UN to provide technology for development training for Afghan policymakers

30 May 2009

UN to provide technology for development training for Afghan policymakers

KABUL - In its ongoing effort to close the digital divide in Afghanistan, the United Nations will be holding an information and communications technology (ICT) “training the trainers” programme in Kabul to educate the country’s decision-makers on using the latest innovations to promote development.

The four-day workshop, starting on 31 May, is the first in a series of eight modules based on the Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders Programme, designed by the UN Asian and Pacific Training Centre for ICT for Development (APCICT) to give decision-makers the necessary knowledge and skills to fully leverage the technology in achieving Afghanistan’s social and economic development goals.

“In today’s information society, policy-makers need to act swiftly and decisively to ensure that they provide the right environment for ICT innovations and creative use of the technologies in creating sustainable social and economic development,” said APCICT Director Hyeun Suk Rhee.

The programme is a collaboration between Afghanistan’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), the body mandated to promote and implement ICT projects in the country, and APCICT, a subsidiary body of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

As part of its commitment to ICT capacity building, MCIT has set up 34 training centres throughout Afghanistan to run programmes for local governments and the public.

“These eight modules will really bring huge change by letting our politicians and policy-makers know what ICT can do for them,” said Muhammad Aimal Marjan, Director General-ICT, MCIT Afghanistan.

Website: UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific