ICT For Poverty Reduction; Under The Microscope

Review Paper by: Kennedy O. Miruka - Dec 2011

School of Computing and Informatics, University of Nairobi

ICS 419 Assignment:

ICT For Poverty Reduction; Under The Microscope

Kennedy O. Miruka

A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE CLAIMS BY PROPONENTS OF ICT FOR POVERTY REDUCTION 1.0 Introduction
What is this hype about the use of ICT for poverty reduction? Why do the proponents make far reaching claims with such conviction and enthusiasm? On what basis do they make their assertions and do they really understand the fluid upon which sails the ship of poverty? Is ICT the arsenal that will ultimately sink that ship? These are intriguing questions, and in an attempt to answer them, we resorted to a critical review of the claims made by proponents of ICT for poverty eradication. We delved beneath the surface to analyze and comprehend the theoretical and empirical underpinnings that inform those claims. For ease of presentation, the report is structured in four sections. Section 1 gives a brief summary of each of the papers we reviewed. Section 2 dwells on a detailed discussion of each of the papers. Section 3 concentrates on a comparative response to the papers. Finally, in Section 4, we give our conclusion with a brief summary of the entire review and make recommendations for further considerations.

2.0 Section I
In this section we give a brief summary of each of the carefully chosen papers on which our review was based. In order to capture the argument in the broadest spectrum possible, the papers were representative of all the regions of the world and representative across the board from individual claims to corporate and government views as well as the views of development agencies such as the UNDP and the DFID. 2.1 Paper 1: Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) For Poverty Reduction? Discussion Paper by Richard Gerster and Sonja Zimmermann In this discussion paper, written in 2003 for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and approved by Walter Fust, the then Director General of SDC; Richard and Sonja attempt to analyze the problems and potentials of ICTs used by people living in poverty. They identify a myriad of limitations of using ICT as a direct intervention for Poverty Eradication; and then propose four alternative strategies that could make use of ICTs as an indirect tool for poverty reduction. The strategies they advance include: a production oriented growth strategy; the sustainable livelihoods approach; a distribution oriented strategy; and a rights and empowerment strategy (Gerster, Zimmerman, 2003). Consequently, they imply that ICTs can be used to enhance these strategies and contribute to poverty reduction. They argue that given the multidimensional nature of poverty, the four strategies are complementary and should not be pursued in isolation both in the local, regional or global level.

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ICS 419 Assignment:

ICT For Poverty Reduction; Under The Microscope

Kennedy O. Miruka

2.2 Paper 2: The Role of ICT in Poverty Reduction by Anita Kelles- Viitanen: In this paper, Anita Kelles, the then Secretary General of the Advisory Board for Relations with Developing Countries, Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs; discusses in great detail, the place of ICT in the war against poverty. She argues that ICT, if supported with the right policies and with cross-cutting and holistic approaches, will complement and strengthen other multi-sectoral efforts that are required for poverty reduction, including those meeting basic needs of the poor (Kelles,2003). While not entirely disapproving the ideas advanced by both proponents and dissidents of ICT for Poverty Reduction, she suggests that ICT in and of itself is not the magic bullet to eradicate poverty. However, if it is tailored to the needs of the poor and if it is applied in the right way for the right purposes, ICT can be a tool for supporting poverty reduction efforts. 2.3 Paper 3: Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Poverty Reduction in Sub Saharan Africa A Learning Study (Synthesis) by Richard Gerster and Sonja Zimmermann This is yet another paper by the duo of Richard and Sonja, consultants for the BDO Program which was co-funded by DFID, UNDP in 2000-2003 periods. The learning study was based on a thematic framework which identifies poverty as a multidimensional issue and proposes the avenue for poverty reduction to be empowerment, opportunity and security of the poor. The key issues of focus were identified as livelihoods, health (particularly HIV-AIDS), governance and capacity building. The learning study also identifies areas of analysis to be at country level, regional level as well as the global level. 2.4 Paper 4: ICT FOR POVERTY REDUCTION: MYTHS, REALITIES AND DEVELOPMENT IMPLICATIONS by Stuart Mathison This is a panel discussion on ICT for Poverty Reduction organized by Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). The discussion featured the following panelists: Richard Fuchs, Director ICT-4D, and International Development Research Centre (IDRC); M. S. Swaminathan, Director, M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF); Richard Gerster, Director, Gerster Consulting; and Clotilde Fonseca, Executive Director, Omar Dengo Foundation. The interesting findings as presented by Stuart Mathison are that the poor have to be at the centre of poverty reduction efforts. The panelists press the need to tailor technology to the skills of the poor in order to exploit their potential effectively. The paper also advances the opinion that the use of ICTs for poverty reduction is only effective when they are embedded and synchronized with other policies and resources. Of notable discovery is that poverty reduction programmes need ownership by the local communities, partnership and networking.

