"This report gives an overview of the current state of mobile phone use and services in East Africa. It outlines major trends and main obstacles for increased use as well as key opportunities and potential for upscaling mobile applications. The report draws on secondary data and statistics, as well
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as field work carried out in Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda during 2008 and 2009. The publication identifies a broad range of mobile applications relevant for reaching the poor and contributing to social and economic development – from simple agricultural, market or health information services to advanced financial transaction services or mobile use for election monitoring and governance issues. A commented linklist of existing initiatives in the four countries adds to the usefulness of this well documented study." (CAMECO Update 1-2011)
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"In late 2009, three newspaper articles appeared in the Kenyan press, contributing to a newly emerging debate in the Kenyan media over government transparency and accountability. Media reporting in Kenya on governance issues, particularly in relation to corrupt practices in public spending, is not n
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ew. What was unusual about these articles was the attention they brought to the specific issue of taxation. Who is paying tax? Who is not paying tax? And what is happening to the revenue? Using evidence from a range of sources, these articles showed the potential for more in-depth questioning and scrutiny of tax issues by the Kenyan media, strengthening the role the media is playing in the development of Kenyan democracy. The three journalists who published the articles had all recently participated in a workshop for researchers, civil society organisations (CSOs) and Kenyan media representatives held in Kenya in November 2009. This workshop was part of a series of interventions delivered by Relay, a media and research communication programme. The Relay programme is managed by Panos London, which runs workshops and other activities with the other institutes within the Panos network, including Panos Eastern Africa. Relay provides training and facilitates relationship-building among key stakeholders to support more in-depth, research-informed media coverage of complex, under-reported or misreported development issues. The long-term goal is to generate public debate that can have an impact on policy and bring about much-needed change. This case study describes some of the methods and activities developed by Relay and how they were applied in Kenya to the issue of tax and governance. It offers a detailed and descriptive account of Relay’s series of workshop sessions, in particular." (Introduction)
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"Copyright laws and policies cover many controversial issues that are linked to different disciplines, in science, culture, technology, economics, law and other fields. The concepts and issues in the field are also approached from different perspectives and with different political and economic agen
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das, sometimes in a misleading context, and often in an imprecise manner. For this reason, policymaking in the area of copyright, particularly in developing countries, has at best been guesswork and at worst uninformed. At the international level, debates and rule-making on copyright, as with other IP, are punctuated with propaganda, anecdotes and dogma. This is what Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz and others have called ‘faith-based’ policymaking. Evidence to justify particular policies or laws is rare. Evidence of the real world impact of specific copyright or, for that matter, other IP laws or policies, is almost unheard of. The ACA2K project is unique because the work summarised in this book provides evidence both for policymaking and of the impacts of copyright in the real world. But this book, and the work of the ACA2K project, is not pioneering only because of the illuminating findings in all the eight study countries. It is pioneering also because of the replicable research methodology developed, and the interdisciplinary collaboration in an area that is usually seen as a preserve of lawyers. The project is also of immense importance because of its focus on education and learning materials in Africa, where copyright is always associated with the positive aspects of promoting African music and culture. This research tells us that while copyright laws and policies might have positive effects in one sector, the same is not necessarily universally true. Other project outcomes, such as building networked research capacity on the areas of IP, knowledge governance and development, and the exploratory work on examining the gender aspects of copyright and access, are also ground-breaking." (Foreword)
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"In May 2009, the BBC world Service Trust’s Research and Learning Group, on behalf of the British Council, conducted research in Kenya to gauge public understanding of climate change. The research consisted of 12 focus-group discussions with Kenyan citizens, as well as 17 in-depth interviews with
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opinion leaders from government, religious institutions, the private sector, the media and civil society. The overall objective was to find out what people think about climate change, and to determine how to tailor communication and media strategies to support Kenya’s response to climate change.
Key findings
Drought and food scarcity are causing frustration and despair across Kenya. Farmers, fishermen and pastoralists do not know how they would cope if these problems became worse.
Kenyans have noticed changes in their weather. They say that it is getting hotter, that the seasons have shifted and that the rains are more unpredictable. Most, however, have no understanding of the relationship between these issues and climate change.
Most Kenyans are unfamiliar with the concepts of climate change and global warming. They believe the term “climate change” refers to changes in the weather or seasons and have little knowledge of its global context or the greenhouse effect.
