THE ROLE OF INFORMATION AND INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY IN POVERTY ALLEVIATION IN ZAMBIA:

HOW NGOCC CAN BENEFIT FROM INTERNET

by Wilstar Makondo Choongo

The Non-Governmental Organisations’ Coordinating Committee (NGOCC) for Gender and Development is an umbrella organization embracing most non-governmental organizations dealing with gender and development in Zambia. Its main objectives are to organize women's organizations to foster development among them, and provide support services and information to its affiliates.

This article looks at the poverty situation in Zambia, efforts that have been made to combat poverty, and the role NGOCC has played in these efforts. It also looks at the role of information in poverty alleviation, the role it has played in NGOCC, and how information technology can effectively be employed to enhance development and poverty alleviation. It reviews the current status of Internet and other information technology usage by Zambian NGOs (especially those affiliated with NGOCC), and concludes that the future is bright if the right approaches are made to invest in this field.

Introduction

The poverty situation in Zambia has reached such alarming levels that it can no longer only be up to the government to find ways of averting the problem. Some NGOs in the country have joined the fight in an initiative known as the Campaign Against Poverty, including NGOCC and its member organizations.

In this article poverty is considered a situation in which there is a lack of the following: enough to eat, adequate access to water and sanitation, access to education and shelter, and means of production. Various NGOs have tried to tackle poverty at different levels and from different angles. In their information work, communication and networking are very important.

Non-Governmental Coordinating Committee

The mission of NGOCC is “to act as an umbrella organization for NGOs whose mandates focus on gender and development issues, with a view to attain peace, equality, development and empowerment of all women in Zambia.” The organization was set up as a result of the United Nations World Conference on Women, held in July 1985 in Nairobi (Kenya).

The formation of NGOCC was facilitated by the following members:

--    Young Women’s Christian Association of Zambia (YWCA)

--    National Council for Catholic Women

--    Zambia Association for Research and Development (ZARD)

--    Family Life Movement of Zambia (FLMZ)

--    Zambia Association of Business and Professional Women (ZABPW)

--    Girl Guides Association of Zambia

--    Zambia Association of University Women (ZAUW)

Since then a number of NGOs, such as the Women’s Lobby Group and Women for Change, have joined NGOCC. The wide range of members in the NGOCC, from national to grassroots organizations, has enabled the coordinating committee to reach out to an estimated 70% of women in Zambia.

Objectives

The NGOCC aims to achieve the following long-term objectives:

--    coordinate and strengthen links between member NGOs;

--    stimulate, assist, collect, train and disseminate information that will encourage the efforts of member NGOs in their aims and objectives of promoting peace, equality and development;

--    establish training programmes for members when needed;

--    develop cooperation with other bodies having similar aims and objectives at the regional, subregional and international level; and

--    serve as a voice and pressure group for member NGOs on gender and development.

In order to achieve these aims, the NGOCC has devised the following immediate priorities:

--    coordinate and serve as a clearing house for the activities of member organizations;

--    establish and maintain a system of information, documentation and communication on women’s issues and make known the activities and services of member organizations;

--    stimulate, assist, arrange training, collect and disseminate information that promotes achievement of the aims and objectives of member organizations;

--    promote civic education and hold seminars to sensitize the general public on the rights of children, women and men; and

--    hold regular meetings, workshops and seminars for member organizations.

Major Activities

As an umbrella organization, the NGOCC carries out activities for its member organizations. NGOCC attempts to network with organizations and institutions within and outside the country that share the same aspirations as NGOCC. This networking contributes toward resource mobilization, reducing duplication of efforts and sharing information.

NGOCC networking aims to:

--    share information beyond national boundaries;

--    improve the flow of information among members;

--    improve networking skills among women;

--    create awareness about the role of NGOCC;

--    get first-hand information on issues to people at the grassroots level; and

--    coordinate and strengthen links among member NGOs.

NGOCC also networks with international organizations such as the National Association for Women’s Organization, based in Uganda; and the International Council on Social Welfare (ICSW), based in Montreal (Canada).

At the local level NGOCC has strong links with international organizations represented in Zambia such as the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labour Organization (ILO). It also has links with provincial committees, district committees and grassroots committees.

Poverty In Zambia

The story of how Zambia moved from riches to rags is well-documented. Zambia moved from its status as a “rich country” by Third World standards in the late 1960s to a middle-income country in the 1970s. By the early 1980s it had slid to the status of a poor nation, and Zambia now ranks among the poorest countries. According to recent statistics, 68% of all Zambians are classified as poor (Chigunta, 1998). Although a number of scholars such as Chigunta, and Mukuka and Chilwesha (1998) have indicated that the government has put forth a framework on how this problem can be tackled, there is agreement that present measures are not adequately addressing the problem. Other causes of poverty include declining copper prices and the oil shocks of the 1970s.

Because of the deteriorating economic conditions people cannot afford essential productive resources like oxen, ploughs, canoes and fishing nets. The structural adjustment programme that has been initiated on and off since the 1980s has also negatively affected the economy and the people of Zambia.

The NGOCC is attempting to fight poverty in the country through various affiliate-run programmes, mainly aimed at empowering women and the girl-child. In 1998 NGOCC saw a need to harmonize its efforts and developed the Campaign Against Poverty. The campaign focuses on capacity building and economic empowerment in business management, girl-child education, adult education for illiterate mothers, microcredit, health education, skills training in tie and dye, extension and credit facilitation for agricultural rural women, and women’s political empowerment. In order for the campaign to succeed NGOCC member organizations need improved coordination and access to information.

