http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2003/issue3/0303p58.asp
Education as a Matter of Policy
By Ghassan Abdullah and Adina Shapiro
From the political point of view, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process was jump-started with the signing of the Oslo Accords. A famous handshake between two enemies raised hopes for a peaceful future, close at hand. Since then, it has become clear that such diplomatic efforts alone are insufficient to bring peace to the Israeli and Palestinian communities who have been adversaries for so many years.
Political leaders may attempt, and occasionally succeed, to conclude agreements about borders, water and security, but their efforts, vital as they are, are conducted in the rarefied atmosphere of high-level international diplomacy. They do not directly advance reconciliation between peoples. In order to create a just and stable peace between Israelis and Palestinians, individuals, communities and civil institutions must join hands with diplomats to facilitate deep changes in attitudes, by way of participating, designing and implementing creative educational curricula that challenge existing stereotypes and perishing aspects of hatred.
Even the most honest, good faith implementation of political agreements cannot repair the chiasmatic psychological, emotional and educational fault lines opened after years of conflict. If left unattended, these "black holes" can swallow up years of hard diplomatic efforts. Our painful experience has taught us that we have no choice but to recognize the educational system as playing a strategic role in the political process.
This is important for two main reasons:
The educational systems can only be used as a means for dissemination of peace if their legitimacy as shapers of attitudes is restored and recognized by political leaders. Addressing these issues on the strategic level shows to the peoples on both sides that, ultimately, it is their commitment to peace and reconciliation that will assure the outcome of the political process. In our area, if the political leaders fail to recognize the role of educational institutions in the process and in future stability, how can we expect the next generation to put their faith in that same system? Already we witness the daily violations of human rights on both sides, the domination of violence, and the strong negative effects of the mass media, as the issue of incitement is raised as a tool for each side to delegitimize the other. If we do not recognize educational institutions as vehicles to create and affect society, we leave a vacuum for others—proponents of hate and conflict—to fill.
In trying to create stability in a region so wounded and affected by violence and war, the educational institutions must be seen as central partners in the rehabilitative process.
One of the fundamental building blocks of a stable reality is an educational system that: enhances the capacities, values and responsibilities of citizens; guarantees the involvement and participation of the communities; acknowledges multi-cultural approaches; and is open to explore new initiatives. This is not a question of how a child learns to perceive his or her former enemy; it is a larger question of how a child becomes capable and confident to provide for his or her future. Peace and security cannot be guaranteed by security measures alone, which as necessary as they are can often antagonize and divide. Such security measures will serve their purpose if they are enforced in the context of a civil society, which can exist and flourish only if supported by an effective and exciting educational system. Thus, politicians and diplomats will find their efforts frustrated if they do not work strategically to assure an accommodating educational environment.
What do we mean when we speak of education on the strategic level? Clearly this does not imply that the political negotiators should begin to design textbooks or argue over relevant curricula. It also does not mean that lip service should be paid to the need for including values of understanding and peace within the educational curricula. We agree that these are issues that need to be developed on the professional level, much as any other strategic area of negotiations. Creating a strategic place for the educational systems would mean that just as the negotiators on all levels consult military, economic and diplomatic experts, and sometimes health and media experts as well, there should be an educational track to be consulted. Once this role is recognized, then there is a legitimate role to be taken in the implementation as well. A negotiating and follow-up educational committee should be created alongside all other such committees.
The content of the educational component of a peace agreement would need to address the following issues:
- How to ensure that schools will be accessible and safe environments for all children aged 3 to 1-- How to provide adequate support, including compensation, for teachers to contend with the dynamic changes in the reality and the suffering and trauma of themselves and their students;
- How to address issues of a core unified curriculum and to what extent is such a curriculum advisable in creating a stable, confident and open-minded society;
- How to address the role of communications (mainly television, radio and the Internet) as existing competitors (with a negative impact) to the formal educational system;
- What should be the role of the educational system in reaching out to the communities—mainly parents and by informal education—and working to change the difficult reality?
- What shall be the criteria for renewing textbooks; who is in charge of monitoring them and at what frequency?
Any peace process, even if just at the stage of a ceasefire, must recognize the role of those who stand at the forefront of society day in and day out: the educators. The questions outlined above require strategic discussion as well as policy decisions. These cannot be taken at the grass-roots level only. If we demand that the educational system work for the implementation of a peace agreement, including a detoxification of society from hate and animosity and enhancing skills for non-violent conflict resolution, it is necessary to provide the leaders of that system with the mandate to do so.
The Middle East Children's Association (MECA), a joint Palestinian-Israeli educational organization, has decided not to wait for the political leaders to start implementing this educational track. MECA has been working for the past six years, including during the last two years of violence, with over 400 teachers throughout Israel and the Palestinian Authority in subject matters such as math, history, pre-school education, etc. In each of these areas, the teachers work together to infuse concepts of responsibility, understanding and tolerance while adapting these ideas to the specific needs of their communities. We have worked in full recognition of the critical role of teachers and schools. Serious educational initiatives such as these should be motivated, in order to enable and help both communities to overcome daily challenges and difficulties. The many teachers who in times like these must overcome physical and educational barriers are living proof of the willingness and capacity that exists within the educational community. This potential, however, can only be fully realized if enhanced and encouraged, as a matter of policy, by all members of the international community and local governments who are interested in changing the current miserable reality and lead our region towards stability and prosperity.
Ghassan Abdullah and Adina Shapiro are co-Directors of the Middle East Children's Association (MECA).
Copyright © United Nations
Global Food Security
The Role of Sustainable Fertilization
By Horst Rutsch
UN photo
Global Food Security and the Role of Sustainable Fertilization was the theme of an important agricultural Conference recently held in Rome, Italy. The Conference was jointly organized by the International Fertilizer Industry Association (IFA) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), which for some three decades have worked together, in a unique partnership, to improve farmers' access to agricultural inputs and know-how. As a follow-up to recent high-level meetings--the World Food Summit (1996 and 2002), the Millennium Summit (2000) and the World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002)--the IFA/FAO Conference examined the progress made in achieving food security around the world, as well as reducing poverty and reversing declining soil fertility in developing countries.
The Conference focused on a number of food and fertilizer challenges, including farm management systems around the world, subsistence farming in developing countries, commercial farming worldwide, emerging biotechnologies and complementary nutrient products, as well as future action for fertilizers and farming. Key speakers included FAO Deputy Director-General David Harcharik; IFA President Wladimir Puggina; World Food Prize Laureate Per Pinstrup-Andersen; Cargill Crop Nutrition President Henk Mathot; FAO Assistant Director-General Louise Fresco; Humbolt University Professor Christian Bonte-Friedheim; and Potash Corporation President William Doyle. Discussions on sustainable agricultural practices emphasized the importance of fertilizers to improve global food security and highlighted the need for greater fertilizer use in many developing countries, due to the depletion of nutrient stocks in the soil, leading to land degradation and unsustainable agricultural production.
A number of policy recommendations and considerations emerged at the Conference and were transmitted to the FAO Committee on Agriculture. Outcomes are also available online (
http://www.fertilizer.org/ifa/news/2003_9.asp).
- Partnerships are vital to end hunger.
The eradication of poverty and hunger must be seen as a joint effort. The challenge for the international community is to develop new public/private partnerships, in which farmers can voice their own needs for applied research and product development, as well as evaluation. In Africa, Governments should create an enabling environment for farmers and for the private sector to invest in market development.
- Human nutrition needs to be improved.
In order to eliminate malnutrition, as well as hunger, Governments should focus on nutrient output as a key goal, develop agricultural policies to foster the production of crops rich in a wide variety of nutrients and examine the effect trade policies have on the availability of foods.
- Soil degradation threatens food security.
Proper management of nutrients and land resources is essential for promoting sustainable soil fertility practices, while investments in rural infrastructure help farmers to gain access to necessary plant nutrients. Soil mining and expansion into fragile ecosystems continue to degrade soils and reduce agricultural productivity in many developing countries, especially in Africa.
- Sustainable fertilization needs to be further developed.
Improving access to fertilizers, as well as natural resources and markets, is imperative for enabling farmers in many developing countries to achieve food security, especially for women in Africa. Greater investment is needed in research attuned to the economic reality of farmers and their education. The challenge is to help them improve management practices involving all sources of nutrients, soil conservation and innovative biotechnologies.
The UN Chronicle, in a special feature coordinated by Horst Rutsch, presents a number of articles on the role of fertilization in global food security, including misconceptions about the utility of plant nutrients, the role of agricultural policies in developing countries, mapping farming systems as a tool for food security, and the impact of farm subsidies.
'Fertilize the Plant, Not the Soil'
Dispelling Myths about Fertilizers and Plant Nutrients
By Louise O. Fresco
Louise O. Fresco has been Assistant Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) since February 2000. She holds a personal chair at the Agricultural University Wageningen, the Netherlands, where she was Professor of plant production systems with special reference to the tropics and subtropics before joining FAO in 1997. She has also been involved in research on integrated land-use planning in Costa Rica and the Sahel, as well as on tropical land use. Ms. Fresco spoke with Horst Rutsch of the UN Chronicle during the IFA/FAO Agriculture Conference on "Global Food Security and the Role of Sustainable Fertilization".
Article
- On the future of agriculture
In less than thirty years, we will reach a historical moment in the history of humankind when the era of land expansion, which started some six perhaps even seven thousand years ago with the beginning of agriculture, will be over forever. We know that the world population will grow and probably peak at 8 billion in 2030. This means that food production will need to increase by about 60 per cent. We also know that nearly all of that increase has to come from developing countries and from the intensification of agriculture, i.e. more yield per unit time and per unit area.
