[Kictanet] Fw: [Catia_team] Multi-stakeholder engagement in Africa - the CATIAexperience

[alice at apc.org]

Hi all

FYI
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Claire Sibthorpe" <csibthorpe at usa.net>
To: "Lists: Catia_team" <Catia_team at catia.ws>
Sent: Wednesday, October 25, 2006 1:27 PM
Subject: [Catia_team] Multi-stakeholder engagement in Africa - the 
CATIAexperience


>
> Multi-stakeholder engagement in Africa
> - the CATIA experience
>
> October, 2006
>
> Media release
>
> For the past three years the Catalysing Access to ICTs in Africa programme
> (CATIA) has worked towards strengthening the context for the vibrant
> adoption and use of ICTs in Africa. The programme has been set up with 
> nine
> components, each with its particular advocacy aim, in countries as diverse
> as Ethiopia, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Senegal.
>
> CATIA has shown that one of the most effective ways to have an  impact on
> the ICT policy landscape in Africa is by collaborating in 
> multi-stakeholder
> processes, where experiences, perspectives and resources can be shared, 
> and
> a common agenda shaped.
>
> The programme's experiences have been documented in an article entitled
> Breaking new ground towards each other, which can be downloaded off the
> CATIA website (www.catia.ws).
>
> Some of the key findings of the article are:
>
> * While the multi-stakeholder approach to ICT policy development was
> unusual a few years ago, many new success stories in policy engagement in
> Africa are the result of collaborating across the sectors;
> * Participants consider the multi-stakeholder approach an important
> nation-building process that unlocks a country's expertise and resources;
> * Multi-stakeholder networks increase the credibility of an advocacy
> drive;
> * They also tend to make policy processes more transparent,
> particularly if the media is one of the stakeholders;
> * Multi-stakeholder networks are dynamic, and their make-up depends on
> the context. While collaborations between civil society, private sector 
> and
> the media have proved successful, other stakeholders in policy development
> processes have included academics, the government, global agencies such as
> the United Nations, and policy-makers and regulators;
> * The interests of the different stakeholders needs to be managed and
> a common agenda forged that all stakeholders are comfortable with. 
> Processes
> need to be put in place to ensure that all perspectives are appreciated;
> * Sometimes advocacy objectives need to be aligned with government
> strategies to make the advocacy goals more palatable for politicians;
> * While stakeholder buy-in into an advocacy initiative is important,
> this should not come at any cost. Values and principles, such as
> accountability and transparency, need to be preserved and sometimes
> defended.
>
>
> _________________________________________________
> Claire Sibthorpe
> Public Sector Consulting
> Atos Consulting
> 4 Triton Square, Regent's Place, London NW1 3HG, UK
> Tel: +44 (0) 77 33312667
>
>
>
>


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


> _______________________________________________
> Catia_team mailing list
> Catia_team at catia.ws
> http://catia.eyecon.co.za/mailman/listinfo/catia_team
>