"Of all 10 African countries surveyed, only in South Africa is more than half the population online. The Internet penetration rate in Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Nigeria and Senegal is above the 20% threshold – but even this requires further investigation in a developing country context, where the unaf
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fordability of data means that usage is generally very low and most people are using services passively, not in the high-speed, always-on environment where studies of causality in relation to penetration and economic growth have been done. In some countries, the low Internet uptake is a result of no coverage – there is insufficient broadband extension beyond the major urban centres in the case of Mozambique, Nigeria and Uganda. Yet even in countries where there is extensive coverage, such as in Lesotho, Rwanda and South Africa, the cost of devices is a major barrier to uptake. Such demand-side constraints relate not only to affordability of devices and services, but also to classical issues of human development. In several countries, including Nigeria and Tanzania, the lack of awareness or skills on how to use the Internet accounts for the large numbers of people who remain offline." (Executive summary)
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"It is evident that Uganda will need to do some things differently to ensure improved outcomes. Addressing inconsistencies in policy that affect the sector is critical. Each policy that impacts the sector, regardless of the Ministry that develops it, should be evaluated before implementation within
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the overall context of the Digital Uganda Vision so that adverse effects can be mitigated. Supply-side interventions on their own are insufficient. Demand stimulation is essential to driving Internet uptake. Affordability of devices is the primary challenge for policymakers, with even relatively low-cost devices being beyond the financial means of large numbers of citizens. Further, the price of data, even though relatively low, is simply beyond the means of many people for meaningful use. Shifting people from passive consumption of services to productive use represents a far greater challenge, however. This requires not only improving digital literacy in order to bring people online, but developing wider skillsets for the production of local content to stimulate demand, improving entrepreneurial application to create jobs and increasing the consumptive capacity of the economy more broadly to drive growth." (Key recommendations, page vi)
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"What are the stakes of cultural production in a time of war? How is artistic expression prone to manipulation by the state and international humanitarian organizations? In the charged political terrain of post-genocide Rwanda, post-civil war Uganda, and recent violence in the Democratic Republic of
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Congo, Laura Edmondson explores performance through the lens of empire. Instead of celebrating theatre productions as expression of cultural agency and resilience, Edmondson traces their humanitarian imperatives to a place where global narratives of violence take precedence over local traditions and audiences. Working at the intersection of performance and trauma, Edmondson reveals how artists and cultural workers manipulate narratives in the shadow of empire and how empire, in turn, infiltrates creative capacities." (Publisher description)
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"The volume digs beneath the standardised and universalised veneer of professionalism to unpack routine practices and normative trends shaped by local factors, including the structural conditions of deprivation, entrenched political instability (and interference), pervasive neo-patrimonial governanc
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e systems, and the influences of technological developments. These varied and complex circumstances are shown to profoundly shape the foundations of journalism in Africa, resulting in routine practices that are both normatively distinct and equally in tune with (imported) Western journalistic cultures. The book thus broadly points to the dialectical nature of news production and the inconsistent and contradictory relationships that characterise news production cultures in Africa." (Publisher description)
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"Countries emerging from violent conflict face difficult challenges about what the role of media should be in political transitions, particularly when attempting to build a new state and balance a difficult legacy. Media, Conflict, and the State in Africa discusses how ideas, institutions and intere
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sts have shaped media systems in some of Africa's most complex state and nation-building projects. This timely book comes at a turbulent moment in global politics as waves of populist protests gain traction, and concerns continue to grow about fake news, social media echo chambers, and the increasing role of both traditional and new media in waging wars or influencing elections. Focusing on comparative cases from a historical perspective and the choices and ideas that informed the approaches of some of Africa's leaders, including guerrilla commanders Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia, Nicole Stremlau offers a unique political insight into the development of contemporary media systems in Africa." (Publisher description)
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"The GSMA mHealth programme, under the mNutrition Initiative funded by UK aid (the UK Department for International Development, DFID), has been working with mobile network operators (MNOs) and other mobile and health sector stakeholders to support the launch and scale of mobile health (mHealth) valu
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e-added services (VAS). As of December 2017, these services have cumulatively delivered lifesaving maternal and newborn child health (MNCH) and nutrition information to over 1.59 million women and their families across eight Sub-Saharan African markets: Malawi, Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, Uganda and Mozambique (Figure 1). Key findings: Adopting a HCD approach to product development and optimisation led to increased user engagement; mHealth service users demonstrated improved nutrition behaviours over non-users across all implementing markets; mHealth services resulted in an average improvement of 12 percentage points in overall nutrition knowledge among users across all eight markets; Mobile information services improve knowledge, even when existing knowledge around certain nutrition topics is reasonably high; Mobile information services have a stronger impact with poorly understood concepts; Repetition of messages about key health practices reinforces the behaviour; Forty-two per cent of mNutrition service users report sharing the information they learn with their family, friends and communities [...]" (Executive summary)
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"On 16 October 2017, the editors of two popular Ugandan newspapers—the Daily Monitor and Red Pepper—were summoned to the Criminal Investigations Directorate in Kampala following the publication of stories revealing the allocation of a Ugandan Shillings 715 m (almost £150,000) budget for a plann