3.0 Section II
In this section we present the discussion of the main arguments in each of the papers that we studied

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December 2011

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ICS 419 Assignment:

ICT For Poverty Reduction; Under The Microscope

Kennedy O. Miruka

3.1 Paper 1: Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) For Poverty Reduction? Discussion Paper by Richard Gerster and Sonja Zimmermann Richard and Sonja first recognize that the digital divide, just like the socio-economic and political divides, is a symptom of serious discriminative disparities/ inequalities against the poor. Poverty is considered to be a multidimensional phenomenon resulting from income gap, deprivation of resources, vulnerability, powerlessness and social exclusion. Modern ICTs, on the other hand, are characterized by interactivity, permanent availability, global reach and reduced costs. The poor are identified as the unskilled labourers, the self-employed micro entrepreneurs, subsistence farmers, people speaking minority languages, the illiterate, populations living in remote areas and women. (Gester and Zimmermann, 2003) Three major limitations on the use of ICTs for poverty eradication are identified as: inability of ICTs to solve socio-political problems that are mostly at the roots of poverty; the potential to widen the digital divide based on infrastructural availability skewed towards the urban centres; and often unskilled, illiterate target groups who may lack the capacity to use ICTs. On the other hand, ICTs have contributed to poverty reduction by addressing the information needs of the poor, creating an enabling environment for good governance and supporting mobilization for empowerment of poor people as well as creating additional jobs and revenues for them. ICTs have demonstrated capabilities of addressing not just the income poverty, but also the non-economic aspects of poverty. Richard and Sonja (2003) identify four strategies which could be pursued and supported by ICTs for poverty reduction.

Pro-poor Growth Strategy focuses on the creation of income and improvement of the
national economy. It relies on the trickle-down effect for poverty alleviation. The claims here are that ICTs can be used for economic growth as marketing tools and in job creation. However, this strategy has to grapple with issues of education, skills and capacity of the poor to make use of ICTs.

Sustainable Livelihood Strategy is a bottom-up strategy focusing on people, their assets,

needs, aspirations and constraints. The claims are that ICTs can satisfy personal information needs; they can provide the opportunity to raise the value of indigenous knowledge; and can also provide community services such as healthcare, and education. However, some of the challenges encountered while utilizing ICT include issues of defining information needs and intellectual property regimes.

Rights and Empowerment Strategy: focuses on social change as the driving force behind
poverty reduction. It is a bottom-up approach with the claims that ICTs facilitate transparency and accountability; can improve consultation processes to include the broader public; can improve governance by facilitating decentralization; can enable civil society to form advocacy networks; and can also improve gender parity in education access. Of concern are issues of political disempowerments where the high and mighty may take advantage of their status to censor and manipulate information.

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ICS 419 Assignment:

ICT For Poverty Reduction; Under The Microscope

Kennedy O. Miruka

Resources and Redistribution Strategy is informed by the fact that poverty can be as a
result of initial inequalities in wealth and asset distribution. It emphasizes an efficient management and redistribution of resources to address these inequalities. The claims are that ICTs can give economic empowerment to individuals and to communities; can increase government revenues; can provide information about access to resources; and can overcome geographical obstacles in distribution of information. Here the issues of paramount concern are socio-economic and political will to provide an enabling environment for implementation. With the knowledge that many forms of poverty may not originate from a lack of information but rather be a consequence of power relations in society, the paper suggests three key dimensions of the role of ICTs in poverty reduction to include: providing access to relevant information; giving a voice to the poor; and facilitating communication and network building.

