Initiative to Help Afghanistan

Sylvia PETTER, ITU

Afghanistan is now on the road to reconstruction and rehabilitation, but it is still in a terrible situation. Its communications facilities are non-existent, and we all know that a communications infrastructure is a prerequisite for development, for without communications reconstruction and rehabilitation is doomed.

There is an urgent need to help meet some of the immediate communication needs of Afghan communities. Due to the particular hardship Afghanistan is facing, the communication and development needs are initially best achieved through shared access. This can be done through the construction of Telecentres which will provide community access to ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies).

Telecentres act as a catalyst in creating awareness, in developing ICT skills and in providing costeffective facilities and services.

This is why the ITU together with UNHCR, in addition to their institutional programmes to assist Afghanistan, have accepted to join forces with the IGA-FS which has proposed The International Day of Charity – Golf (IDC-G). Through the IDC-G (www.idc-g.org) the golfing community will be encouraged to contribute to a fund to finance the construction of one or more telecentres in Kabul, depending on the level of funds raised.

This grass-roots initiative can go even further in that everyone can participate through their donations in helping to bridge the digital divide, for that «bridge» is the road to Afghanistan’s new life.