Projects
Projects played a very important aspect in the mission of the KnowledgeHouseAfrica. Some of the project involves are :
Rural Youth on the National Information Society Campaign (RYNICs)
The Rural Youth National Campaign on the Information Society was initiated by the WSIS Global Youth Caucus as a response to the issue of non-engagement of rural youth in the first phase of the National Information Society Youth Campaigns and a sustained, genuine effort to continue with the active empowerment and engagement of young people within the Information Society. Eight countries including Nigeria were selected to organise this project. Thus KnowledgeHouseAfrica and Paradigm Initiatives Nigeria was appointed to oversea the Nigeria Youth activities.
Therefore, the Rural Youth National Campaign on the Information Society (RYNICS) in Nigeria which was jointly cordinated by KnowledgeHouseAfrica and Paradigm Initiative Nigeria came as a natural follow-up to the “Policy Train” sessions that held in different cities across Nigeria during the preparation for the Phase 1 of the World Summit on the Information Society. The RYNICS empowered rural youth to apply ICTs for development in their daily tasks, and also provide an avenue for them to contribute to the global process of creating a people-centred and development-focused Information Society.
The RYNICS was designed to be implemented in six states of Nigeria namely, Katsina State, Kano State, Enugu State, Lagos State, Anambra and Oyo State. These states cover various regions in Nigeria. The project implementation took for many months and was presented during the Second Phase of the WSIS held in Tunis, Tunisia by November 2005.
The report of the project was documented in a book titled "Global Process, Local Realities" and a video titled
Gender Initiative
The Gender Project of KnowledgeHouseAfrica commence due to the absence of young women in the WSIS process in the WSIS African Gender Caucus. The Team cordinating the projects were young women from various professional background who believed in the education and the empowerment of the Women folk. Various initiative has been taken to ensure the above stated goal, some of which are the planned training of young women in high school and higher institution. Vocational training had been organised for women from various African countries like Nigeria, Liberia, Democratic of Congo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone etc. This training was organised in Oru Ijebu, Ogun State of Nigeria.
Furthermore, selected young women had been trained to utilise the Free and Open Source Software products. The training was geared towards training the trainers concept where the trained women will in turn train others. The training which was called FOSS Boot Camp took place in a secluded area of Lagos suburb. The women were taught how to install and use the Linux Operating System, develop website using EasyPhp and Mambo Content Management System etc. The team had also participated in the general KHA programme to empower the African Women .
Software Freedom Day
The Software Freedom Day (SFD) is an annual global grassroots effort to promote the use of Free and Open Source Software. This project is initiated by the non-profit organisation Software Freedom International. Over 70 teams joined the celebration in 2004 while the team number increased to over 150 in 2005. The aim of the SFD is to raise public awareness on the benefits of using high quality FOSS in education, in government, at home, and in business -- in short, everywhere. Therefore teams are encouraged in organising a range of events at schools, universities and public places and thus make a serious impact on public opinion regarding adoption and usage of the Free and open Source Software.
The Software Freedom International provides guidance in organizing SFD, but volunteer teams around the world organize their own SFD events to impact their own communities. The Software Freedom International provides logistical support including on-line facilities and physical materials like FOSS CDs, Books, T-Shirts, Baloons etc. Check http://softwarefreedomday.org/ to see the latest about the SFD.
KnowledgeHouseAfrica assist the African teams in the preparation for the SFD celebration.
|
