Young Africans protest that they have been shortchanged in decision-making processes, with policies being designed without their input. "There is nothing for us without us," says Wainaina Mungai of the Youth Caucus, adding that governments have not taken into account the needs of youth in develop ICT policies.

Kenya’s draft ICT policy, he argues, had failed to address the needs of youth, with emphasis being directed at creating an investor-friendly policy. "The current version of the draft national ICT policy mentions the word ‘youth’ three times only in a 9,779-word text and the three references are limited to ‘career guidance for youth empowerment of youth to engage in small and medium enterprise and creation of opportunities for youth to acquire ICT skills’," Mungai says. "Young people must be recognised as stakeholders from the policy development level to programme implementation."

Mungai, of the Made in Kenya Network, argues that governments must invest heavily in education for youth if policies are to be meaningful. Youth have embraced new technologies faster than their elders and there is a need for a broad-based education programme incorporating ICTs in Africa. Besides, youth want their governments to take on board their needs and voices as they roll out new ICT programmes—mainly by upgrading present learning institutions into centres where they can get ICT skills.

Rachel Mienje Momo, a researcher with the International Development Reseearch Centre, says that governments need to create a young generation that will be responsible for the implementation of the ICT policies that are being created. "For the ICT programmes to make an impact in countries where they have been drawn, there needs to be a highly trained and motivated young generation that will implement and even be able to create a whole new set of homemade technologies that suits the needs of the respective countries," she says.

According to Sara Kyofuna of the South Africa-based Schoolnet Africa programme, the majority of girls are out of contention as the race to bridge the digital divide in the continent picks up.

The Schoolnet initiative helps youth create websites on pressing issues in their lives that need urgent attention. Students select an issue they think is worth addressing and research it. They are then given technical skills on website building. They then construct the sites and post the information, hoping to set up discussions on issues such as crime, child prostitution and labour. The responses are printed and distributed to the public and fellow youth who cannot access the services.

But girls still face cultural barriers that hinder their access to schools. Many are still pressed into domestic chores traditionally assigned to women and girls and have little spare time to concentrate on emerging technologies. Kyofuna says that ICT issues are still male-driven and girls rarely take up technology courses. "The girl is the missing link in the whole cycle and she needs to be integrated in the whole cycle for any meaningful development of ICT among the youth," she adds.

In Senegal, young people have developed websites for e-business that are thriving; the Time to Market (T2M) website has been set up by young people to monitor the sale of sea produce through the mobile phone Short Messaging Service. In Sierra Leone, the Child Soldiers Project has created a website to reintegrate former fighters, separated children and other war affected youth in society into their communities.

And the International Youth Forum is working on initiatives that are funded by Nokia in South Africa, Britain, Mexico and Brazil to enable members to link up with their counterparts elsewhere.

Source:  http://www.ipsnews.net/