3.2 Paper 2: The Role of ICT in Poverty Reduction by Anita Kelles- Viitanen: ICT is relevant in almost all aspects of national life ranging from politics, economic, social and cultural aspects. Extreme poverty is considered the worst form of human rights violation in the world. The role of ICT in poverty reduction is that ICT, if supported with the right policies and with cross-cutting and holistic approaches, will complement and strengthen other multisectoral efforts that are required for poverty reduction, including those meeting basic needs (Kelles 2003). Anita adopts the definition of the ICT Sector as a combination of manufacturing and services industries that capture transmit and display data and information electronically. She argues that both ICT Hardware and software industries contribute to economic growth and create employment, but these employments rarely go to the very poor. She therefore bases her discussion on the service industry of ICT. While she eludes the discussion of whether ICT widens or narrows the digital divide, Anita admits that the divide exists between and within regions, countries and sectors. She also observes that some countries have made efforts to narrow the gap, but with trivial progress. The challenge with poverty is its multidimensional nature. She observes that, while ICT is expected to strengthen the nexus of Economic growth and globalization, these alone cannot disentangle the Gordian knot of poverty. Economic growth is necessary for poverty alleviation but certainly not sufficient in itself. This is because economic growth does not address the gross inequalities, vested interests and discriminative power structures that contribute to poverty. In other words, poverty is a complex socio-economic problem whose solution needs to be approached on various fronts such as economic intervention, education and health programs, democracy and governance (Kelles 2003). She therefore discusses the role of ICT in the multifaceted approach to poverty reduction. She advances the theory that ICT has a catalytic role in this complex task of poverty reduction by leveraging effects on earnings opportunities, on educational and health services, on good governance and on promoting democracy.

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ICS 419 Assignment:

ICT For Poverty Reduction; Under The Microscope

Kennedy O. Miruka

ICT in Economic Intervention

In this front, it is claimed that ICT as a sector can create employment opportunities directly to the poor; can enhance activities and improve productivity of poor people by increasing their access to market information and reducing transaction costs. ICTs can be used to increase efficiency, competitiveness and market access for developing country firms; can change and invigorate old occupations and add on new public services. ICT can also increase the flow of information for empowering the poor; can be used to monitor food security related issues; and can also be used for disaster alerts, preparedness and management The key issues with this approach is that supporting infrastructure such as access roads, storage facilities and competitive markets, including the global market are required for the ICT to be utilized effectively in poverty reduction. It is also important that women, who in many countries, work as farmers, are targeted for the ICT services.

ICT in Education and health programs

While giving little explanation as to how ICTs can be used in this sector, Anita (2003) gives a powerful example of how projects on community-based self-sustaining computer science and citizenship schools have succeeded.

ICT in Promoting Democracy

The claims here are that ICT can be used to create a more well informed and active citizenship; undermining closed and undemocratic regimes; supporting the watchdog role of citizen groups; and linking development partners to the poor However, it has been also empirically observed that internet can become a tool for disruption, undermining existing organizations, and promoting fragmentation of society into various disagreeing groups. Another issue is that the poor know their problems well, what they lack is knowledge of the larger socio-economic context of their poverty as well as various options to improve their situations.

ICT in Governance
In governance, ICT can facilitate speedy, transparent, accountable, efficient and effective interaction between the public, citizens, business and other agencies. However this is highly hampered by i) institutional structures that lack accountability, ii) domination by local elites and the well-to-do, iii) widespread corruption, iv) culturally and socially determined inequality, and v) lack of participation by the poor. To overcome these challenges, ICT interventions have to be introduced together with a broader reform program and not as a substitute for such a reform; ICT interventions, particularly on governance, therefore, need to be accompanied with legislative reforms (Kelles 2003).

