The African-driven Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF) received a boost yesterday after the city of Lyon in France injected 300 000 Euros for the development of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in developing countries.
This brings the total sum raised to one million Euros. The contribution will be added to the 500 000 dollars donated by the Senegalese government and the 500 000 Swiss francs from the city of Geneva. It is hoped the United Nations will put money into the fund.
Speaking at a meeting at the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, Senegalese Minister of Communications Mamadou Diop Decroix said: ‘We wanted to put our money where our mouth is. The fund is new and original. We felt the Summit should not be allowed to finish with the usual declarations and felt it important to come up with concrete plans of action.”
The minister said the money will enable billions of men and women who are excluded from ICT activities to be included. This will create cultural diversity and help them engage actively in a globalised world as well as give them access to information.
The fund, proposed by President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, relies on voluntary contributions of members in the government, business and private sector and Diop Decroix called it a fund like no other. ‘No country will be forced to contribute and there will be no restrictions placed on countries that benefit from the fund,” he said.
‘It is wonderful that this initiative came from the South and not the North,” said Diop Decroix. ‘We cannot wait for state leaders to agree on things before action starts happening. This project encourages cities and local governments to do more than just talk, but to work together and come up with workable solutions.”
‘This will facilitate a democratic process with all stakeholders from all corners of the world playing an active role in decision making processes,” he said, adding that the management of this initiative will be different from anything seen before. — Hana