace
- The initiative promotes and supports peace, democracy and human and environmental rights in Africa through the use of ICTs.
Closing Date
The closing date for nominations for the Prize is March 31, 2001. The stories of 12 finalists will be profiled on the APC Hafkin Prize Website and the winner will be announced in September 2001.
Award Committee
The 2001 APC Hafkin African Information Society Prize committee will consist of the following people:
Kate Wild, Special Adviser to the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa of the United Nations, Addis Abeba
Anriette Esterhuysen, APC Executive Director
Maureen James, APC Programmes and Projects Manager
Karen Higgs, APC Communications Manager
The committee will review applications, and prepare a short list for presentation to the Jury; a group of strategically placed individuals will be approached to sit on the jury, including:
Peter da Costa, Economic Commission for Africa, Ethiopia
Clement Dzidonu, Educator and Engineer, Ghana
Muthoni Wanyeki, Executive Director, Femnet, Kenya
Mike Jensen, Internet Consultant, South Africa
Buhle Mlambo, Librarian, University of Botswana
Venancio Massingue, Deputy Minister of Communications, Mozambique
Jay Naidoo, Entrepeneur and previously Minister of Communications, South Africa
Wawa Ngenge, Sustainable Development Programme, Cameroon
Aida Opoku Mensah, Ford Foundation, Nigeria
Marie Helene Mottin-Sylla, ENDA, Senegal
Nomination Form
Nomination forms will be available on the APC Website, once the nomination procedures have been finalized.
Implementation Plan
Year 2001 Prize:
- Convene working group
- Website plan (Hafkin story/Award details/nomination form/finalists/Jury)
- Nomination criteria finalised
- Nomination form ready
- Circulate announcement
- Prepare scoring tool
- Jury convened
- Deadline for nominations
- Document finalist stories
- Plan media strategy for winner
- Jury Decision
- Winner Presentation
- Evaluation of Year 1 award strategy
- Produce report, extracting ‘lessons learned’ and models from applications
- Plan Year 2002 Prize
Budget – $US
January 1, 2001 – December 31, 2002
Award ($7,500/year) / 15,000Dissemination and media ($4,000/year) / 8,000
Award committee expenses ($2500/year) / 5,000
Report, extracting lessons learned and models from applications ($1000/year) / 2,000
Total / $30,000
APC contribution / $10,000
Amount needed / $20,000