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ed 10-day cross-country consultation, to be undertaken by the Parliamentary Affairs Committee." (Abstract)
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"Despite having a robust child protection framework and a burgeoning media, child rights abuse still occurs in Uganda. This takes the form of child neglect, defilement, torture, trafficking. The researchers set out to investigate media coverage of child rights issues in Uganda. A triangulation of me
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thods was used, and as will be shown later, reporting on child rights abuses is not systematic due to fragmentation of actors. The researchers found out that 185 child abuse stories were published in The New Vision in 2015. Most of the published stories were from the country’s capital – Kampala. The other obstacles to effective child rights reporting identified are as follows: concentration of reporters in urban areas, lack of special training in child rights reporting and commercial interests of media houses. The researchers recommend recruiting and training journalists to specifically report on issues of child rights and empowering upcountry reporters where many cases are committed." (Abstract)
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"Between October and December 2018, Internews carried out a rapid assessment in Kyangwali to examine two key issues: the settlement’s information ecosystem, and the formal and informal justice system operational in the settlement and available particularly to survivors of sexual and gender-based v
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iolence (SGBV). The information ecosystem assessment sought to examine communication channels employed and trusted by refugees in Kyangwali as well as languages spoken by refugees, levels of literacy among refugees, and information needs and gaps. Internews also examined the community engagement and communication strategies applied by humanitarian agencies servicing refugees in Kyangwali. Finally, Internews sought to understand the technical capacity of media partners serving the district where the refugee settlement is located in producing high-quality human rights and SGBV – related programming. In addition to the information ecosystem assessment, Internews undertook a mapping exercise to identify credible formal and informal justice mechanisms and other services available to refugee survivors of SGBV within and outside Kyangwali settlement." (https://internews.org)
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"Popular support for a free news media has declined significantly in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania – three countries currently making headlines for government attempts to limit press freedom. Recent Afrobarometer surveys show that the proportion of respondents who say the government “should have t
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he right to prevent the media from publishing things that it considers harmful to society” has risen sharply in Tanzania and Uganda, and more modestly in Kenya, over the past five years. At the same time, fewer citizens say they feel free to express their opinions." (Page 1)
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"Focusing on sub-Saharan Africa and occasionally drawing comparisons with other regions of the world, this book critically addresses the development of the field focusing on the current opportunities and challenges within the African context. By using a wide variety of case studies that include Moza
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mbique, Zambia, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, the collection gives space to previously understudied regions of sub-Saharan Africa and challenges the over-reliance of western scholarship on political communication on the continent." (Publisher description)
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"This report maps the current landscape in respect of digital rights and online freedom of expression in East, West and Southern Africa. It looks at the trends regarding law and policy developments, as well as recent litigation, within these regions. The report focuses on 18 countries – 6 per regi
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on – and tracks the recent developments that have taken place in these countries. Part I of the report provides an overview of the litigation before the ACHPR and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Court) in respect of freedom of expression. Parts II, III and IV of the report look at the trends generally in East, West and Southern Africa respectively, as well as some of the key legal and civil society actors working on digital rights and online freedom of expression, and include a snapshot of some of the notable developments – both positive and negative – that have occurred in the 18 countries under consideration in this report, as well as reflections on opportunities and challenges for vindicating digital rights within each of the countries. Lastly, Part V considers what the next possible opportunities will be for digital rights and online freedom of expression litigation in the region." (Pages 5-6)
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"Preventing violence against women (VAW) requires witnesses to come forward, yet willingness to report is often undermined by social sanctions against those suspected of fabricating allegations. Our theory of the micro-politics of information disclosure in interdependent communities elucidates the r
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ole of social norms in preventing VAW. We present experimental evidence from a media campaign attended by over 10,000 Ugandans in 112 rural villages that featured three short videos designed to encourage reporting of VAW in the household. Results indicate a substantial reduction in VAW over a 6-month period following the campaign. Investigation of mechanisms reveals that women in the treatment group became less likely to believe that they would be labeled a gossip if they were to report an incident of VAW, and their personal willingness to speak out increased substantially. We find no evidence of a deeper change in core values pertaining to VAW." (Abstract)
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"The 43 country reports included in this year’s Global Information Society Watch (GISWatch) capture the different experiences and approaches in setting up community networks across the globe. They show that key ideas, such as participatory governance systems, community ownership and skills transfe
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r, as well as the “do-it-yourself” spirit that drives community networks in many different contexts, are characteristics that lend them a shared purpose and approach. The country reports are framed by eight thematic reports that deal with critical issues such as the regulatory framework necessary to support community networks, sustainability, local content, feminist infrastructure and community networks, and the importance of being aware of “community stories” and the power structures embedded in those stories." (Back cover)
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