Multipurpose Community Telecentres aim at providing communication and information facilities (phone, fax, Internet, computers, photocopier, audio-visual equipment, etc.) for a wide range of community uses, including the improvement of governance and public services. Public libraries as gateways to information and facilities for open and flexible learning are key MCT support components which UNESCO is promoting with its telematics and Learning without Frontiers programmes. Within the UN System-wide Special Initiative on Africa, UNESCO (under the DANIDA Funds-in-Trust programme) has teamed with the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the ITU to sponsor a pilot programme to test the MCT concept in rural communities of five least developed African countries (Benin, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda). Several other partners (British Council, FAO, UNDP, WHO) are participating in the MCT consortium supporting these projects. The CNET (Centre national d'Etudes des Télécommunications) in France is providing expertise on vocal interfaces for the MCT in Mali (based on speech synthesis permitting access to information services by illiterates and through voice mail, for example) in the context of a five-year cooperation agreement between UNESCO and CNET being prepared in the field of application of telecommunications to distance learning. UNESCO is working with the International Telecommunication Union / Development Sector (ITU-D)in the planning of MCT activities in other regions. The projects in Mali (in Timbuktu, a regional capital and UNESCO World Heritage site at the edge of the desert north of the country) and Uganda (in Nakaseke, a village 50 km. north of Kampala) started in 1998, while those in Benin (in Malanville, a small city in the far north of the country), Mozambique (Maniça and Namaacha, small towns respectively about 70 and 50 km. from Maputo) and Tanzania (in Sengerema, a small town on Lake Victoria) are starting in 1999. The Timbuktu MCT already has an initial website http://www.tombouctou.org.ml/        Meetings   Integrating Modern and Traditional Information and Communication Technologies for Community Development. An International Seminar addressing the digital divide in some of the poorest communities of the developing world. Kothmale, Sri Lanka, January 22 - 27, 2001. The role of community telecentres in fostering universal access and rural development will be discussed during a seminar organized in Tunis, from 21 to 24 March 1999. The role of Multipurpose Community Telecentres in fostering universal access and rural development. Information Seminar and Workshop for Eastern European Countries. Budapest, Hungary, 7 - 9/12/98        Links   UN System-wide Special Initiative on Africa International Development Research Centre (IDRC) International Telecommunication Union (ITU) British Council Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) World Health Organization (WHO) Centre national d'Etudes des Télécommunications (CNET)        Contact - John Rose, UNESCO, Information and Informatics Division   cii.webmaster@unesco.org © Copyright 1998 - UNESCO