People need more information about the causes of climate change and how its long-term impacts will affect their lives." (Executive summary)
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"Peace and Development Network Trust- Kenya (PeaceNet-Kenya) and The Seed Institute commissioned the “Nurturing Nationhood through Peace Media” study to assess the extent to which Vernacular/Community Radio stations cover peace programmes. The study gauged perceptions of audience as well as syst
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ematically quantified media content on indicators such as accuracy, fairness, objectivity and independence. As part of PeaceNet Kenya’s role in peace building and Conflict resolution, the research sought to evaluate variables such as: the depth of coverage of conflict issues, percentages of order restorers’, and the radio trends in addressing restorative justice in Kenya as well as the cultural transformation fronted by the media." (Introduction)
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"This collection of essays by those engaged in using mobile phone technologies for social change provides an analysis of the socio-economic, political and media contexts faced by activists in Africa today. The essays address a broad range of issues including inequalities in access to technology base
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d on gender, rural and urban usage, as well as offering practical examples of how activists are using mobile technology to organise and document their experiences. They provide an overview of the lessons learned in making effective use of mobile phone technologies without any of the romanticism so often associated with the use of new technologies for social change. The examples are shared in a way that makes them easy to replicate. The intention is that the experiences described within the book will lead to greater reflection about the real potential and limitations of mobile technologies." (Radio for Peacebuilding Africa Update July 6, 2010)
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"Since the 1990s journalism education programs have expanded exponentially around the world, but media freedom has not. Globally comparative, this edited volume assesses journalism education and the challenging environment in which it is delivered in countries with a partly free or not free status a
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ccording to global press freedom. The countries covered include China, Singapore, Cambodia, Palestine, Oman, Egypt, Kenya, Tanzania, Brazil, Russia, Romania, and Croatia. Contributors demonstrate through careful analysis that wealthy nations are able to set the terms of their journalism education while less affluent countries are more open to the influence of foreign NGOs. Although this book evidences the disconnection between what is taught and what can be practiced, it also illustrates the degree to which journalism education can be an agent of change." (Publisher description)
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"The main finding of this study is that the Kenyan media have been operating in an unpredictable and swiftly changing political, social, cultural, economic and technological environment that has heavily influenced its development. A hostile and inadequate political, legal, policy and regulatory envi
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ronment continues to negatively impact on the media in Kenya. Unsophisticated liberalization of telecommunications since 1998 led to slow, uneven and haphazard growth in broadcasting." (Executive summary)
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"Web 2.0 for development (Web2forDev) is a way of employing web services to intentionally improve information-sharing and collaborative production of content for development. It is about how development actors can relate and connect to other stakeholders, produce and publish their own material, deci
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de on levels of access to information and redistribute pieces of content released by others. This publication, a result of the Web2forDev conference at the FAO headquarters in Rome in 2007, shares learning and reflections from practice and considers the ways forward for using Web 2forDev. Eight case studies are presented and discussed. For instance, one interesting experience is the Kenyan website 'Ushahidi' (meaning 'witness' in Kiswahili) as an example of 'crowdsourcing' crisis information: people who witness acts of violence report the incidents they have seen, the incidents are placed on a map-based view on the website for others to see and in most cases are verified by local groups working on the ground. At the post-election violence in Kenya in early January 2008, local radio stations used Ushahidi as an information source. It is also expected to serve in other countries as a tool from early conflict warning to tracking a crisis situation as it evolves. A practical section called "tips for trainers" provides descriptions and links to further information ("where to get started") on blogging, twitter, wikis, social networking, RSS feeds, tagging and social bookmarking. In addition, various articles discuss lessons learnt and challenges identified." (CAMECO Update 4-2009)
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"Providing counseling for reporters who have witnessed some of the worst things that can happen to humanity – with no tools to handle the emotional shock – was identified as one of the most imminent and crucial needs for support to Kenyan media practitioners in the aftermath of the disputed Dece
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mber 2007 presidential election. An unprecedented wave of politically motivated violence was triggered when the Electoral Commission of Kenya declared President Mwai Kibaki winner of the presidential election. More than 1,000 Kenyans were killed and over 500,000 displaced. [...]
On this background, IMS decided to engage in a post-election violence trauma counseling project in close cooperation with the Kenya Association of Photographers, Illustrators and Designers (KAPIDE), Kenya Correspondents’ Association (KCA) and Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ). Under the theme: 'Healing the messenger – Post-election trauma counseling for Kenyan Journalists', trauma counseling was provided for a total of 150 journalists and photographers in five different locations. The sessions were conducted by leading Kenyan psychiatrist and expert in disaster management, Dr. Sobbie Mulindi, and a rapid response team from the Kenyatta National Hospital. This booklet offers insights into the experiences the journalists went through as told by themselves during the counseling sessions. All accounts reproduced in this handbook conceal the identity of the journalists to respect wishes for anonymity and the continued feeling of trauma and sensitivity characterizing the post-election situation in Kenya. The booklet also provides guidance to recognizing and dealing with trauma as elaborated and presented by Dr. Sobbie Mulindi and his team." (Preface)
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