[AU-Monitor] Fahamu conference on mobile technology

[Patrick Burnett]

Dear All,

I thought you might be interested in this workshop/conference that 
Fahamu is developing on the use of mobile technology in Africa. Please 
let us know if you are interested, feel free to pass the information on 
to your networks and do let us know if you know of any interesting 
mobile technology initiatives in your country or region. Please reply 
to fahamumobile at gmail.com and not to the list.

Best,

Patrick

Patrick Burnett
Contributing Editor
Fahamu
www.fahamu.org
 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Pambazuka News
www.pambazuka.org
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Mobile phones for social justice: Calls for expressions of interest
Fahamu
www.fahamu.org

Mobile phone technologies have taken Africa by storm. The technology 
has raised new possibilities for activism by human rights and social 
justice organisations and for service delivery in fields such as health 
care, banking and agricultural information.

In 2007, Fahamu and Tactical Tech will hold a conference in Nairobi, 
Kenya, that will aim to enable those using mobile phone technologies in 
activism or service delivery work to exchange their experiences of 
using the technology in the African context and plan strategies to 
support their work. The conference will explore areas related to the 
use of mobile technology in the African context, future trends, best 
practice and available tools and resources.

The conference will establish an African regional network of those who 
use mobile phone technologies and facilitate an ongoing support 
network. The meeting will also lead to the development of a toolkit on 
mobile phones put together by an international team of practitioners 
with relevant expertise.

As part of the development of this initiative, Fahamu is conducting 
research to consult widely and involve as many interested parties as 
possible in the network and 2007 conference.

Fahamu would like to hear from you if you have:

-	Used, are currently using, or planning to use, mobile phone 
technology in human rights and social justice work in Africa;
-	Used or are currently using mobile phones in service delivery work in 
Africa;
-	Developed or are in the process of developing technologies related to 
mobile phones;
-	Plan to use mobile phone technologies in the future in Africa.

Interested individuals and organisations are asked to send an 
expression of interest not longer than one page to 
fahamumobile at gmail.com with the following information:

-	Name of organisation or individual
-	Contact Details
-	Country
-	Nature of past, existing or planned work involving mobile technology, 
including a description of the project, the problem it sought to 
address and its successes or failures. Alternatively, we would welcome 
seeing any reports you may have produced (any such information will be 
treated confidentially if that is your preference).

If you would like to discuss this on the phone (preferably using 
something like Skype) please let us know.

It is envisaged that the conference will be held in May 2007. Funds 
will be available for travel, accommodation and limited expenses of 
invited participants.

Further information about Fahamu can be found at www.fahamu.org and 
www.pambazuka.org