Living on the fringes of society, the Zabaleen have been making a living from recycling what Cairo’s more affluent throw away for generations. However, the government is now contracting foreign waste-disposal specialists and the Zabaleen have found their traditional source of livelihood cut off. The young Zabaleen often have high-school diplomas but lack the self-esteem necessary to enter the regular workplace. To build up their confidence and their marketable skills, APC member in Egypt, ArabDev, has been training young people in computing and internet. There has been an unexpectedly high demand from young women.

The Community Information Network for Southern Africa (CINSA) aims to build a sustainable network of community ICT projects in the 14 SADC member states Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe through research, networking, facilitating training, service brokerage and more.

Held just outside Johannesburg, the conference brought together about fifty participants from women’s organisations, government officials, and gender and development practitioners and researchers, involved in gender and information and communication (ICT) projects and initiatives tasked with finding ICT strategies to specifically benefit rural women. The Community Information Network for Southern Africa (CINSA) interviewed a selection of conference attendees including APC-Africa-Women coordinator, Jenny Radloff. The regional workshop was organised by Women’sNet with the support of the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO). Listen to the interviews with Dimitra participants.

During the past few years the South African non-governmental organisation (NGO) sector has experienced dramatic changes. In the 1990s many NGOs were forced to close down because of a lack of funding and related organisational problems. APC member in Johannesburg, SANGONeT, is currently in the process of establishing various new partnerships and brokering arrangements in support of its ICT service delivery activities and services to the South African NGO sector. To assist in developing these ICT services, SANGONeT is offering this Thetha –or discussion- in early April.

Colnodo, APC’s member in Bogotá, in association with the Colombian Confederation of Non-governmental Organisations, launches “avanza” (meaning “advance” or “move forward” in English), a website for Colombian development.

An “Information and Knowledge Exchange Network on Information Communication Technology for Development” for Ecuador has been created.

CENTRAS in collaboration with APC member, the Strawberrynet Foundation, has launched the first tri-language database of non-governmental organisations in Romania", RO_NGO.

Alternatives –the Action and Communication Network for International Development- joined APC in November 2003. Alternatives is based in Montreal, Canada, and works on a regional, national and international level with non-governmental organisations defending the interests of vulnerable populations; specifically, labourers, women and young people constructing a more environmentally conscious, humane and democratic society.

Since 1997, Intercom – Ecuanex, APC member in Ecuador, has published ‘Conexión’ a newsletter featuring resources and news on the use of internet for the democratisation of communication and human development. Now since edition no. 58, thanks to the support of the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), Conexion will be getting a face-lift which will include full-colour printing and new in-depth sections. Published three times a year and with an increased distribution, Intercom will broaden its ICT for development coverage. Visit Conexion.

CEPES, one of APC’s newest members, has trained participants in a rural-urban information service to set up a portal and exchange agricultural information from six telecentres in a remote area of the northern Peruvian sierras. A replication of the course is being organised for staff at the Peruvian Ministry of Agriculture’s offices in the same region. The technology of choice is APC’s free software, APC ActionApps.