Examining the nexus between ICTs and human rights in Africa : the case of South Africa

Meeting: International Workshop on the Nexus between ICTs and Human Rights in Africa, 2-4 April, 2009, Kampala, UGThis paper provides an in-depth analysis of privacy issues in South Africa in terms of human rights legislation and the South African constitution. It also reviews the legal framework for censorship, along with issues of freedom of expression and hate speech with regards to information and communication technology (ICT)

Nexus between ICTs and human rights in Africa in Rwanda

Meeting: International Workshop on the Nexus between ICTs and Human Rights in Africa, 2-4 April, 2009, Kampala, UGThe report broadly covers the use of information and communication technology (ICT) from the viewpoint of ICT usage as “a double-edged sword.” Used properly, ICTs can result in the enhancement of human rights. On the other hand, it can also lead to violations of human rights, especially where authoritarian governments exist. The paper focuses on the Rwandan experience

Succession planning in Uganda: Early outreach for AIDS-affected children and their families

This publication reports on an intervention study that evaluated the effectiveness of a succession planning (SP) program in Uganda. Unlike most other programs for AIDS-affected children, succession planning reaches children and their families while their HIV-positive parents are still living and in a position to plan for their children’s long-term well-being. Research carried out by the Department of Sociology at Makerere University (Kampala) and the Population Council Horizons program suggests that succession planning is a promising approach: despite AIDS-related stigma and cultural resistance to acknowledging illness and death, qualitative research indicates that the approach met with a high degree of acceptability among HIV-positive parents and counseling aides who carried out the program. The report also presents findings on the impact of the program on children and discusses the program and policy implications of the research

ICT policies relating to privacy, freedom of expression and access to information : a briefing paper

Meeting: International Workshop on the Nexus between ICTs and Human Rights in Africa, 2-4 April, 2009, Kampala, UGICTs have made access to information and freedom of expression easier for those with less resources, and expanded the capacity for mass distribution of information. At the same time, ICTs allow for automated censorship and pose new threats to privacy. This document is a brief primer on some key issues in Africa in areas of privacy, freedom of expression and access to information, and how they relate to ICT policy. The digital divide is a significant problem in many African countries, limiting access to information. The document was prepared for the International Workshop on ‘The Nexus Between ICTs and Human Rights in Africa.

Examining the nexus between ICTs and human rights in Uganda : a survey of the key issues

Meeting: International Workshop on the Nexus between ICTs and Human Rights in Africa, 2-4 April, 2009, Kampala, UGThe aim of the paper is to facilitate understanding of the legal policies on ICTs and Human Rights in Uganda, and to illuminate the rationale and regulatory logic for policies with regard to technological and human rights challenges. The paper analyzes the legal framework and policy in terms of the right to privacy, access to information, censorship, freedom of expression and hate speech. Among key issues of concern are questions of national security and the ‘fight against terrorism’, interception of private communication and correspondence, digital censorship and surveillance of the Internet, as well as interference with mobile telephone communications

Technology Adoption and Dissemination in Agriculture: Evidence from Sequential Intervention in Maize Production in Uganda

経済学 / EconomicsWe use a randomized control trial to measure how the free distribution of modern inputs for maize production affects their adoption in the subsequent season. Information collected through sales meetings where modern inputs were sold revealed that the average purchase quantity of free-input recipients was much higher than that of non-recipients; that of the neighbors of recipients fell in-between. Also, credit sales had a large impact on purchase quantity, and the yield performance of plots where the free inputs had been applied positively affected the purchase quantities of both recipients and the neighbors with whom they shared information on farming. JEL Classification Codes: O13, O33, O55http://www.grips.ac.jp/list/jp/facultyinfo/matsumoto_tomoya

Breast cancer awareness in the sub-Saharan African ABC-DO cohort: African Breast Cancer—Disparities in Outcomes study

A greater understanding of the nature and drivers of poor breast cancer (BC) awareness in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will inform much needed awareness programmes. We aimed to assess the level and nature of BC awareness in the multi-country African Breast Cancer—Disparities in Outcome (ABC-DO) cohort of women newly diagnosed with BC during 2014–2017. Awareness indicators were assessed during a baseline interview at/near diagnosis. Logistic/ordinal regression was used to estimate odds ratios (OR) for indicators of BC awareness in relation to woman-level characteristics for individual settings and then meta-analyzed. In the 1,451 women included, almost all Namibian non-black women (n = 104) knew of BC and its curability, while in Namibian black and Zambian women, one in 7 (~ 15%) had not previously heard of BC and 25–40% did not know it was curable. In Uganda and Nigeria awareness was lowest: one in four women had no BC awareness, and 2 in 3 had no knowledge of its cure potential. Low educational level, unskilled employment, low socioeconomic position, rural residence, older age, being unmarried, and in some settings HIV-positivity, were associated with lower BC awareness—e.g., having unskilled employment was associated with not having heard of BC (summary OR 3.37; 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.17–5.23), believing that it is incurable (2.43; 1.81–3.26), and not recognizing a breast lump symptom (1.85; 1.41–2.43) but with between-setting variation (I2 > 68% for all). The findings provide evidence of the level and difference in BC awareness and beliefs across different settings, highlighting the urgent need for context-specific education programmes in the SSA region