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A study of the ICT initiatives and projects/programmes being sponsored by the Donor and UN Agencies was conducted by the Technical Support Staff. This exercise was done as part of activities to facilitate the National ICT Policy and Plan development process in Ghana.
The study was done to gather information on the nature; scope and areas of emphasis of ICT related initiatives and projects/programmes been supported by the Donor and UN Agencies in Ghana. The intention is to gain a broad overview of ICT initiatives in the country in order to advice government.
Listed below are the Donor and UN Agencies that were contacted and their responses. The result of the survey is summarized as follows:
The name of each project is stated as well as the implementing and sponsoring organisation(s). A brief description of each project is given and the core objective of the project stated. Under the scope, it is stated if the project is organisational; supporting a particular sector; or is a national project. The time frame, the stage, and beneficiary organisations and/or institutions for the project are also stated.
The list of organisations contacted is as follows:
1. International Institute of Communication Development – IICD
2. United States Agency for International Development – USAID
3. Danish Agency for Development Assistance - DANIDA (Royal Danish Embassy)
4. Japan International Cooperation Agency – JICA
5. International Development Association – IDA of World Bank
6. European Commission (European Development Fund)
7. United Nations Fund for Population Activities – UNFPA
8. Canadian International Development Agency - CIDA
9. United Nations Development Programme - UNDP
10. Department for International Development – DFID
11. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the UN - FAO
12. World Health Organisation - WHO
13. India High Commission
14. United Nations Educational, Scientific And Cultural Organisation – UNESCO
15. United Nations Children’s Fund – UNICEF
SUMMARY OF SURVEY RESULTS
Response to the Survey
A total of eighteen (18) UN and Donor Agencies and some Embassies were contacted for information on the ICT related projects they are sponsoring in the country. Fourteen (14) of the UN and Donor Agencies and one embassy responded as supporting some ICT related projects, and provided the necessary information on them. The remaining three are not sponsoring any ICT related project as of now. The total number of projects received is thirty-six (36). The project information is summarized as follows:
Beneficiaries of Projects
From Table 1 below, The Public Sector Organisations (PSO’s) are the beneficiaries and implementers of most of the projects. They are the beneficiaries of as many as seventeen projects forming 48.6% of the projects. The Ministries benefited from eleven of the projects, representing 31.4%. The other beneficiaries are some educational institutions; NGOs and some communities.
A graphical representation of groups of organizations that benefit from the Donor Agency sponsored projects is also shown. In most cases the beneficiaries of the projects are also the implementers.
Beneficiaries |
No. of Projects |
Percentages |
Ministries |
11 |
31.40% |
PSOs |
17 |
48.60% |
Educational Institutions |
4 |
11.40% |
NGOs and Communities |
3 |
8.60% |
|
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Types of Projects
The projects received can be categorized as follows:
- Delivering ICT to schools and institutions in the form of training teachers, librarians and students.
- Installing electronic networking systems for communication, and dissemination of information within an establishment and with the outside world.
- Establishing information centers, community learning centers and resource centers for communication, to educate the communities on social issues, and to introduce ICT to the communities.
- Creating of databases for easy access to information.
- Developing websites to publicize the activities of an organisation and to provide a link between the organisation and the public.
- Providing links between the countries universities and research institutions for easy access to research information.
- Using ICT to support the development of Ghana’s emerging industrial sector.
- Using ICT to enhance government’s policy management process and to strengthen Government to monitor development activities in the country.
- Using ICT to merge culture and development.
- Infrastructure development to improve the activities of an organization.
Scope of Projects
The scope of the project indicates whether the project is organizational, sectoral or national. If a project is organisational, it implies the implementing organization is the sole beneficiary of the project. A sectoral project supports a sector of the economy and a national project covers a number of organisations, or sectors of the economy.
From Table below, most of the projects submitted are either sectoral; that is to support a particular sector of the economy, or national. There were fifteen sectoral projects and another fifteen of the projects are national projects. This represented 42.9% of the total number of projects received.
Beneficiaries |
No. of Projects |
Percentages |
Ministries |
3 |
8.6% |
PSOs |
15 |
42.9% |
Educational Institutions |
15 |
42.9% |
NGOs and Communities |
2 |
5.0% |
|
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Stage of Projects
From Table 3, and it is obvious that almost all the projects received are being fully implemented; this represents 88.6% of the projects. There are a few projects that are being implemented on Pilot basis. None of the Donor Supported projects are in the feasibility stage
Most of the projects are at the full implementation stage because of the nature of the projects. Most of the projects are directly implemented hence no need for a feasibility or pilot implementation, example, networking of offices and designing a website.
Beneficiaries |
No. of Projects |
Percentages |
Full Implementation |
31 |
88.60% |
Pilot Implementation |
4 |
11.40% |
Feasibility |
0 |
0.00% |
Total |
35 |
100% |
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Conclusion
The ICT related projects being supported by the donor agencies are aimed at improving the living standards of the people and to facilitate the dissemination of information from civil society groups to the public. Some of the projects are also aimed at improving the work of Government. The Donor and UN Agencies supported projects have a very wide coverage area. Most of the projects are either sectoral or national.
In a similar survey of on-going ICT projects and initiatives in Government Ministries and some PSO, the ICT related projects that were named by the Ministries and PSO’s are not the same as those that were submitted by the Donor and UN Agencies as the projects they are supporting.
At the moment, over eighty million US Dollars (US$ 80m) is being spent on ICT related projects by the Donor and UN Agencies in Ghana. |
