Pambazuka News is produced by a pan-African community of some 2,600 citizens and organisations - academics, policy makers, social activists, women's organisations, civil society organisations, writers, artists, poets, bloggers, and commentators who together produce insightful, sharp and thoughtful analyses and make it one of the largest and most innovative and influential web forums for social justice in Africa. 
Internet & technology
RSS FeedTunisia: Launch a blog campaign starts
2010-11-23, Issue 507
The Tunisian blogosphere has witnessed a period of stagnation since April. Indeed, the month was a black one for Tunisian bloggers as more than 100 blogs have been censored by the authorities, discouraging the rest of the bloggers, who have become re...
Tunisia: Five years past WSIS, online activity even more censored
2010-11-23, Issue 507
The International Freedom of Expression Exchange Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG), a coalition of 20 IFEX members, is deeply concerned that five years after hosting the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), Tunisia remains one of the mos...
Uganda: ICT boom not necessarily good for women
2010-11-25, Issue 507
The rapid growth of the ICT market in Uganda has been greeted with optimism over its potential to boost the country’s development. But less attention is being paid to the increase in gender based violence due to the use of information and communicati...
Egypt: Getting harassment on the map
2010-11-25, Issue 507
Less common but perhaps more useful than the tourist map is the ‘harassment map’ that many Cairo women are beginning to refer to. HarassMap, a private initiative run by volunteer activists, allows women who have been subject to harassment to report t...
Ending gender-based violence against women
2010-11-29, Issue 507
November 25 marked the beginning of 16 days of activism for ending gender-based violence against women, and also the Take Back the Tech! (TBTT) campaign. Take Back the Tech! is a collaborative campaign to reclaim information and communication technol...
Tunisia: Youth employment subject of ICT forum
2010-11-18, Issue 505
Maghreb youths should play a key role in developing new technologies in the region, according to participants in a Hammamet forum that wrapped up on 12 November. The three-day event, dubbed 'ICT4 ALL Forum Tunis+5', brought together more than 700 man...
South Africa: Click against violence: taking 16 Days of Activism online
2010-11-18, Issue 505
The United Nations estimates that 95 per cent of aggressive behaviour, harassment, abusive language and denigrating images in online spaces are aimed at women and come from partners or former male partners. Other surveys show that the victims of cybe...
Africa: Scientists create African banana Wiki
2010-11-08, Issue 504
Soon all information on bananas in Africa, including the banana growing areas, yield, socio-economic status of the farmers and spread of pests and diseases, will be available on a scientist-driven online dictionary. The website (http://banana.mappr.i...
Africa: The benefits of open source software
2010-11-09, Issue 504
Software piracy is becoming unnecessary. Open source software packages are becoming as user-friendly and adding as many features as proprietary packages - even in scientific circles. Africa should embrace open source scientific software, argues this ...
Africa: Funding still an uphill struggle for academics
2010-11-10, Issue 504
African academies are still battling to obtain funding and recognition from policymakers despite several efforts to strengthen them. This message came out of the sixth meeting of the African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI) taking place...
Uganda: Mobile phones help end violence against women
2010-11-10, Issue 504
Women in Uganda’s rural areas will learn about domestic violence against women through the use of different ICT tools to build awareness around the issue, but they will also learn to report and prevent it - and the mobile phone will be playing a big ...
Africa: Is social media affecting African politics?
2010-11-10, Issue 504
The BBC website is encouraging comments from its readers on whether social media outlets such as Facebook, Youtube and blogs are having an impact on politics in Africa? The post points out that a rap record using the voice of Uganda's President Musev...
South Africa: Google launches voice search for SA
2010-11-11, Issue 504
Google has launched Google Voice Search in South Africa to enable internet users to use their natural voice to speak into their cell phones for Google searches. Google senior staff engineer Johan Schalkwyk has said 'you speak into your phone and it s...
Kenya: SA firms invade Kenya’s internet market
2010-11-02, Issue 503
Will MTN finally set up as a mobile service operator in Kenya after several years of failed attempts? That’s the million-dollar question after the data unit of South Africa’s biggest mobile operator took control of a local internet service provider, ...