The demand for food will increase disproportionately to the increase in population. Rising incomes will mean a disproportionately higher demand for food to make up for malnutrition today and accommodate a shift in diets. Apart from vegetables and fruits, the most remarkable shift will be towards higher consumption of animal products, partly from monogastrics-from pigs and poultry. This will mean increased production of feed. The cereal market for feed will grow fastest and it is the only one which will have at least a noticeable impact on world market prices.
Urbanization will continue. In 1950, two thirds of the world population lived in rural areas; in 2030 or even before that, two thirds of the world population will live in urban areas. This means lower labour availability in rural areas. It will undoubtedly imply new forms of mechanization. Labour use efficiency is another very clear trend; therefore, land use intensification, in all of its connotations, is one of the things we do not doubt.
It is likely that agriculture will have other dimensions beyond food and fibre production, such as its role in carbon sequestration and in preserving landscapes, watersheds and biodiversity. There are exciting developments in the nutripharmaceutical and food quality sectors that may impact on future agriculture. These other dimensions are less clear, and I would put them more in a category of what we guess, rather than what we know. Nevertheless, it is sure that we will look at agriculture as something beyond just producing calories per hectare in 2030.
- On increasing efficiency in fertilizer use
There is tremendous scope for improvement in efficiencies as long as we remember what I was told when I was a student: "Don't fertilize the soil, fertilize the plant". Higher crop yields mean higher fertilizer use, but not proportionally. An entire system of supply, research, extension, quality control inputs, etc. ensures that farmers are realizing these efficiencies. In Asia and other parts of the world, these increases are not very strong, but they also exist. I hope that more efficient fertilizer use will match the growth in production-I say "hope" because there are some parts of the world where this hope, particularly in Africa, is not realized today.
In 1950, farmers applied only 17 million tonnes of mineral fertilizers. That was four times more than in 1900, but eight times less than today. When we look at northern Europe, fertilizer use has increased from about 45 kg/ha to 250 kg/ha. Wheat yield in France, for instance, increased every year from about 1,800 kg/ha in the 1950s to more than 7,000 kg/ha today. Again, we see overall patterns of efficiency in fertilizer use; the increase in use certainly is lower than the increase in yields. So far, so good. On the loamy soils of Northern Europe, we now get yields that are over 10 tonnes/ha, very close to the present biological maximum, and are obtained with only 200 kg of nitrogen and 50 kg of phosphate and potassium, respectively. The potential to improve fertilizer use efficiencies is thus tremendous.
- On the need to increase fertilizer use
Fertilizer application contributes 43 per cent of the 70 million tonnes of the nutrients that global crop production extracts. In the future, the contribution may be as high as 84 per cent; that means the world's agriculture will become more and more dependent on mineral fertilizer. We do not know exactly whether crops will indeed remove more than 207 million tonnes in 2015 and even more in 2030. But we do know that the increase of fertilizer as part of the total nutrient cycle will be important. This has serious consequences for the way we look at the fertilizer industry and how we manage sustainable fertilization.
The question is, "how much will fertilizer use increase?" Even a 1-per-cent increase between now and 2030 would be a considerable one. In some parts of the world, we need a much larger increase-up to 2.7 per cent, and more in Africa, annually-to make up for nutrient losses. We still know little about trace elements and micronutrients in a systematic fashion or in terms of global cycles. This area must be looked at with priority if we want balanced nutrient management.
The public often thinks that non-mineral nutrient resources are a major source also for the future. However, their efficiencies are considerably lower. There will be more manure available with increased livestock production. Moreover, urbanization means more waste, especially more sewage waste. The current cost of using waste for crops is still quite high. Maybe some of these costs will reduce, but fertilizer will remain the most important source of added nutrients.
- On the limits of organic agriculture for food security
We should develop a clear, scientifically-based view of what organic agriculture can mean in terms of world food security. We know relatively little about the scope for organic agriculture-a subject that is so dear to some sectors of the Western society and often such a source of confusion. At FAO, we have done some very tentative calculations about what organic agriculture would mean on a global scale if indeed the market would demand a very substantial increase in organic agriculture. The consequences are quite staggering, considering the amount of land that would have to be brought under rotation with legumes or under animal production to make up for farmers not using mineral fertilizer. It seems quite unfeasible. While organic agriculture provides a niche market, the limits of organic agriculture and its danger in terms of nutrient depletion need thorough review. Not just in OECD countries but increasingly also in developing countries, the public needs objective information on the potential of organic agriculture.
Fertilizers are irreplaceable, particularly in Africa with its specific soils. That is the message that has to be put across to students, as well as the general public. Probably one of the most destructive systems in terms of environmental damage is unfertilized annual cropping in the humid tropics, with its high impact on soil organic matter and erosion. We need to look at systems in a much more integrated way. Such an approach to nutrient management is really important and should move the discussion away from talking about fertilizers in the narrow sense of the word.
- On the potential of biotechnology for food security
The basis of the Green Revolution was crop varieties with improved responses to nutrients and water. Since then, while there is considerable interest in biotechnology, not so much yet is heard about biotechnology and fertilizers. We should ask ourselves-and this we really still do not know-"Is there a possibility of improving fertilizer use and plant nutrient uptake efficiency through biotechnology?" Hardly any current work in biotechnology addresses abiotic stresses or biological nitrogen fixation.
But we should not focus too much on biotechnology. There is still a lot to gain with conventional plant breeding. Considerable work has been done on the so-called "staying green" characteristics of a crop like sorghum, as the longer the crop stays green, the more fertilizer uptake there can be over time. So while we should not underrate the longer-term potential of biotechnology, I also feel that we should be very careful in promising too much, too quickly. Possibly, the conventional breeding work on aluminium and iron toxicity has applications also for biotechnology.
Soil biology is another area where we know very little and should know more. It's still a rather isolated field of research and does not always link very well with nutrient management. We certainly know that soil organic matter and soil biology are important, but we do not have very good tools to monitor that. We also know, of course, that nutrient recovery for fertilizer is much better with soil improvement. However, much is still unclear in practical terms.
In Africa, where the recovery of nutrients is so low, more systematical work is needed on soil organic matter and soil quality in a physical, biological and chemical way. Biological nitrogen fixation yields mixed results. It is clear that we need to look at it again in an integrated manner, linking biological nitrogen fixation to the application of more conventional fertilizers and study recovery. It would be necessary to have clearer evidence on this, and again to communicate that to the public, in order to show that biological nitrogen fixation is not a miracle solution by itself, but may be successful under certain conditions. There is interesting cereal-legume rotations work that perhaps deserves more systematic application. Such work links with water use efficiencies, dry land agriculture and water harvesting, and needs again a comprehensive review.
- On integrated management of production systems
We have made advances in integrated management of production systems. Conservation agriculture, for example, clearly yields results and clearly allows us to reduce stresses on the environment with respect to run-off and erosion. So again we should look at the whole production system, rather than just the nutrient part of it.
I have said there is a growth in waste material and manure as we go on toward 2030 and have pointed to the importance of micronutrients and trace elements. However, at the current level of knowledge, how much we can do-with P fixation or with nitrogen fixation-is still very unclear. Developed countries' use maybe 20 per cent of all treated sludge in agriculture, and perhaps it will be only 5 per cent in the near future in developing countries. These are not enormous numbers, but it could very well be that increased urbanization puts such stress on waste management that because of environmental health issues we are forced to deal with waste in a much better way. This would again be an impetus for integrated nutrient management worldwide.
- On the implications of the World Food Summit
At the World Food Summit in 1996, Governments committed themselves to halving the number of hungry people by the year 2015. There is a direct link between that goal and fertilizer use. This could mean about 8 per cent more fertilizer use with respect to a business-as-usual scenario. It does not seem like very much, but in terms of tonnage it is considerable. The enhanced fertilizer use is particularly important in countries like China and India, which make up a large proportion of the world population and play a major role in meeting those goals, but even more so perhaps in Africa, where little progress has been made. From a global perspective, there have been modest shifts in terms of which populations are at risk of starvation; however, in Africa the general situation remains very bleak.
We can learn in this respect from the work on pesticides. There have been quite remarkable results in reducing pesticide applications by making farmers more aware of integrated pest management through a system called farmer field schools, where they learn to observe their crops closely and discuss the management of pests or the pathogens and their predators. Those projects are increasingly linked to integrated nutrient management, and this is a very promising approach. It would require farmers to observe better the impact of nutrient application, rather than letting them apply more urea just because it's the cheapest fertilizer and thus creating a risk of over-application.
- On educating farmers on nutrient management
We need to see how we can help farmers understand the effects of overuse of nitrogen on certain pathogens and other stress factors in crops. This may convince farmers of the need to free up money to buy non-nitrogen fertilizer and adopt a much more balanced fertilizer application. Farmers will also need help with investing in better water use, water management and water capture. We are talking about a comprehensive package.
The real risk is to think that fertilizer is the one and only solution to productivity increase. We really stand to gain from such integrated agro-ecological management. History shows us that the gains of nutrient use are tremendous. There is a curve of diminishing returns that we need to manage very carefully. An increase of end-use efficiency, even from 40 to 50 per cent, could make considerable savings for farmers, as well as in the transport industry, and in the way poor countries use scarce foreign currency on fertilizers.
UN photo
- On developing partnerships for food security
Fertilizer-use efficiency is the challenge of the future. The gains of such efficiency, even purely economically, may be tremendous. However, we will not have these gains if we do not work on the entire set of factors that determine fertilizer-use and its application by farmers. We need private/public partnerships. We need a much better system of distribution and quality control, and the array of marketing that goes with it.
The fertilizer industry should become more creative in ensuring that a farmer actually gets the maximum benefit out of the existing crop and fertilizer application techniques. I really hope that the industry will also look at the total cycle of nutrient use and nutrient recovery. Let's systematically look at key ways to reduce labour demands, which is particularly important with decreasing labour availability. For example, there are now polymer-coated fertilizers that could have a much better recovery rate. I know they are expensive, but let us not forget that the first computers and the first colour televisions were also incredibly expensive and now have reached many households in the poorer world. The car manufacturing industry received the same plea twenty years ago and has made considerable progress.
We know that there is still a lot of misunderstanding and confusion about nutrients in the world. The public needs to obtain an objective image and an objective message from all the partners involved in nutrient management. Governments, industries, NGOs, farmers, and international organizations and FAO must make sure we develop a balanced objective and science-based, evidence-based message about the use of fertilizers, their potential and their limitations, and the need to look at them in a comprehensive context. We know about the productivity gains that are possible and that fertilizer-use efficiencies are possible if we do it the right way. We know that more fertilizers are needed.
http://www.un.org/Pubs/chronicle/2003/issue4/0403p34.asp
UNconventional: A Point of View
The Internet Remains a Mystery to a Majority of the Population
By Thomas E. Leavey
The sustainable development of efficient and accessible postal services plays an important role in helping to bridge the digital and information divide that currently exists worldwide. With 161 of its 189 members considered by the United Nations as developing countries, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) is committed to helping these countries modernize their postal systems, thereby increasing their participation in the knowledge society and their chances of fully benefiting from it.
As a specialized agency of the United Nations, the UPU plays a leadership role in promoting the continued revitalization of postal services. Developing social, cultural and commercial communication between people through the efficient operation of the postal service is at the heart of its mission. The UPU views the prospects of the new Information Society with enthusiasm, convinced that Posts play an important role in breaking the communication barriers between people in both the physical and electronic worlds. Furthermore, bound by an obligation to provide universal postal service at affordable prices, Posts facilitate the access to the society of knowledge in those places where others cannot.
When the Internet revolution took root in the early 1990s, many detractors predicted the demise of the postal service. E-mail and the Internet, it was felt, would replace traditional paper-based communication and quickly render Posts irrelevant. This narrow vision failed to take into account the possibilities that the new Information Society would offer to Posts, as well as their contribution to its development.
In its 2,000-year-old history, the postal service has reinvented itself time and time again to respond to economic and social changes and meet the needs of customers. And it is doing it again. Since the mid-1990s, Posts around the world have harnessed the power of the Internet to develop innovative services that are at the forefront of the anticipated communication needs of customers. These include electronic stamps, electronic bill presentation and payment services, secure e-mail and trusted third-party certification.
Postal entities have a long experience of developing or taking advantage of new technologies to improve, even expand, existing services, as well as to strengthen the distribution networks they manage day to day. Bar codes, track-and-trace technology, delivery performance monitoring systems and hybrid mail (converting electronic files into printable matter) are but a few examples. The challenge is to effectively merge the possibilities of cyberspace with their physical distribution capabilities.
For all the speed and convenience they offer, the information and communication technologies are by no means without challenges. For businesses and Governments making a foray into cyberspace, ensuring access, trust and security, privacy and the effective distribution of goods have quickly become key issues. Posts are uniquely positioned to meet each one of these demands.
While the Internet has become a widely used tool, it remains a mystery to a majority of the population. Statistics show that there are more than 500 million Internet users worldwide, 80 per cent of whom are in the developed world. Two out of five persons in the developed world have access to the Internet, compared to one in fifty in the developing world. The network of close to 700,000 postal outlets that exists worldwide provides a natural opportunity for helping more people access the Internet, as well as other communication technologies. Some postal administrations are already facilitating this by drawing customers to Internet kiosks in their outlets and partnering with other communications firms to offer convenient products and services. Such is the case in Bhutan, where citizens are offered a free, unique e-post address they can use to send e-mails from any post office. They can also send e-post messages, which are printed at the destination post office for local delivery. Other postal administrations have also given citizens the possibility of obtaining their own personal e-mail through their post offices. Finally, Posts are often seen as attractive partners in the provision of e-government services because of their reach and the trust they have established with their customers.
As traffic on the information highway becomes heavier, people expect to deal with a trusted party who will protect the sanctity of their messages and their right to privacy. For years, the postal service and its employees have been trusted to securely and confidentially deliver information to all corners of the world. In fulfilling their obligation to provide universal postal service, Posts have a reputation as neutral third parties. Regulations on employees' conduct and legal guarantees enhance customer confidence and trust. Posts will continue to honour that role through innovative and secure services and products. The electronic postmarks they used, for example, protect the integrity of electronic data through the use of auditable time stamps, digital signatures and hash codes.
An Internet service in Korea
These postmarks allow third parties to verify the authenticity of electronic content and provide evidence to support non-repudiation of electronic transactions. In support of this initiative, the UPU Postal Technology Centre has developed a global standard for electronic postmarks, with the assistance of postal administrations and in cooperation with major software manufacturers.
In accordance with the "consumer choice" policies they have adopted for direct or advertising mail delivered physically, some postal administrations propose to electronically deliver such mail only to those customers who specifically request targeted information. This practice, supported by state-of-the-art security features and a guarantee that distribution lists will not be shared with other parties, reduces the amount of unsolicited messages a consumer might receive otherwise in an information age where privacy can quickly be compromised.
E-commerce offers an unprecedented level of convenience. But beyond an attractive retail web site and secure online transactions, businesses must be able to rely on a delivery infrastructure that is efficient, dependable and fast. Posts offer an extensive network of processing and delivery facilities to meet that need, and international mail agreements mean that packages and documents can be delivered to any destination in the world using a range of cost-effective products.
The UPU recognizes that its strength and that of its members come from a collaborative and shared approach. It watches closely its members' progress in developing or adapting to information and communication technologies, and looks at how notions can be transferred to other countries for the benefit of their domestic and international customers. Progress, knowledge and expertise are shared regularly with all members through various forums, including the Universal Postal Congress, which will next be held in Bucharest in September 2004.
An Internet cafe in Estonia
Given the timeframe for the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society, with phases taking place before and after the UPU Congress, the Universal Postal Union is confident that it can contribute positively to the main themes of the Summit by providing access to information and communication technologies for all, using them as a tool for economic and social development, and increasing confidence and security in their use.
As the most extensive means of communication available to people, the post has always served as an important learning centre-a place where people can confidently go to find the most effective ways of connecting with loved ones, business, Government and others. In this sense, the postal service can play an active and important role in the Information Society by facilitating access to knowledge and communication technologies and furthering their appreciation.
The 'People's Computer'
An Extraordinary Tool to Bridge the Digital Divide
By Sarah Cattan, for the Chronicle
The digital revolution has not only brought fundamental changes in the communications and information industry but also created a new type of poverty, the "information poverty". While more than 80 per cent of the world population has never used the Internet, the digital divide-the information and technology gap between industrialized and developing nations-keeps widening with 91 per cent of Internet users representing 19 per cent of the world population.
In Western countries, information and communication technology (ICT) has become an integral part of daily lives. However, the 100 million computers connected by the Internet throughout the world only represent 2 per cent of the world population. With the immense benefits ICT has demonstrated in the North, such a divide is simply unacceptable. In addition to facilitating access to information, ICT can have a crucial impact in reaching the Millennium Development Goals adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2000. By providing knowledge, ICT can reduce poverty, give a voice to the less empowered and make a real change in diverse fields, ranging from education to health and culture, for example, by promoting the history and traditions of the most marginalized people. As UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan explained at "Telecom 99"-the global telecommunications forum held in 1999 in Geneva, Switzerland-"being cut from basic telecommunications services is a hardship almost as acute as deprivations of jobs, shelter, food, health care and drinkable water".
Granting every citizen access to telecommunications services has become an imperative to universalize the scope of ICT benefits. Scientists in India and Brazil have recently developed two projects aimed to offer the poor access to the Internet Age. In Brazil, academics have created the "Computador Popular", a desktop whose sole purpose is to connect to the Internet. It lacks a floppy disk drive or a hard drive, which are unnecessary to surf the Internet, therefore the computer and the monitor are relatively affordable, at an estimated price of $250.
Members of the Simputer Trusteeship, the brain behind the Simputer.
The Government, which requested the project, has shown a strong commitment to reduce the digital divide that prevents 95 per cent of Brazilians from having Internet access, and plans to set up a loan programme that would enable low-income citizens to borrow funds to buy the machines; loans could be repaid at about $15 monthly. The Government also started screening proposals from manufacturers and will introduce incentives to kick-start production.
In India, the "Simputer" project was initiated and carried out by a charitable trust founded in 1999 after the Global Village-an international seminar on information technology for developing countries-had the previous year stressed the need for a low-cost mass access device that would bring local language information to the masses. The Simputer--an acronym for SIMPle compUTER--which was conceived by academics and businessmen from Bangalore, is a pocket computer that gives illiterate people the possibility to handle a computer and use the Internet. With its touch-sensitive screen, modem and text-to-speech capabilities, this mini-equipment reads information aloud in local languages.
Simputer is a low cost portable alternative to PCs, by which the benefits of IT can reach the common man.