ICT Strategy
In conclusion Anita (2003) puts forward a suggestion for ICT Strategy emphasizing on strong linkages between direct ICT interventions and national level programs that deploy ICT as a tool for poverty reduction. For this strategy to work it would require an enabling regulatory and policy environment and an enabling national climate. However we must be cautious that such a
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ICS 419 Assignment:

ICT For Poverty Reduction; Under The Microscope

Kennedy O. Miruka

strategy is not merely technology-driven but are also focused on the needs of the poor, in terms of content, language, skills, design, and price. Anita also seems to make a veiled suggestion that while focusing on the war against poverty, there is still a market niche for ICT entrepreneurs and investors amongst the poor. She then rests her case with the proposition that ICT can contribute to poverty reduction, if it is tailored to the needs of the poor and if it is used in the right way and for the right purposes. She cautions that like all technologies, ICT offers tools and applications but no bullet proof solutions to the multifaceted phenomenon of poverty. 3.3 Paper 4: ICT FOR POVERTY REDUCTION: MYTHS, REALITIES AND DEVELOPMENT IMPLICATIONS by Stuart Mathison In this paper, Stuart Mathison presents the views of the panelists revolving around four major themes identified as: the needs and rights of the poor that could best be met by ICT; whether ICT has helped to reduce poverty or has contributed to widening the divide between the rich and poor; whether ICT has contributed to perpetuating models of socio-economic and political disempowerment and discrimination as it exists in the world today; and how ICT can play a more effective role in empowering women economically. He presents the views of the panelists as follows. Richards Fuchs (2003) discusses the urgency of ICT access for poverty reduction with the assertion that use of technology is no longer optional, but mandatory, in view of globalization and global seismic changes. He underlines the importance of ICT governance and regulatory reform to enable Poverty Reduction efforts succeed. He also presses the need for social entrepreneurship, service and well-tailored content for the poor. He claims that mobile phones are the quickest way to get out of poverty and that there is the need for ICT alliances for gender equality, education, health and democracy. The danger is that ICT can become a tool of reinforcing inequalities that already exist; therefore, alliances with other political agitators could make ICT more successful; it is also pointed out that the main challenges faced by donors include inertia within the organization and their skepticism of embracing emerging technologies. In wide reference to India, M. S. Swaminathan (2003) sees the ICT Revolution as an opportunity for the developing countries to emerge out of poverty and march into prosperity. She says that, Many developing countries remain poor largely because they had let the Industrial Revolution pass them by. She emerges with the concept of digital happiness which requires: a judicious blend of traditional and modern technologies to meet the needs of the poor; a relevant, valueadded information content that could impact on the normal lives of the poor; gender-sensitive social inclusion policies on the use of ICTs; and strong partnerships that tap into the expertise of different organizations and individuals. She claims that, History has shown that technologies, left to their own devices, will only exacerbate existing differences and that ICT is no exception! As the fact that ICT can be used for poverty reduction remains, caution must be taken to avoid focusing on just technology alone, but on working with people, giving them a sense of ownership, building partnerships with a number of experts and institutions, and creating a large and inclusive network. In the end, technology is just an enabler. As the Bolivian writer Alfonso

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ICS 419 Assignment:

ICT For Poverty Reduction; Under The Microscope

Kennedy O. Miruka

Gumucio is fond of saying, a knife is a knife; it can be used on your dining table or to hurt someone. (M. S. Swaminathan 2003) Richard Gerster (2003) puts his emphasis on the need for social and political change in tackling the problem of poverty. He maintains that since poverty is rooted in socio-political grounds ICT alone cannot achieve poverty reduction without social and political reform. Giving reference to the learning study on ICT for poverty reduction in sub-Saharan Africa, Richard points out the following findings: 1) ICTs contributions to pro-poor livelihoods, health and governance are feasible; 2) An adequate ICT choice largely co-determines potential pro-poor effects; 3) Propoor effects are more likely if ICTs are embedded in larger, demand-driven efforts; 4) Ownership by the local communities, partnership and networking are key to effective poverty reduction programmes; and 5) ICTs are an effective means to increase the voices of the poor in (global) policy debates. He observes the need for a conducive environment for mainstreaming poverty reduction with the dimension that ICTs are attractive tools but no development shortcuts. Poverty reduction takes time. Poverty reduction in the sense of empowerment is a learning exercise, which does not take place overnight. Moreover, it requires social transformation and learning processes not only of the powerless but also by the powerful. Sharing power and inuence with the poor can be painful and includes a new vision of society. (Richard Gerster, 2003) Clotilde Fonseca (2003) observes that Combating poverty through the use of digital technologies is not simply about hooking the poor to computer networks. The user of the technology or the beneciary of the service has to be at the core of the design and implementation process. She criticizes the popular view that ICT is the magic solution to the problem of poverty and points out that The process of integrating new technologies into development processes through education, empowerment, capacity building and productivity is not necessarily faster and cheaper. It requires signicant investments that must be sustained over time. It is therefore important to consider, besides ICT, other factors such as: infrastructure, empowerment, breaking the cycle of inter-generational transmission of poverty, capacity building, sustainable investments, focus on the youth and promotion of universal policies.