Communication and Information

NGOCC is aware of the fact that it needs to disseminate and communicate its ideas; for this reason its key activities focus on information identification, collection, storage, retrieval and dissemination. NGOCC communicates with member organizations and related organizations, both within and outside the country, and its member organizations must communicate among themselves and with others. The most common means to communicate are by telephone, mail, e-mail, workshops and seminars.

However, there are problems—in some cases communication is slow and difficult. Telephone communication is very difficult, especially between towns due to increasing vandalism of telephone cables. In several cases Zamtel, the local telephone operator, has abandoned attempts to repair and replace cables because of their repeated destruction. The postal service in Zambia is very slow and cumbersome—it takes an average of two weeks for mail to travel between two towns along the rail line, and for outlying and rural districts the situation is worse. In addition, the postal system in Zambia is not widespread, and in some areas there is only a district-level post office.

E-mail service is usually confined to NGOCC headquarters, and there are no links with the field offices. Moreover even if the outlying offices were connected, their e-mail systems would not work most of the time because of vandalism of the telephone cables to which the service is hooked. In addition, high telephone bills are incurred when using electronic communication. These constraints affect communication between member organizations, the outside world and women at the grassroots level, whom most of the organizations are meant to serve.

Workshops are irregularly held and usually depend on the availability of funds. When they are held, elite women with the means to travel are often able to participate while grassroots women usually cannot since most organizations do not have funds available for their participation.

Information Sharing

The NGOCC runs an information sharing programme, which aims to:

--    maintain an established documentation centre with materials relating to gender, women and development;

--    provide a resource base in the field of gender, women and development;

--    make accessible documents to students, NGOs and other persons researching issues related to gender, women and development;

--    network and cooperate with other libraries, documentation centres and organizations focusing on gender, women and development; and

--    create a computerized database of all the library materials.

NGOCC has set up a library at its secretariat and publishes a monthly bulletin. The organization’s Information and Documentation Unit identifies, collects, processes and makes available information in the area of gender, environment, development and poverty alleviation. The unit is currently working on computerizing its database and hopes to make it available to member organizations and others.

Uses of Internet in NGOCC Operations

The full potential of the Internet has not yet been exploited by the NGOCC and its member organizations. This is to a large extent due to personnel who have not been trained in the medium and who have a lack of understanding of its potential.

The Potential of Internet for Zambian NGOs

Following are some of the areas in which member organizations would benefit if the Internet is properly utilized in Zambia.

Communication

Electronic mail, much faster than conventional postal mail, could be used by NGOs to communicate with each other and/or with multiple recipients in order to avoid photocopying memos or sending multiple faxes. Mailing lists could also be used for discussions and/or to publish electronic newsletters that reach recipients practically instantaneously, as compared to up to four months a document takes to reach outlying areas.

Resource Sharing

NGOCC’s objective of promoting sharing of resources could be realized through the Internet. Resources of one member organization or office could be shared by the others, which would help organizations to pool their resources and avoid duplication.

Education

The Internet also has the potential to help member organizations reach rural and outlying areas not accessible by road or water transport. Educational materials could be uploaded on the Internet and then downloaded at rural centres where they are needed, saving time and cutting down on production and transport costs. Member organizations such as the National Council for Catholic Women could use this service for their adult education programmes.

Health Awareness

The Internet could also be used for health education and awareness campaigns to target wider areas. Education materials for promoting health could be put on the Internet complete with pictures, captions, charts and other aids. This would be very useful to organizations such as Tasinta, an AIDS awareness group, the Prolife movement of Zambia, and other health education organizations.

Agricultural Commodity Information

Internet would facilitate informing potential buyers about the availability of certain commodities in rural communities, as well as commodities on offer in other areas and their prices. This would help the communities adjust their prices to better compete. Member organizations such as Women in Agriculture and Women for Change would find this service very helpful for their members.

The Way Forward

The way forward for NGOs in Zambia is to recognize the hurdles inherent in using new information technology and to find ways to solve the challenges mentioned above. The Zambian Internet provider, Zamnet, should set up independent communication facilities that use satellite technology rather than Zamtel facilities. Zamnet could also establish satellite hubs in districts with radio links to the rural areas. In areas where Zamnet cannot afford to do this, NGOs should pool their resources and set up their own communication links. Though this initially would be expensive, pooling resources would be cheaper and self-sustaining in the long run. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is currently conducting trial runs for this kind of service to cater for farming communities.

The use of Internet in rural areas could be organized in “hubs,” which already exist as field offices for member NGOs. These hubs could be used as community resource centres that provide Internet services for purposes such as:

--    individual communication;

--    agricultural commodity pricing;

--    agricultural extension;

--    electronic mail;

--    health information; and

--    environmental information.

Poverty alleviation cannot be discussed in isolation to a country’s economic development. NGOs can be key players in development because of their work at the grassroots level, often where government organizations do not have a presence. To function properly, NGOs need adequate communication and information services, such as the Internet can provide. The donor community should also invest in this area since governments and NGOs often do not have the capacity to do so. By increasing the capacity of organizations to be more effective, the ultimate benefit would be to help improve the living conditions of rural people, whom the organizations aim to help.

References

Chigunta, F. (1998). A Situational Analysis of Poverty Experiences in Zambia: Committee for Campaign Against Poverty. Lusaka: Committee for Campaign Against Poverty.

Mukuka, L. and Chilwesha, M. (1998). National Poverty Reduction Strategy and Framework: Draft Report for the Ministry of Community Development and Social Services. Lusaka: Ministry of Community Development and Social Services.

Voices from Africa no. 9