The Simputer was specifically designed to reach out to all socially and geographically marginalized segments of society. By using the free, "open-source" Linux operating system, it saves licensing fees. Moreover, because its estimated cost of $200 could still be too expensive for certain people, it features a "Smart Card", which allows individual management of information and thus enables the sharing of one Simputer by an unlimited number of people. In addition to being affordable to all social sections of India, where the median income in rural areas is as low as $30 a month, the device gives Internet access to the most remote populations, independent of electricity, wires and personal computer stations, made possible because it runs on batteries.
Envisioned by its creators as an "evolving platform for social change", the Simputer can further enhance low-cost information technology projects. In southern Africa, for example, it has been used for collecting data for new HIV vaccines; and by giving each participant a way to enter his or her data in the system, it avoided mistakes often made in copying data by hand. This mini-computer presents other advantages for detecting health problems. For example, since it runs on AAA batteries, a doctor equipped with the machine could collect data in the field and then evaluate it in his laboratory in order to spot an epidemic. These are only a few of the amazing tasks the "Computador Popular" and the "Simputer" can do in developing countries.
The distribution of such ICT tools by India and Brazil to other countries could also benefit developing and least developed countries by boosting the network of South-South cooperation. As was urged in February 2000 at the Seoul Forum on South-South Cooperation in Science and Technology, such cooperation is crucial for the development of the poorest countries. By encouraging them to find their own solutions to development problems, it could foster their self-reliance and increase their participation in international economic activity and world trade.
By breaking two of the major barriers to universal access to the Internet, namely cost and illiteracy, the "Computador Popular" and the "Simputer" are extraordinary projects that promise to have a great impact on narrowing the digital divide. However, the success of such enterprises rests on whether the international community will give enough support to encouraging companies to manufacture these computers in sufficiently large volumes to make them truly cost-effective. Triggering the cooperation of the private sector and civil society will precisely be one of the objectives of the World Summit on the Information Society, which, for the first time, will bring together Governments, civil society and the private sector to address the urgent challenge of the digital divide-one that "can-and will-be bridged", as Secretary-General Annan declared in his Millennium Report in 2000.
From Africa Recovery, Volume17 #3
Africa takes on the digital divide
New information technologies change the lives of those in reach
By Gumisai Mutume
Across Africa, new information technologies are rapidly changing the lives of a small but growing number of people. In rural Togo a farmer gets real-time information on market prices in the capital, Lomé, through a cellular phone. In Accra, Ghana, entrepreneurs who in the past were not able to get a dial tone on their land-line telephones can now connect immediately using Internet telephony, technology that allows phone calls to be made through the Internet. And in Niger, the Bankilare Community Information Centre downloads audio programmes from the African Learning Channel and rebroadcasts them on local radio.
So far, these are some of the few, fortunate Africans. For most people even making a telephone call is still a remote possibility in an era when most of the world is now communicating almost instantly across cities, regions and the globe using wireless and satellite technologies to send high-speed electronic messages.
Internet company advertises in Côte d'Ivoire: Despite advances, only a tiny fraction of Africans have Internet access. Photo : ©AfricaPhotos.com
Africa has the fewest telephone lines, radios, television sets, computers and Internet users of any part of the world. These tools, used to package and transmit information and knowledge, are broadly referred to as information and communications technologies (ICTs). The gap between those with access to ICTs and those without is generally referred to as the "digital divide." It is most extreme in Africa, where in 2001, out of 800 million people, only 1 in 4 had a radio, 1 in 13 a television set, 1 in 40 a telephone and 1 out of 130 a computer. The divide widens in Africa's countryside, where a lack of roads, telephone lines and electricity separates the rural majority from their urban counterparts.
Bridging the digital divide
"The digital gap brings with it a danger of isolating certain peoples, those in Africa in particular," says Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade. "It is paradoxical and ironic that the continent which invented writing . . . [is] excluded from universal knowledge." In December, President Wade will be popularizing his "digital solidarity" programme at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) to be held in Geneva, Switzerland. Under the programme, technologically advanced nations would commit to assisting poorer ones. A country can express solidarity, for example, by signing onto a digital charter committing itself to "a specified, quantified action for the benefit of countries where the rate [of Internet access] is lower than a given level," explains President Wade. A digital solidarity fund should be set up to pay for ICT projects in poor countries, he says, financed by "raising large amounts of money collected painlessly because the contributions are so small." Levies of one US cent could be charged on every international call or one dollar on the purchase of each personal computer or software package.
"The digital gap brings with it a danger of isolating certain peoples, those in Africa in particular."
-- Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal
African leaders looking for ways to bridge the digital divide between their region and the rest of the world see the WSIS as an opportunity to obtain international commitments to extend information and communications technologies to the majority of their people. The summit is expected to adopt a plan of action to close the gap between the "haves" and "have nots" of information technology. At its summit in July, the African Union passed a resolution stressing the "importance of the information society on economic, socio-political and cultural development and the strategic objectives of developing countries." The second part of WSIS will be held from 16-18 November 2005, in Tunisia, which first proposed holding the meeting to promote the use of ICTs to overcome poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals agreed to by world leaders in 2000.
Extending the arm of technology
Low bandwidth (the amount of data transmitted through a communications line) and expensive call charges characterize most of Africa's telecommunications facilities. An analysis of Internet use can give a representative picture of the ICT situation in Africa, says Mr. Mike Jensen, an independent ICT consultant based in South Africa, since connecting to the Internet involves different individual ICT components such as computers, telephones and satellites.
By mid 2002, 1.7 million Africans had dial-up Internet services, 1.2 million of them in South Africa and North Africa alone. Assuming that three-to-five people use each Internet-connected computer, notes Mr. Jensen, it is possible that 5-8 million Africans have access to the Internet. In sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa), there are some 1.5-2.5 million users -- one in every 250-400 people, compared to 1 in 15 people in the rest of the world. In North America and Europe, 1 in every 2 people has access to the Internet. Given that timely access to news and information can promote trade, education, employment, health and wealth, "too many of the world's people remain untouched by this revolution," says UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. "The stakes are high indeed."
Africa has, however, made significant improvements in telecommunications over the past few years. The number of land telephone lines increased from 12.5 mn in 1995 to 21 mn in 2001, mostly, Mr. Jensen states, due to a regional push to deregulate the sector. There has been a rapid increase in the number of public phone booths and community telecommunications centres or tele-centres, he says. In Senegal, "there are over 10,000 commercially run public telephone bureaus, employing 15,000 people and generating over 30 per cent of the entire [telephone] network's revenue."
Many African countries are increasingly leapfrogging old technologies and avoiding the expense of laying land lines. As a result wireless technologies and mobile phones are becoming the preferred means of communication. In 2001 there were an estimated 24 mn mobile phones in Africa compared to 21 mn fixed-line phones. With the number of users doubling every year, "Africa is now the fastest growing cellular market in the world," says Mr. Muriuki Mureithi, chief executive officer at Summit Strategies, a Kenya-based telecommunications consultancy.
Information as a human right
One of the major issues to be discussed at the WSIS in December is the right to communicate. Civil society groups in Africa say that as countries rush to privatize infrastructure, they are forgetting people's rights to communicate. While no universal definition of this right yet exists, civil society groups say it entails guaranteeing everyone access to affordable communications tools.
Satellite television centre in a Niger village: new technologies can improve communications even in the most remote areas of Africa. Photo : ©Getty Images / Liason / John Chiasson
To achieve this, governments need to strike a balance between strengthening public communications facilities, often the only means of communication for poor and rural dwellers, and commercialization, notes the African Civil Society Caucus, a group of African non-governmental organizations participating in the WSIS. "The right to communicate is a familiar one to African people and we assert that it is a fundamental human right that should be seen as the platform on which a global information society is built," notes the caucus. The group says that most of the technology being developed is very expensive, putting even basic communications beyond the reach of the poor. The caucus is also calling on African governments to support the creation of African-language computer programmes to enable the majority of Africans, who do not speak English or French, to be able to participate.
To facilitate universal access, Africa needs to be innovative in its use of tele-centres, says Mr. Adama Samassekou, Mali's former education minister and now president of the Preparatory Committee of the WSIS. Tele-centres allow many people to share ICT resources. "There is no need for each to have his own computer," he says. The continent could also learn from other developing regions that are producing cheap, affordable computers to broaden access. "We have good initiatives taking place in the South, like in India, the 'simputer' -- simple computer -- and Brazil has its popular Computadora," Mr. Samassekou told Africa Recovery. The simputer is a low-cost, hand-held device developed by Indian engineers to take the Internet to the rural masses. And the Computadora is a bare-bones machine without "frills" such as floppy disks, costing about $300 and referred to by ICT experts as "a PC for the people, a Volkscomputer."
ICT for development
Much of the drive to expand ICT access stems from the belief that such technologies are tools for development. While there are divergent views over the nature and scope of the contribution they can make, there is widespread acknowledgement that ICTs can extend services such as health care to poor communities. In South Africa, a tele-medicine project at Tygerberg Children's Hospital in Cape Town, launched in 1996, links its medical experts to three hospitals in underprivileged districts. In 1994, the new government inherited a system which directed most public health funds to urban, often whites-only hospitals. District hospitals and clinics -- responsible for primary care in towns and rural areas populated by black people -- were under-resourced. Today, most specialists continue to work in urban areas. Patients requiring specialized treatment must either travel for hundreds of kilometres or be treated by practitioners with only general training and experience.