4.0 Section III

In this section, we dwell on an in depth discourse of a comparative discussion on the various papers we studied. We begin by identifying consistencies in the papers, especially as far as empirical evidences and theoretical underpinnings are concerned. We then point out the inconsistencies in the papers and make our contributions in terms of empirical and theoretical opinions. Across the papers discussed there is a consistent notion that: 1) the poor have to be at the centre of poverty reduction efforts. 2) There is the need to tailor technology to the skills of the poor in order to exploit their potential. 3) ICT alone is not the magic bullet to eradicate poverty, without involving other sectors. 4) ICT Content, just like connectivity must be given enough
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ICS 419 Assignment:

ICT For Poverty Reduction; Under The Microscope

Kennedy O. Miruka

attention, must be people-centred and demand driven. 4) For effective poverty reduction, programs need to be owned by the local communities with partnership and networking as key props. 5) Poverty is a multifaceted problem that requires a multifaceted approach in order to be reduced. Poverty is largely viewed as a very complex problem. Phil Marker et al (2002) describe poverty as having multiple and complex causes. The poor are not just deprived of basic resources. They lack access to information that is vital to their lives and livelihoods: information about market prices for the goods they produce, about health, about the structure and services of public institutions, and about their rights. They lack political visibility and voice in the institutions and power relations that shape their lives. They lack access to knowledge, education and skills development that could improve their livelihoods. They often lack access to markets and institutions, both governmental and societal that could provide them with needed resources and services. They lack access to, and information about, income-earning opportunities. (Marker, McNamara and Wallace, 2002 for DFID) ICTs are largely used in economic growth strategies. Even though the trickle down effects of economic growth contributes to regional and national development; economic growth is not necessarily tantamount to poverty reduction. Anita Kelles (2003) agrees with this view, she warns that the fight on poverty must focus on addressing these underlying issues; lest there emerges a wider digital divide indicative of deteriorating poverty situations in marginalised regions. The Claim that ICTs have widened the digital divide is informed by existing disparities based on location, gender, ethnicity, physical disability, age, income level between the rich and the poor countries. It has even been observed that, in projects where initially technology is used as an enabling tool, it becomes the core of the project. This is mainly due to specific characteristics of ICTs, such as technological obsolescence and the increasing importance of software. According to Kelles (2003), If the surrounding context for proposed innovation is not sufficiently analysed, and remedies for pressing economic problems addressed, many well-meaning efforts will have short lives and minimal results It is also imperative to note that the effectiveness of ICT in combating poverty depends on i) complementarities with other local level poverty reduction and development initiatives, ii) responding to the local community needs, and iii) involving stakeholders in applications development. (Millar and Mansell 1999); and that the goal of using ICT with marginalized groups, such as poor, is not about overcoming the digital divide, but rather to enforce and further the process of social inclusion, which is required for transformation of the environment and social system that reproduces poverty. Technology can assist in this process, but efforts should not be just limited to it. (Warschauer, 2002)

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ICS 419 Assignment:

ICT For Poverty Reduction; Under The Microscope

Kennedy O. Miruka

Anita (2003) also discusses a broad-based poverty reduction program with a holistic ICT approach that will turn the vicious cycle of poverty into a virtuous cycle of well-being. She identifies four key aspects that such a program must address: i) sustainable and pro-poor growth with investments in both physical and social infrastructure; ii) inclusive social development programs that promote equity and empowerment of the poor; iii) efforts in good governance with effective policies and institutions, efficient and accountable public sector management, and legal and judicial reform; and iv) efforts in promoting participatory decisionmaking. (ADB 2002) So how has ICT contributed to poverty reduction? A look into some of the empirical evidences presented will give a clue. The compelling evidence of ICT being useful in poverty reduction is well captured by the following quote: There is an on-going view that IT is totally irrelevant for the poor who are generally illiterate; IT is too expensive for them to reach out to; the poor dont need fancy IT, they need food. These are the voices of the skeptics... Now in three years there are more than 5000 Telephone Ladies in Bangladesh villages doing roaring business selling telephone service. (Mohammed Yunus 2001) Gerster and Zimmermann (2003) on the other hand, give compelling evidence in their study of how ICT can be used in poverty reduction. One such finding in Uganda is as presented in Box 1

below.

