eParticipation in East Africaintroduction, some platforms

and a case study:Amahoro Mu Matora

Victor van Reijswoud MIS4D.com

victor@mis4d.com

Landry Ninteretseworld.350.org/africa/

landry.ninteretse@gmail.com

Government and ICT

• e-Government: ICTs within government, with a view to improve the efficiency in interactions and information flows between government departments and state organs

• e-Governance: ICTs in the interface between government and citizens, with a view to improving interaction and feedback between government and citizens

• e-Participation: ICTs for empowerment of citizens and civil society organisations. This occurs at three levels: provision of information to citizens, citizen consultation and dialogue between governments and citizens.

The e-State

Three cross-cutting components

1. Access to ICT and connectivity: Public investment in information and public/private communication systems, connectivity and equipment infrastructure, to enable XS4All.

2. Access to information: Public investment to promote the digitalization and dissemination of public information within the population

3. Regulation and political environment: Public investment to support the creation and implementation of new technology strategies for development and e-governance, legislation and regulation, and for strengthening competencies within public bodies involved in setting, implementing and monitoring policies.

Citizen Participation

• ‘The concept of good governance carries in it the essence of democracy through the mechanism of institutionalized citizen participation’ (Coulibaly, 2004)

• Citizen participation is expressed through:– information– awareness-raising– consultation– questioning– dialogue etc.

Citizen participation processes

1. Information: One-way relationship in which citizens receive information from governments

2. Consultation: Two-way interaction via forums, opinion surveys, polls, etc.

3. Representation: Presence within institutions where decision-making takes place.

4. Volunteering: Participation and commitment 5. Monitoring: Watchdog role; monitoring public

policies; inspection; evaluation of public services

Limiting factors

1. Low human capital: poor literacy and schooling rates

2. Gender inequalities3. Infrastructure limitations4. Status of democratic governance: genuine

democratic practices and processes, demonstrated by the ability of citizens to exercise full freedom of expression.

Some platforms

Blogging

• Wordpress.com• Blogspot.com

Crowdmapping

Kenyan Innovationmultiple-channel

crowdsourcing information to map (visualize)

information> emergency response,

election monitoring, peace building…

open source

Online petitions / e-Petitions

• Use the internet to mobilize large groups

• Transnational

• Change.org• Onlinepetition.org• Gopetition.com

eParticipation

Case study of an Early Warning Early

Response Project

‘Amahoro Mu Matora’ Project

• In 2010, 10 local and international organisations initiated ‘Amatora Mu Mahoro’ to monitor democratic principles and prevention of electoral violence

• Project used a web platform (www.burundi.ushahidi.com) updated with information from more than 400 citizen reporters

Goal and Objectives

• Goal: To prevent electoral violence in Burundi 2010 elections

• Objectives:• Use reliable data to prevent electoral violence • Map and monitor electoral violence objectively and reliably • Strengthen the capacity of CSOs in monitoring and mapping

electoral violence• Develop a better understanding of the causes of electoral

violence and mitigation strategies

Key Components

• Early warning to allow early response• Monitoring and Reporting on electoral

violence• Mapping of conflict and conflict indicators• Provide advice and support strategies of

conflict resolution and violence reduction• Building grassroots networks of conflict

resolution

Methodology

• Clear definition of electoral violence• Reporting based on incidents (location, time,

damages and victims)• Reporting based on indicators (early warning

to violence indicators)• Reporting on peace initiatives• Importance of information verification• Public reporting of data and trends

Technology used

• Mobile phones• Desktops and laptops connected to Internet• Mapping softwares• Centralized data base

Results of monitoring

Web site• Presents reports sent by

SMS• Identifies and locates

violent incidents• Shares information with

stakeholders to take immediate action

Weekly Reports• Identify early indicators• Provide detailed data

analysis from citizen reporters

• Share information with appropriate stakeholders to take preventive measures

Successes and Challenges

• This experience showed a strong potential of organizations, citizen reporters and analysts to monitor objectively relationships between various political and non-political actors

• This experience inspired the Kenyan civil society that has used and improved this system to organize a careful monitoring of the 2013 elections.

• This initiative faced technical and logistical challenges and was not able to collect rapidly and objectively facts and incidents for an early response