Experts at Tygerberg shorten the distance between them and their rural patients by using a computer, printer, scanner and digital camera. Through a dial-up connection the district hospital's doctors scan x-rays and electro-cardiographs and e-mail them, together with blood test results and digital photographs, to Tygerberg where a diagnosis is made and relayed back to the district hospital.
In Zimbabwe, the Kubatana project, a website linking 230 civil and community-based groups, provides information on new legislation, the electoral system and voter registration procedures, as well as major social issues confronting the country, such as HIV/AIDS. Owners of the website describe their work as "electronic activism." Users say the network is particularly useful given the current clampdown on the media in Zimbabwe. It reaches out to Zimbabweans who do not have computers at home or at work through the growing number of public Internet facilities emerging across the country. During major rights campaigns, members of the network have asked those with computers to print campaign material and hand it out or post it to those without access.
A "friendship tree" -- a contact list of about 100 Zimbabweans -- is activated by owners of the site every time an activist is arrested to ensure that witnesses are available to monitor the court proceedings. "One of the most powerful things we can do in situations of chaos is to become a witness," Ms. Bev Clark, one of the founders of Kubatana, notes in a series of case studies on ICTs conducted by the International Institute for Communication and Development, a non-profit foundation based in the Netherlands.
Perhaps the most popular development use of ICTs in Africa is in education. "Virtual" universities and other institutions are springing up to meet the challenge of providing education to a growing number of students with limited resources. Less well known are attempts to use ICTs to rehabilitate child ex-combatants. Among its education promotion activities in 30 African countries, SchoolNet Africa, an independent organization based in South Africa, trains former child soldiers in Angola, Liberia and Rwanda. By next year the programme will have reached more than 100 children in the three countries, equipping them with computer skills and providing psychological counselling.
In Sierra Leone, more than 200 young people affected by war have participated in a project run by the non-governmental International Education and Research Network. Their multi-media showcase on the Internet includes essays, images and music "that tells of the human toll of our civil war," says Mr. Andrew Greene, a volunteer trainer at the project. He says the inaccessibility of the Internet in his country has been the biggest challenge facing the project. "This exercise is painstaking as we must hire a bus to get access to the Internet" in urban areas. When they cannot hire a bus, the students walk and then often have to queue up for hours waiting for computers at Internet cafés. The project has touched the hearts of many people around the world, says Mr. Greene. He adds, "the UN office of displaced persons is considering it as a potential model for use in four additional parts of the world that have been affected by war," Cambodia, Palestine, Sri Lanka and Uganda.
Public cell phone centre in a poor community in South Africa: Africa's cellular market is the fastest growing in the world. Photo : ©Getty Images / Per-Anders Pettersson
Seeking political mileage
In South Africa a group of academics recently launched an online Northern Sotho-English dictionary -- the first of its kind -- to help develop a language, one of South Africa's 11 official ones, that has historically been neglected. In Uganda, an online counselling service was launched in May to train teachers and students to counsel young people in HIV prevention and care. But many local ICT initiatives such as these are hindered by the lack of broader national strategies.
Over the last decade, African leaders have adopted declarations and resolutions to speed the development of information technology on the continent. In 1996, the Organization of African Unity adopted the Africa Information Society Initiative as the guiding framework for ICT efforts in Africa. Under the initiative, heads of state agreed that their countries would develop national ICT policies and strategies. Many have yet to do so. Last year, at a regional African conference in Bamako, Mali, to prepare for the WSIS, a declaration urged African countries to remove duties levied on ICT hardware and software until the second phase of WSIS in Tunis in 2005. Many countries are yet to comply. Governments blame the lack of action on a shortage of resources, especially financial.
African leaders continue to seek ways around this. The continent's new development framework, the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) places ICTs among eight priority sectors. Under NEPAD, African governments pledge to double the number of telephone lines in Africa by 2005, lower costs and improve reliability of communications services.
To implement the ICT goals of NEPAD, an e-Africa Commission has been set up by continental leaders, chaired by Mr. Alpha Oumar Konaré, former Malian president and current chairman of the Commission of the African Union. He is proposing a "debt for connectivity" programme whereby rich countries agree to write-off at least 1 per cent of the total debt of every African country each year and place it into a common ICT fund. Last year, sub-Saharan Africa's total debt was $204 bn. "The burden that Africa drags upon its feet, and that prevents it from taking off, is debt, always debt," says Mr. Konaré.
Sometimes the problem is simply poor government planning, notes Mr. Fred Kofi de Heer-Mensah of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration. He says that the continent's Internet development is often hindered by measures taken by governments. A few years ago, the previous Ghanaian government jailed the heads of a number of leading Internet service providers. Although they were later exonerated, they had been accused of breaking telephone regulations by allowing subscribers to make phone calls over the Internet. Internet service providers, often using high-speed satellite links, were able to provide their clients with extremely cheap telephone call rates, even on international calls, competing for revenue with regular phone companies.
"Internet telephony is changing the whole power structure," says Mr. Francis Quartey, chief technology officer of Intercom Data Network and one of those jailed. "The dangerous thing is that the power elite are responding out of fear and ignorance."
It is also poor government strategy that results in expensive charges for communication, says Mr. de Heer-Mensah. In many countries, computers and cellular phones are defined as luxury items and are taxed heavily. Many poorer African countries charge steep levies for Internet access, while the relatively well-off ones, such as South Africa, provide cheap, even free Internet access for academic institutions, he says. Cheap access can stimulate the development of local content for the Internet and in turn generate a local audience. In South Africa, dial-up rates can be as low as $5 a month, affordable for most urban dwellers. In other countries, the monthly rates can exceed $30. Surprisingly, he says, "these are the countries with all sorts of control mechanisms."
To deal with its daunting challenges, Africa will need more candid and vigorous dialogue between ordinary citizens and their leaders. According to Mr. Joseph Okpaku, president of Telecom Africa Corporation, a US company, Africa faces two choices: "We go on engaging in pat conversations which, while preserving our image, allow our problems to fester. Or we find the courage to address our critical problems."
Website: www.africarecovery.org
Contact us by email: africa_recovery@un.org
QuickLinks - Digital divide (
http://www.qlinks.net)
- Telecoms surge in third world <
http://www.iht.com/articles/121344.html>(IHT)
One issue that could not get resolved at the UN's World Summit on the Information Society this week was whether governments should create a 'digital solidarity fund' to help poor areas of the world connect to communications networks. But officials of the World Bank said that investments in telecommunications companies in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean were reaping annual rates of return in excess of 25 percent. The returns are even higher - about 40 percent to 50 percent - when license fees, taxes and other charges are excluded.
- WSIS - Local content key for digitally divided <
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3314171.stm>; (BBC) The internet has spread its tentacles throughout the world, reaching communities all over the globe. But it is quite another thing to help local people figure out what to do with the technology once they get it. For some development activists who attended the UN World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva, the question was not going online, but about the content on the web.
- WSIS: Share ICT with impoverished economies says ITU <
http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=341>; (Publictechnology.net) ITU Secretary-General and Secretary-General of the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society Yoshio Utsumi appealed to world leaders to share the bounty of powerful information and communication technologies (ICT) with the most impoverished economies, and to shape their use for a better world, at the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society.
- UN - Open source software key to bridging digital divide <
http://www.euractiv.com/cgi-bin/cgint.exe/1?204&OIDN=1506692&-tt=>; (EurActiv.com) In the third edition of its E-Commerce and Development Report <
http://www.unctad.org/Templates/webflyer.asp?docid=4228&intItemID=2644&lang=1&mode=toc>;, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) identified the implications of the growth of the digital economy for developing countries. The report highlights opportunities and problems as regards the growth of the Internet and the development of information and communication technologies (ICT) for the developing countries. The report is also designed to contribute to the debates at the World Summit on the Information Society which will take place in Geneva from 10-12 December 2003. see Free and open-source software: implications for ICT policy and development <
http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/ecdr2003ch4_en.pdf>;.
- Is Africa ready for 3G? <
http://news.com.com/2100-1037-995186.html?tag=fd_top>; (CNET News.com) Next-generation cell phone networks are arriving in Africa, a region some carriers view as an enormous business opportunity, despite widespread poverty.
- Digital divide - Patently problematic <
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?Story_id=1325219>; (Economist) The report of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights, convened by Britain's Department for International Development to look at how IPR can work to the benefit of the world's poor countries, sets out detailed recommendations for how developing countries should craft IPR to suit their conditions. Its central message is both clear and controversial: poor places should avoid committing themselves to rich-world systems of IPR protection unless such systems are beneficial to their needs. Nor should rich countries, which professed so much interest in "sustainable development" at the recent summit in Johannesburg, push for anything stronger. see Integrating Intellectual Property Rights and Development Policy <
http://www.iprcommission.org/graphic/documents/final_report.htm>; (CIPR). see also Report: Nations need open source <
http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-957827.html>; (ZDNet).
- UK - Integrating Intellectual Property Rights and Development Policy <
http://www.iprcommission.org/graphic/documents/final_report.htm>; (CIPR)
The idea of the Commission on Intellectual Property Rights originated in the UK Government's White Paper on International Development "Eliminating World Poverty: Making Globalisation Work for the Poor". The aim was "to look at the ways that intellectual property rules need to develop in the future in order to take greater account of the interests of developing countries and poor people."
- U.N. warns on global digital divide. <
http://europe.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/06/18/digital.divide.ap/index.html>; (AP)
With only a fraction of nearly half the world's nations having access to telephones, the United Nations' telecommunications agency has warned that the gap between the information "haves" and "have nots" will continue to grow without concerted global action.