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ICS 419 Assignment:

ICT For Poverty Reduction; Under The Microscope

Kennedy O. Miruka

Kelles (2003) also gives some statistics on the relationship between Internet Penetration and other poverty indicators. From the statistics, shown in Box 2 below, it is quite evident that ICT has a profound impact on poverty eradication efforts.

The reason why Poverty eradication requires sincere and concerted efforts from the international community is that the rich/developed countries thrive from exploiting the poor/developing countries by enacting insincere/ discriminative/ exploitative unilateral policies, laws and declarations. Information is taken from the developing countries; it is packaged and protected by strong IP Regimes in the developed countries. The developing countries then have to import those ideas with hefty costs. The same happens to other sectors of economy such as agriculture and industry where raw materials are obtained from the poor at extremely low costs, packaged in the west and then sold back to them at exorbitant rates. Examples include the Ethiopian Coffee, Kenyan Tea and, on a local scale, Kenya Sugar, where sugar is produced and processed in Muhoroni but taken to Nairobi for packaging, branding and marketing. The local community does not benefit from the sweat of their labour! Issues of power imbalance where some developed countries have more bargaining power and even authority to dictate resolutions in international conventions, curtail fair participation and contribution of poor countries to policies affecting their well-being. If the poor cannot be heard and the rich continue manipulating and exploiting them, who is the voice of the poor? Poverty eradication requires the rich and the poor to sit at parity on the same table and address the issues of political, social, and cultural divides as well as other factors contributing to poverty and forge genuine ways to fight poverty. Examples of these insincere policies include: In complete disregard and disrespect to African Socio-cultural fabric, the UK forcing African states to adopt and embrace homosexuality and gay marriages if they are to fund poverty reduction efforts in Africa (http://tumfweko.com Accessed 2011/10/31/). Another example is the USA
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ICT For Poverty Reduction; Under The Microscope

Kennedy O. Miruka

focusing its funds on military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq in the name of creating better socio-economic environments. The empirical truth is that more people fall into poverty due to wars and their effects. In the long run more poverty is created than would have been eradicated should the resources have been trained on poverty eradication efforts. (http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18263, Accessed 2011/12/22) Another pertinent question that comes up in the review is: Is there really sufficient political will from governments and the elite to eradicate poverty or is it a serious case of 'Mjinga akierevuka, mwerevu yu mashakani' 1 to continue exploiting the poor for political mileage and power? Consider for example recently when the government of Kenya proposed to spend 200000/= on each single seat in parliament, and raising the salary and allowances of MPs yet the they could not consider the plight of teachers, doctors, civil servants and most crucially, the plight of the poor (http://allafrica.com/kenya/?page=94 Accessed 2011/12/13). With entrenched vested interests and unrelenting corruption levels, who in government will consider poverty as a priority? The political will to end poverty must be demonstrated not just on Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, MDG Documents and Constitutional Articles, but on real and practical implementation activities In reality whereas the proponents of ICT for poverty reduction would want to advance the theory that information is power and can be used to empower the poor; empirical evidence indicates that a larger percentage of information is used to disempower the poor rather than empower them. The argument, as can be corroborated by this extract from the National Youth Policy of Kenya (2002), is that ICT owners interest is in making profits and not alleviating poverty. The information content is tailored to sell and is completely irrelevant to poverty eradication efforts. The effects are that ICTs are used to exacerbate poverty! For instance, just a critical look at the media content, one would obviously discover that it is not doing much to educate the poor on how to break from the yoke of poverty! On the contrary, the media is entertaining the poor, making them lazy and disillusioned with fantasies while the elite continue raking in tremendous profits from lulling the poor with fantastic programs! In the final analysis, the rich get richer, the poor get poorer!
The National Youth Policy of Kenya (2002) section 8.7 Media is the mode of transmission of information from any source to recipients through word of mouth, radio, TV, Internet and the print media. Other forms of media include smoke signals, sign language, talking, drums and Braille. Although the decade of the 90's witnessed a proliferation of media houses, little positive impact has been registered in terms of behavioral changes particularly in the youth. Campaigns to address issues such as drugs, HIV/AIDS, employment problem that affects the youth have not been as strong and aggressive. The communication houses have not adequately focused on the need of youth. Few programmes and packages focus on the youth. The media can either be used to achieve great positive influence on the youth or cause grievous moral degradation. The youth have a right to access information that will improve their livelihoods, enabling them to effectively participate in development. Strategies to address this issue include:
1