Tanzania: Twittering 2010 Tanzania general elections
2010-11-03, Issue 503
Tanzanians voted on on 31 October 2010 to elect the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, President of Zanzibar, Members of Parliament and Members of the Zanzibar House of Representatives. Using hashtags #UchaguziTZ, #uchaguzi, and #TZelect, ...
Nigeria: Computers blog launched
2010-11-04, Issue 503
Developed by Jidaw Systems Limited, a ICT training, consulting and web content provision firm in Nigeria, the Nigeria Computers blog is a public online resource for Information and Communications Technology for Development (ICT4D) in Nigeria. With a...
Zimbabwe: Mobile internet for major cities
2010-10-27, Issue 502
Zimbabwe entered a new digital era last week Friday when the largest mobile phone network Econet Wireless launched its mobile broadband package available to their estimated 4.5 million subscribers. The project has cost Econet close to US$100 million ...
Tanzania: Realising the potential of ICTs
2010-10-28, Issue 502
Tanzania is one of a number of countries in the Southern African region that have sought to include ICTs in their national development plans. A Panos policy brief summarises a report of the achievements and weaknesses of this approach in Tanzania, an...
Global: Code of good practice on information, participation and transparency in internet governance
2010-10-28, Issue 502
Since the inception of the Internet Governance Forum, the Council of Europe (CoE), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) have been working on a joint initiative on public pa...
Congo: Students and survivors use ICTs to prevent the spread of violence
2010-10-28, Issue 502
Association Dynamique Plurielle in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, is working with 250 female first to third year high school students from Savorgnon de Brazzaville High School to fight against sexual harassment in schools. During the project, studen...
DRC: Documenting lives with IT
2010-10-28, Issue 502
Francoise Mukuku works as the national coordinator of a young feminist group called Si Jeunesse Savait, based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Here she describes how the organisation teaches women how to blog, broadcast radio shows, take pi...
Egypt: Fears that new SMS rules will prevent organising
2010-10-19, Issue 501
Activists have warned that Egypt telecommunication regulator’s new rules for companies sending text messages to multiple cellphones will stifle efforts to mobilise voters ahead of upcoming parliamentary elections. Reform groups in Egypt, as well as e...
Somalia: Islamist rebels ban mobile transfers
2010-10-19, Issue 501
Islamist militant group al-Shabab said on Monday it would ban all mobile phone cash transfers in Somalia. The rebels released a statement ordering three local mobile phone companies which have developed the popular service in the country to stop mobi...
Kenya: Solar powered computer lab launched
2010-10-19, Issue 501
Computer Aid has launched its first solar powered Internet cafe in Kenya in conjunction with longstanding Kenyan partners Computers For Schools Kenya (CFSK). The Internet cafe made its long journey from London to Nairobi in the guise of a standard 20...
Kenya: Slum dwellers map their way out of oblivion
2010-10-20, Issue 501
How much state attention and help can you expect if the area where you live is not even marked on official maps? Not a lot, decided the residents of one of Africa's biggest slums and designed a digital map of Kibera - a great help in all too familiar...
Zambia: Internet threat dropped
2010-10-12, Issue 500
Zambia's communications authority on Wednesday reversed its decision to shut down five main Internet service providers, saying they would be allowed another chance to renew their licences. The firms were ordered on Tuesday to shut down by the end of ...
Rwanda: Training and mobile health technology in Rwanda
2010-10-14, Issue 500
In August 2009, Rwanda's health ministry launched an mHealth (M-Ubuzima) initiative to support community health workers in maternal and child health interventions by utilizing mobile technology. Community health workers, who are responsible for mater...
Google launches 'Baraza' platform
2010-10-06, Issue 499
Google is working on a new service called 'Baraza', which will enable Africans to interact and share knowledge by asking and answering questions, reports the White African Blog. Baraza is the term used for meeting place in Swahili, with Google's inte...
Africa: Should internet governance go global or stay local?
2010-10-06, Issue 499
The impact of internet governance on Africa was discussed on 16 September 2010, in Vilnius, Lithuania. Discussions included the need to solve the language issue and to create global applications from Africa instead of just thinking local and to put f...
Burundi: Handheld computers speed up food aid
2010-10-06, Issue 499
Aid organisations say a small handheld computer will allow them to more rapidly assess where food aid is needed most urgently. As a result, fewer Burundians will suffer hunger this year....
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