- EU - e-Government and development: bridging the gap <
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=SPEECH/02/157|0|RAPID&lg=EN&display=>; (RAPID)
Mr Erkki Liikanen Member of the European Commission, responsible for Enterprise and the Information Society, International Conference on e-Government for Development, Palermo, 11 April 2002.
- EU / Latin America - Action must be taken to reduce the 'digital divide,' say ministers <
http://dbs.cordis.lu/cgi-bin/srchidadb?CALLER=NHP_EN_NEWS&ACTION=D&SESSION=&RCN=EN_RCN_ID:18325>; (CORDIS)
Government, the private sector and civil society must cooperate in the development and implementation of e-strategies in order to reduce the threat of a 'digital divide' opening up between technology 'haves' and 'have-nots', concluded participants at an EU, Latin America and Caribbean ministerial meeting on the information society in Seville, Spain, from 26 to 27 April. see Co-operation Programme ALliance for the Information Society with Latin America" <
http://europa.eu.int/information_society/international/latin/alis/index_en.htm>; (@LIS).
- Developing countries - E-readiness Assessment <
http://www.bridges.org/ereadiness/where.html>; (bridges.org) Who is Doing What and Where. There are a number of different organizations conducting e-readiness assessments in developing countries using a variety of tools. In its Comparison of E-readiness Assessment Tools, bridges.org evaluated major assessment models in terms of topics covered, level of detail, methodology and results. This paper builds on the comparison by looking at where e-readiness assessments have been carried out, and by whom.
Global Public-Private Partnership Launches to Deliver Digital Opportunity for All <
http://www.markle.org/news/_news_pressrelease_020502.stm>; (Press Release)
The Markle Foundation and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) kicked off the Global Digital Opportunity Initiative (GDOI) with other business, non-profit and international entities. The initiative is committed to assisting developing nations in harnessing digital technology’s power to improve healthcare and education, address social equity issues, reduce poverty and create enhanced economic opportunity.
- EU - Commission adopts blueprint to help put information and communication technologies at service of worlds' poor <
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/02/116|0|RAPID&lg=EN&display=>; (RAPID)
Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) offer both challenges and promises for social and economic development and this is nowhere more apparent than in the world's poorest countries. This is the message of the Communication on Information and Communication Technologies in Development: The role of ICTs in EC development policy <
http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/cnc/2001/com2001_0770en01.pdf>; adopted by the European Commission.
- UN Adopts Resolution On World Summit On Information Society <
http://allafrica.com/stories/200201100296.html>; (ITWeb)
The United Nations has taken a major step toward bridging the digital divide with the adoption, by the General Assembly, of a resolution <
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2002/UNGA_res-e.html>; which welcomes the organisation of the
- World Summit on the Information Society. The summit, which is expected to promote access by all countries to information, knowledge and communications technologies for development, is to be held in two phases, the first in Geneva in 2003 and the second in Tunisia in 2005 Issue no. 216 - 8 December 2001 <
http://wsis.itu.int>EU / Latin America - European Commission launches "@lis" <
http://europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/01/1761|0|RAPID&lg=EN&display=>; (RAPID) The European Commission has approved an ambitious co-operation programme « ALliance for the Information Society » (@LIS) with Latin America. It aims at establishing dialogue and co-operation on policy and regulatory frameworks in key areas for the development of a widespread information society, such as telecommunications, e-commerce and standardisation, and at boosting interconnections between research networks and communities in both regions. Several innovative take-up projects in Latin America will be set up in order to demonstrate the benefits of the Information Society applications to citizens. The @lis programme will be endowed with some 85 million €. The official launch will take place at the "@LIS Take-off Conference" in Spain in April 2002.
- Internet Continues To Fuel Global Economy - UN <
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/172324.html>; (Newsbytes) The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) says in its E-Commerce and Development Report 2001 <
http://www.unctad.org/en/pub/ps1ecdr01.en.htm>; report that information and communications technology (ICT) - much of it Internet-based - will continue to improve productivity in countries which take advantage of it.
- Bridges.org Newsletter <
http://www.bridges.org/newsletter/newsletter2_7.html>(Bridges.org)
Volume 2.7, 20 September 2001. Welcome to bridges.org’s monthly newsletter. Bridges.org is an international, non-profit organization with a mission to help people in developing countries benefit from the opportunities offered by information and communications technology.
- Digital Divide-Fighting Group Signs Agreement With UN <
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/169456.html>; (Newsbytes) The Global Internet Policy Initiative (GIPI), a coalition working to bridge the digital divide formed by Washington, D.C.-based Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and Internews, a Brussels-based nonprofit - has inked a cooperative agreement to offer policy guidance to developing nations through the United Nations Development Program.
- G8 aims to bridge 'digital divide' <
http://europe.cnn.com/2001/TECH/industry/07/23/group.technology.reut/index.html>; (Reuters)
The world's big eight powers endorsed an action plan to bridge the "digital divide" with the poorest countries, backing a Digital Opportunity Task Force report on how to harness technology in the cause of development.
- CDT, Internews Form Coalition To Fight Digital Divide <
http://www.washtech.com/news/regulation/10964-1.html>; (Newsbytes) The Washington, D.C.-based Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) and Internews, a nonprofit company based in Brussels, that fosters independent media in the developing world announced the creation of the Global Internet Policy Initiative, a foundation formed to help developing countries enact policies that narrow the digital divide.
- Modified game consoles to narrow digital divide <
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/industry/07/06/consoles.divide.idg/index.html>; (IDG)
People in developing nations could soon be using modified Linux game consoles equipped with satellite links to help them learn about vital health issues. The project, sponsored by Western and Asian business leaders working through the World Economic Forum (WEF), aims to narrow the so-called digital divide.
- Net is key to helping poor nations <
http://europe.cnn.com/2001/TECH/internet/07/16/global.tech.gap.ap/index.html>; (AP) -)
Poorer countries can raise their living standards by changing laws, building technology infrastructure and training workers to use the Internet, a report concludes. The 86-page report, "Creating a Development Dynamic," came from the United Nations Development Program, along with the Markle Foundation, and the global management consultancy Accenture. Together, the group calls itself the Digital Opportunity Initiative
- World Leaders Take Fresh Look at Digital Divide <
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010717/wr/column_pluggedin_dc_2.html>; (Reuters)
The bitter irony of the World Wide Web phenomenon is that while in theory the global network of networks is open to all, the vast majority of the world's population remain cut off from its economic benefits.
- Report backs voice portals to boost African Internet use <
http://www.totaltele.com/vprint.asp?txtID=41566>; (Total Telecom) Drawing on the oral communication traditions of Africa could present the developed world with its best opportunity to help poor countries make the most of the Internet, according to a paper issued by consultancy firm Arthur D. Little.
- "Real Access" to technology needed to tackle the digital divide <
http://www.bridges.org/news/pressrelease/21_June_01.html>; (bridges.org) There are literally thousands of initiatives aimed at tackling the digital divide, but they are bound to fail as long as they focus on just computers and connections. Although information communication technology (ICT) has the potential to help people leapfrog development obstacles, it will only benefit disadvantaged communities once these initiatives address the patchwork of issues at stake. This is the main finding of a report just released by the international NGO bridges.org, whose mission is to help people in developing countries use technology to improve their lives.
- Report Urges World Leaders Not To Ignore 'Digital Divide' <
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166432.html>; (Newsbytes) Nations ignoring the so-called "digital divide" between information technology "haves" and "have-nots" could be undermining their own ability to compete in the global market, a new report by International Data Corp contends, based on findings by IDC's Information Society Index (ISI), which ranks nations based on several criteria relating to their information-technology backbones.
- G8 Nations Mull Digital Divide Task-Force Report <
http://www.newsbytes.com/news/01/166371.html>; (Newsbytes) Leaders from eight industrialized nations are reviewing the recommendations from a yearlong study <
http://www.markle.org/dotforce/html>; that could help decision-makers bridge the yawning digital divide between wealthy and developing nations.
- Simputer to bridge digital divide <
http://www.msnbc.com/news/577521.asp>; (MSNBC)
A non-profit group in India has created a simple, inexpensive, multilingual handheld device aimed at bringing computing to Third World nations - dubbed the Simputer.
- Bridges.news <
http://www.bridges.org/newsletter/newsletter2_4.html>; (Bridges.org)
Volume 2.4, 11 April 200. bridges.org is an international, nonprofit organization with a mission to help people in developing and emerging countries benefit from the opportunities offered by information and communications technology. This newsletter serves a number of functions. First, we aim to provide current news on issues related to the international digital divide through the "News", "Conferences", and "Links" sections of the newsletter. In the "Bridge Builder" section, we highlight the efforts of a particular organization or individual working to bridge the digital divide and put technology to use. In the "Update on bridges.org" section, we tell about our activities and projects.
- Public Voice Submits Digital Divide Report <
http://www.thepublicvoice.org/dotforce/report_0301.html>; (EPIC)
The Public Voice is a project of EPIC that seeks to promote the participation of NGOs in international decision-making bodies that address Internet policy. "The Public Voice and the Digital Divide: A Report to the DOT Force" is a compilation of the public's ideas and views on the Digital Divide and will be submitted to the Digital Opportunities Task Force (DOT Force <
http://www.dotforce.org/>
, a Digital Divide initiative of the G-8. The DOT Force will release its final action plan at the next G-8 meeting to take place in Genoa, Italy this July. A draft version of its report is currently available through the DOT Force website.
