CAMFED-Google provides ICT to three Districts in N/R

The Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), an NGO, with Google, is establishing three Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centers in three districts in the Northern Region. The districts are the Nanumba North, Gushegu and East Mamprusi. Launching the ICT center at Bimbilla in the Nanumba North District on Thursday, the Deputy Minister of Communications, Mr. Ernest Attuquaye Armah, commended the numerous interventions being undertaken by CAMFED-Ghana in rural communities and urged other NGOs to follow its example. He said Ghana�s ICT for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) policy priority areas were the deployment and spread of ICT in the communities and putting in place mechanisms to ensure the participation of young girls and women to ensure that policies are geared towards their developmental needs. Mr. Armah said developing nations were leaving no stone unturned in efforts to institute ICT in basic, secondary and tertiary institutions and correctional homes. He said the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication (GIFEC), established in January 2005, aims at providing financial resources for the establishment of universal access to basic telephony, internet services, broadband and broadcasting services to all communities. The Minister urged GIFEC to make serious consideration in supporting CAMFED in its activities since it will go a long way in fulfilling part of its mandate of fostering change through ICT. Mr. Charles Atia, Head of Operations, CAMFED-Ghana, said students and teachers in Bimbilla could now have access to the globe and deepen their learning and research. He said the Bimbilla ICT center was the first out of the three pilot facilities being established and added that the remaining two would be inaugurated before the end of the month. Mr. Atia said the establishment of the ICT centers was complementary to other programmes implemented by CAMFED in 24 districts in four regions and would continue to provide opportunities for girls from needy homes and vulnerable children. Alhaji Amidu Seidu, the District Chief Executive for Nanumba South, said CAMFED had become a household name in the area because it provides bursary packages to the girl-child and even pays the full fees for some and advised the youth to desist from using the ICT center to commit cyber fraud.