A Swahili proverb meaning when the dumb get enlightened, the wise feel shaken

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ICT For Poverty Reduction; Under The Microscope

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5.0 Section IV
5.1 Conclusion In conclusion, while there is compelling empirical evidence of ICTs contributing in a major way towards poverty eradication, and while the theoretical underpinnings of ICT for poverty reduction are well founded, the challenge of tackling poverty is much broader and more complex to be limited to the use of technologies. The fluid upon which sails the ship of poverty, ranging from socio-political to economic and natural issues of disasters and epidemics, paint a grim picture of humanity ever winning the war against poverty! It will require solid collaboration and painstaking efforts from the entire human species to be able to completely eliminate poverty. In fact, it will require more than the ability of man to win the war on poverty. History indicates that we have come a long way in improving the quality of life. From the same history and from this study, we learn that the war on poverty cannot and will not be won overnight! Patience, strategy, consistence and sincerity from all stake-holders are necessary to make headways into overcoming poverty; and just like all other previous technologies, ICT is not the magic bullet for poverty eradication. It is a tool that can be used either to exacerbate poverty or to fight poverty! The choice is in the hands of man and not in the ability of ICT!

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ICT For Poverty Reduction; Under The Microscope

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5.2 Selected References www.oecd.org/dataoecd/46/51/40314752.pdf www.etla.fi/files/895_FES_03_1_role_of_ict.pdf : The role of ICT in Poverty Reduction www.gersterconsulting.ch/.../ict4d_book_part_7_ : ICT for Poverty Reduction www.apdip.net/.../ict-poverty-reduction/21paperr: ICT for Poverty Reduction, Necessary but Insufficient www.apdip.net/publications/.../eprimer-pov.pdf : ICTs for Poverty Alleviation www.gersterconsulting.ch http://i4donline.net/issue/july03/pdfs/icts_poverty_reduction.pdf http://i4donline.net/issue/july03/pdfs/icts_poverty_reduction.pdf http://www.gersterconsulting.ch/docs/ict_for_poverty_reduction.pdf http://info.worldbank.org/etools/docs/library/57449/digitaldivide.pdf http://web.idrc.ca/uploads/user-S/1074024575110618469203RS_ICT-Pov_18_July.pdf http://www.caribank.org/titanweb/cdb/webcms.nsf/AllDoc/FD0CFB3EAC47754004257 41F00487873/$File/The%20Case%20of%20the%20English-speaking%20Caribbean.pdf http://www.anancy.net/documents/file_en/WD8034.pdf http://tumfweko.com/2011/10/31/britain-threatens-to-cut-aid-from-african-countriesthat-dont-recognise-gay-and-lesbian-rights/ http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=18263 DOT Force (2001) Digital Opportunities for All: Meeting the Challenge, report 11 May. URL: www.dotforce.org/reports/DOT_Force_Report_V_5.0h.html Norris, Pippa (2001) Digital Divide? Civic Engagement, Information Poverty and the Internet Worldwide. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Thussu, Daya Kishan (2000) International Communication: Continuity and Change. London: Arnold. Laurence Wolff and Soledad MacKinnon, TechKnowLogia, July - September 2002 Knowledge Enterprise, Inc. Report of the Digital Opportunity Task Force (DOT Force, May 2001). Internet governance,a definition

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