PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNICEF GOODWILL AMBASSADOR

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE BY UNICEF GOODWILL AMBASSADOR

If Africans did not take steps now, Africa would remain on the wrong side of the digital divide, Youssou N’Dour, Goodwill Ambassador of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and member of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) working group on HIV/AIDS, said at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon.

Also present at the press conference were Lisa Goldman, co-director of the “Joko” project, Abdoul Aziz-Mbaye, European Union diplomat, in his capacity as adviser to Mr. N’Dour, and Djibril Diallo, Director of the Communications Office of the United Nations Development Programme.

Mr. N’Dour announced the creation of his new foundation, the Youth Network for Development, of which the first initiative was the Joko project. In his native language, “joko” meant link or connection, he explained. The Joko project would use music and culture as a link to develop a local African Internet culture in Senegal, Africa, and around the world.

Many of Africa’s problems were related to poverty, which was multi- dimensional by nature, he said. One had to remember that Africa was young. In Senegal, 62 per cent were under 25 years old; however, 78 per cent of the country’s youth had a basic education. It was important to create opportunities for them, including possibilities for further education and entrepreneurship.

This was what the Joko project was about, he said. It was also a programme of exchange. In Africa there was extreme poverty, but also great music, culture, strong families and rich traditions. As a musician, leading Africa to the Internet was one of the most important things he could do. The young men and women of Senegal wanted to be a part of this -- they wanted to communicate with each other and the world. Through the Joko club they would develop their own Internet community and enter the digital age with dignity as Africans.

Formal development would start in January 2001, and the launching of the Web site and initial access centres by late spring. He was seeking the support of foundations, corporations and individuals to achieve this goal and was proud to announce that Hewlett-Packard had signed on as the first major sponsor.

Lisa Goldman then gave a quick overview of the Joko project. When starting the project her image of Africa had been that there was no electricity and people were struggling for food. She had been pleasantly surprised to learn that not only was the land beautiful and the culture rich, but there was an excellent telecommunications structure already in place.

She elaborated on the three core strategies of the project. The first was creating community-based local content. Establishing low-cost Internet- access centres was the second strategy. In Africa many people did not have private phone lines, she noted. On the other hand it was very common to

N'Dour Press Conference - 2 - 23 October 2000

share these resources. The Joko project was in partnership with Sonotel, Senegal’s national telephone carrier, to bring the access cost to levels that even children in Senegal could afford. The third strategy involved creating mentor programmes, where American mentors would be brought in to transfer any skills that were lacking.

Abdoul Aziz-Mbaye said it was important to stress that the development of Internet technology in Africa was very slow. If things were allowed to go by their natural pace, the penetration of information technology would come very, very late.

The fight Mr. N’Dour was beginning today would be interesting, he said, because the “tele-density” in Africa was very low. In Manhattan, there were 47 telephones per 100 people; in Senegal there were 0.2 telephones per 100 people. However, tele-density was not the problem, as people in Senegal lived on a community-basis -- it was distance to access that was the issue.

Some 180,000 official jobs had been created by the establishment of telephone centres, he said. The same could be achieved through the Internet business. It was all about helping the Africans help themselves.

A correspondent asked about the partnership with Sonotel. As far as he knew, the bandwidth issue was really the biggest problem in Senegal -- even if the content was provided, would the Web site be posted overseas?

Ms. Goldman said that using the Internet today in Senegal was like everyone in Manhattan attempting to cross the George Washington Bridge at the same time -– the path was very narrow. It seemed as if there was no bandwidth, but in fact, Sonotel had put the infrastructure in place. The first nine Joko clubs would be put next to the existing points of access. Servers outside Senegal would also be used, as a major aspect of the project was connecting Senegalese with expatriates in New York, Paris and Milan.

When asked how bringing Senegalese people online would change the nature of the Internet, Abdoul Aziz-Mbaye said that the Senegalese culture could bring additional content to the Internet. This project aimed to bring forward the best of Africa.

Djibril Diallo said that the reason the UNDP was present was to salute Mr. N’Dour’s innovative project. He had always provided a voice to the voiceless. All his initiatives were anchored in local culture and local societies. The UNDP had ventures with leaders like Mr. N’Dour to bring the issue of sustainable human development to the remotest villages.

In response to another question, Mr. N’Dour said that in the past years education had gained pace in the cities and the countryside. There was basic education and there was ground to start things like the Internet. This was why the Joko project could be a success -- there was an eagerness for opportunities, skills-developing, training and information in general. He believed in the project and that, in a few years, the members of the Joko clubs could create their own Internet projects and communities.

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