QuickLinks is edited by Richard Swetenham richard.swetenham@cec.eu.int
Africa Recovery, United Nations, New Releases, December 2003
'AIDS is the real weapon of mass destruction': UN Secretary-General urges greater action
On 28 November the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) posted an online audio interview with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan about the struggle against HIV/AIDS. The interview can be heard at:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3244564.stm
The transcript of this important broadcast appears below in its entirety. It has been edited slightly for clarity. The Secretary-General was speaking to Ms. Carrie Gracie on "The Interview" programme for BBC World Service radio. It is reproduced with the permission of the BBC.
BBC: Hello and welcome to The Interview. I'm Carrie Gracie and today I'm in the Secretary-General's suite on the 38th floor of the United Nations headquarters in New York. My guest is the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Welcome to The Interview.
Kofi Annan: Thank you very much. I'm happy to be here.
BBC: Over the past two weeks the BBC World Service has been running an AIDS season and we've heard many aspects of the illness. But today we want to get a sense of your personal contribution and whether you think that you're winning the battle. So I want to start by asking you about the enemy. When did you first realize what a serious enemy you were up against with AIDS?
Annan: I think it was when I discussed the issue with the World Health Organization [WHO] and UNAIDS [the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS] and looked at the figures and the statistics and the devastation it was causing in many African countries, and at the attitude of the leaders. We needed leadership. We needed leadership at all levels. But it was most important to get the presidents and the prime ministers speaking up and that was not happening. I thought we should do whatever we can to raise awareness and to get them involved.
BBC: And your sense of the problem, is it all from talking to leaders and talking to officials or have you been out there on the ground talking to sufferers?
Annan: I've been out there on the ground talking to sufferers. In fact, my wife and I were in Lima just last week and we had a rather painful experience with a group of women who had set themselves up to help AIDS sufferers. They had with them a nine-year-old. The mother and the father had died of AIDS. She was left with her grandmother who was illiterate and didn't know what to do. When we met them, she was getting no assistance at all, so I called my UNDP [UN Development Programme] colleague there, the resident coordinator, and I said "can't we do something for this girl?" And of course he's going to try and see if PAHO, [the Pan-American Health Organization], WHO's regional organization, can help her. But we were both quite struck. We knew this was happening but we hadn't expected it.
I've seen the situation in parts of Africa where I've visited AIDS patients in villages, where you see a grandmother and lots of grandchildren but no mother, no father. And yet you go to a place like Mozambique, to a small clinic which is doing a lot, which is following pregnant women, ensuring that the children are born free of AIDS and following the mother to try and protect her so that they can have their mother as well and they do not become one of the 14 million plus orphans.
I've also lost some very close friends, including people who worked here in the UN, and that also hits you.
BBC: So you've watched individuals struggle through the course of the illness?
Annan: Exactly, so for me it's not statistics -- it's not statistics. I've seen the human suffering and the pain. What is even more difficult is when you see somebody lying there dying who knows that there's medication and medicine somewhere else in the world that can save her, but she can't have it because she's poor and lives in a poor country. Where is our common humanity? How do you explain to her that in certain parts of the world AIDS is a disease that can be treated, that one can live with and function, but in her particular situation it's a death sentence. It's a tough one.
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I've seen the human suffering and the pain. What is even more difficult is when you see somebody lying there dying who knows that there's medication and medicine somewhere else in the world that can save her, but she can't have it because she's poor and lives in a poor country.
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BBC: And how do you explain it?
Annan: You try to explain to them about what you are trying to do and what you are trying to get the governments to do to increase assistance -- not only in areas of treatment, prevention and education and also getting the youth and the women's organizations involved. It may not necessarily help her particular situation, but at least it's good for her to know that action is contemplated, action is on the way. If it will not save her it will save others. That in itself is consoling, but its not good enough. This is why I'm rather pleased with [WHO Director-General Lee Jong Wook]'s approach of trying to get the AIDS medication to 3 million people in five years [sic]. Today we have 300,000 people on the medication.
BBC: This is the World Health Organization initiative?
Annan: Yes.
BBC: It's called three by five. Three million by the year 2005.
Annan: Yes.
BBC: We'll talk about that in a moment, but first I want to get a sense of how you feel when you're faced with these people asking you, "Why can't I have the drug?"
Annan: It is extremely difficult and I can tell you I've really tried very hard. You may know that I've had several meetings with the chairmen of the seven top pharmaceutical companies to press for reduction in the prices of these medications -- to get across to them that whilst I respect and support intellectual property, it is extremely difficult not to make the medication accessible to the poor. We need to be able to balance it. And they have reduced some of the prices. In some cases, like neviripine, in some countries they're giving it away free.
BBC: This is the drug for mother-to-child transmission for pregnant mothers?
Annan: Exactly, which I consider the cruellest of all transmissions. So you press and push and try and get as much as you can. And governments are becoming engaged. For the person who is lying there, in some cases like the child I mentioned in Lima, you are able to get them some assistance, but it doesn't always happen that way. With others you cannot immediately get them assistance.
BBC: And does that make you feel angry or does it make you feel distressed?
Annan: Both. I feel angry, I feel distressed, I feel helpless to live in a world where we have the means, we have the resources, to be able to help all these patients, and what is lacking is the political will. How do you generate that political will to ensure that assistance reaches them? And of course with somebody like myself who tries to speak for the poor and the voiceless, you sort of feel you're failing, you're not getting enough done. You walk away a bit depleted and upset -- really upset if not depressed.
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I feel angry, I feel distressed, I feel helpless to live in a world where we have the means, we have the resources, to be able to help all these patients, and what is lacking is the political will.
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BBC: What more can you do, though? When you ask yourself "what more can I do," what answers do you come up with?
Annan: I think we should continue our efforts to mobilize the societies to play a role. We should get the leaders to speak out against discrimination, the stigma that is attached to it. We need resources, we need resources to assist these people. We are operating at a relatively low level. We estimate that by 2005 we will need $10 bn worldwide per annum to fight the disease. Today I'm trying to see if we can get $3 bn a year for the next five years going into the Global Fund [against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, an international funding agency]. I would want to see $1 bn from the European Union per year for the next five years, $1 bn from the United States government and $1 bn from other sources -- multi-year commitments over the next five years. And of course, the rest of the resources will have to come from elsewhere.
BBC: But that money is not forthcoming, is it? I mean, people started off with great protestations about how much they were going to contribute two years ago, but it's not coming.
Annan: It's not. I am disappointed. We've got several billion dollars and I'm grateful for that, but it's not enough. We need much, much more.
BBC: Because you said when you launched the Global Fund, you said you needed $7-10 bn a year. At the moment, the global fund has been able to hand out $2 bn over two years. You're miles short. Does that make you feel -- you talked about a sense of personally failing -- does that make you feel that there's some failure on your part?
Annan: Failure on my part and insensitivity on the part of those with power and the resources -- insensitivity on the part of those who should develop the political will to do it. And I'm badgering. I'm talking to them. I'm pushing.
BBC: And how do you do it? Say I'm sitting across from you now, I'm George Bush. I've just announced that I'm going to provide $15 bn for AIDS over five years, but I'm only going to give a small part of that to the United Nations and the rest I'm going to hand out piecemeal myself. How do you persuade me?
Annan: I explain that if you want to start from scratch and develop it yourselves and build the necessary administrative structures and mechanism, obviously you're not going to be able to spend the $3 bn or so in a year. But if you were to use existing structures which the Global Fund and the UN family have established, you should be able to use much of that money to reach the needy who need it today and not tomorrow. And that I'm also encouraging them to put as much of the money as possible into the Global Fund. Initially they had said $1 bn to the Fund and I said "well if it is $1 bn initially, it's not too bad." But then I discovered that it was $1 bn over five years.
But I think we haven't given up. I've talked to senators, I've talked to others. I've spoken with President Bush himself, who is very sensitive to this issue of AIDS. [We need] to raise the level of contribution to the Global Fund, which has to date given grants to about 93 countries. Wherever I go, they tell me how helpful this has been, and of course they are all looking for additional support. If we do not replenish the funds and the Global Fund were to fail, I think it would be a very serious indictment of the leadership in the world today.
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[We need] to raise the level of contribution to the Global Fund, which has to date given grants to about 93 countries.... If we do not replenish the funds and the Global Fund were to fail, I think it would be a very serious indictment of the leadership in the world today.
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BBC: And is it an indictment of them on a humanitarian basis or is there an argument from self interest that you can use to persuade them?
Annan: Both. From humanitarian -- from moral -- grounds and self interest. Basically, it is a security problem in some of these countries. I mean, if you take some of the African countries in Southern Africa, AIDS is taking away not just the present but the future. It's taking away some of the most productive men and women. Schools are losing teachers. Hospitals are losing doctors. The civil service is depleted.
In the past we talked of training people and civil servants. Here in some of these countries we may have to talk of replenishment or perhaps even bringing in people from outside. It's decimating the security forces and the police. It is a really serious problem, and it's not just in Africa. It's spreading very fast in Asia, in Eastern Europe and in the Caribbean, and even in this country it's on the way up. So those who think AIDS is over are dreaming. It is one of the most serious epidemics the world has ever faced and we need to really, really get serious about it.
BBC: We talked about what you want from the developed world. Now let's talk about the leadership in those countries faced with epidemics emerging. What's the problem with leadership? Why isn't it coming?
Annan: Some refuse to talk about this because of cultural reasons. We had a situation where one African leader was going to give a speech -- I don't want to embarrass him by naming him -- and the speech was prepared for him, where he was urged to encourage young people and the population to use condoms to protect themselves. He said, "I can't utter the word condoms, I'm the father of the nation. You can't ask me to encourage the youth to be promiscuous." But this is saving lives.
BBC: And is that what you said to him?
Annan: Yes, I said that to him. I said, "This is saving lives." I spoke to another African leader who was also entirely against the use of condoms and said, "Mr. Secretary-General, we don't want to associate you with the word condoms. You shouldn't even be using that word or speaking about it." I said, "Mr. President, I've even written to the Pope about it to see how we can work with the Catholic Church on prevention, on education, on treatment and care." And he looked at me and said, "Mr. Secretary-General, when it comes to condoms, the Pope and I are one." I said, "Mr. President, but your people are dying. We're talking about saving lives and this is a very serious business -- and God will understand."
BBC: And did you change his mind?
Annan: I didn't. And this is the frustration. These are the painful experiences you sometimes have to go through. And then if I walk away to see one of the dying patients and they were to look up and say, "Help me -- get our president and the leaders to help us." You can't tell them the attitude of their president. I say, "We are pressing the president. We are going to push."
Sometimes you have to speak out to put them on the spot. At the same time you want to be able to work with them and encourage them to do what is right and what they have to do and not to turn them off. And it is really really, very very painful.
BBC: So you can't shout at them in public. You have to apply this pressure privately.
Annan: I do both. I apply it privately -- very bluntly. In public I speak out and push the leaders to act. Push them to lead. Push them to think of their people. Push them to save lives, but without naming them individually.
BBC: It's very hard, isn't it, because a lot of the groups most affected by AIDS are very marginalized groups anyway. I was just reading the Epidemic Update published by UNAIDS and the stories are horrific of the rise in the problem -- injecting drug users, the male-to-male transmission, homosexuality, the sex workers. And of course all over Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, the stigmatization of people with AIDS. If you have people who are marginalized, they can't speak up for themselves. If their governments aren't going to speak up for them, then who is?
Annan: This is the real test. This is why I speak out as often as I can. That is why I became engaged in the fight and made it my personal priority and I fought very hard to make it the priority of the UN family of agencies. But I think we need to also get civil society [involved]. NGOs have been very effective partners and they've been active in sometimes embarrassing and pushing the governments to do the right thing.
We've seen women's organizations at the grassroots level, and this is very important because today in Africa, AIDS has a woman's face. Over 50 per cent of the infected are women and often they are the innocent victims. We really need to empower the women to take care of themselves and get the young people involved. And I have seen in these countries where the campaign is mounted by the head of state and it goes down all the way to the village level.
In Senegal, for example, they are even using griots -- a griot is an oral historian -- to tell the story, to talk to the people about it. We visited them a couple of years ago and my wife asked this woman griot, "Are you embarrassed to talk about sex and all these things frankly to the people in their village?" She said, "This is death. There is no embarrassment in death. There is no embarrassment in trying to save lives." And it's that kind of spirit that I want to see in the African leaders and the leaders around the world whose populations are threatened. I want to see them adopt the attitude of this griot in Senegal that we met. She was very inspirational.
BBC: So Mr. Annan, are you winning the war?
Annan: Well, I would wish to think so, but I'm not. I'm really not winning the war. I'm not winning the war because I don't think the leaders of the world are engaged enough. I also appeal to communities and societies everywhere to become engaged in the struggle. They cannot leave it to their leaders alone.
BBC: So in a way you're talking to the people over the heads of their governments.
Annan: I'm talking to people over the heads of their governments. They should take on this fight. They should not be afraid to speak up. They should not be afraid to challenge their governments to do something about the epidemic. It is their lives. It is the lives of their children, their sisters, their mothers and their brothers and fathers. And they have the right to demand support. They have the right to demand action from leaders whose main and major responsibility, after all, is to ensure the safety and welfare of their people.
BBC: Because obviously that has happened in the developed world. People with HIV/AIDS-related illnesses are getting anti-retroviral drugs. There are prevention measures in place. Is that because they have political rights, because they are vocal? Or is it because these societies are rich?
Annan: I think you have both. We shouldn't forget the history of the disease. At the beginning, the community that was hardest hit by HIV/AIDS was either here or in Europe and they organized themselves very effectively to get attention from their governments. They had a voice. They were organized and they also knew how to use the media and the press. When you go to the developing countries, you don't necessarily have that capacity. You described them as the voiceless and the poor and they need others to speak up for them. But give them a bit of help, a bit of encouragement and a bit of organization -- they can surprise all of us.
BBC: I want to bring up with you an example of someone with a voice. We talked last week to a Ugandan woman who'd been HIV-positive for many years and she did feel angry about some things. She asked me to ask you when we can expect the many people who need medication in the developing world to get it. When will they get their medication?
Annan: That is a difficult question to answer in terms of a time frame. In fact, the major [AIDS medicines] campaign, which has been launched by the World Health Organization, is 3 by 5 -- 3 million people by the year 2005. The estimates are that 6 million people need it today. So that is half of the 6 million people. If you were to get to the 3 million by 2005, and you were to extrapolate from there, hopefully you would be able to give it to them by 2007-2008. I'm also hoping that there will be developments -- that the medication will be cheaper, we'll be able to come up with one 3-in-1 [combined medications] tablet to be able to assist them.
I'm also hoping that the world will wake up and realize that we need to get the medication to those who really need it and lessen our self interest. Many governments have described it as a security problem and yet we are not giving it the kind of attention we are devoting to terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. For people in some of the countries we are talking about, AIDS is the real weapon of mass destruction, and what are we doing about that?
BBC: On that point. your special envoy on AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis, has called spending on the Iraq war and the war on terror obscene and he mentioned a figure of $200 bn and set it alongside the annual spending on AIDS -- a total of possibly $3 bn. Is that obscene?
Annan: My own view is that we need to fight all the threats. I call the fight against terrorism and weapons of mass destruction the sort of hard threats -- hard threats because people see immediate blood, immediate war. But the soft threats -- poverty, the AIDS epidemic, environmental degradation -- are also with us. And in many societies they are wreaking much more havoc than the terrorists are and we need to tackle all these threats. We don't have a choice. We don't have an option.
BBC: Some say there was a tragic missed opportunity. That the world was gearing itself up to tackle AIDS. That it was facing up to these soft threats in the year 2000, the year 2001. But then on September 11 the twin towers came down, the attack on the Pentagon and the whole world changed. It became the war on terrorism. It became then weapons of mass destruction, war in Iraq and the world lost its focus on AIDS. Is that how you see it?
Annan: Let me put it this way. I hope if we had not had 9/11, many more resources would have gone to AIDS. But I can't be sure. I can't be sure because I have seen other situations where it has not happened. Let me give you the example of Somalia. When we mounted -- the international community mounted -- that major operation in Somalia, the US forces withdrew and we put in a UN force, the blue helmets, to take over. The military expenditure was about $1.5 bn a year. At one point, we needed $150 mn for the humanitarian operation -- and the deployment was seen as humanitarian intervention. We couldn't get the $150 mn.
So really, when you ask me if there had not been a 9/11, if there had not been war in Iraq, would we have gotten all the resources that we needed, for AIDS and the fight against the epidemic, I really can't answer that. I must say I have to be honest, because what is more important? The fight against the epidemic that saves millions or the war and the fight against terrorism? This is why I'm saying we need to draw up a balance. We need to tackle these issues right on. And I think the capacity and the resources are there. We have to develop the political will to get to them.
BBC: Three million people, we think, died of AIDS this year -- 2 million of them in Africa. If those kinds of numbers were dying in the rich part of Europe or in North America, then all of this would be different, wouldn't it?
Annan: All of it would be different because the population would have demanded action. The politicians would want their votes and would act to be able to tell the mothers, the brothers and the sisters that "we are fighting your fight, we are saving your children, and yes, vote for me." But this is distant and not everybody sees it the same way. And yet we have common humanity and we need to be sensitive to the needs and concerns of others.
BBC: And as an African watching so many people on your continent die, does that feel like injustice?
Annan: It is worse than that. It does feel like injustice, but it also indicates a certain incredible callousness that one would not have expected in the 21st century.
BBC: And how will history judge us for what you describe as this incredible callousness?
Annan: Harshly. Very harshly. And I don't think we will have any defence.
BBC: What about you? How will history judge you and your role?
Annan: That is for others to decide. I think it would be not only improper but perhaps even immodest to talk about my role. I would prefer you and others to tell it. As the saying goes, "A man cannot see himself except through a reflection of a mirror." So be my mirror and tell me about my contribution.
BBC: We mentioned talking to people over the heads of their government. What would you like to say to all the listeners to the BBC World Service about AIDS? About what they should do to help?
Annan: I think what I would want to tell them, that we face a real serious epidemic -- an epidemic that is destroying societies and countries. And the leaders of these countries -- if they're going to have a country and a country with a future to lead -- they'd better pay attention to this epidemic. They'd better pay attention to the youth, the vulnerable groups in society, particularly the women who are not empowered, who are often abused and are often subject to violence, which also leads to increase in the AIDS epidemic.
The [leaders] should speak up. They should end the silence and the stigma and the discrimination that is attached to the disease. And that when it comes to AIDS, silence is death. And if they do not speak up and help their people, their deaths will be on their consciences.
BBC: Kofi Annan. Secretary-General of the United Nations. Thanks for joining us for The Interview.
Annan: Thank you very much.
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