Gender and ICT in Fragile States: AFGHANISTAN

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1 Gender and ICT in Fragile States: AFGHANISTAN Gender and Economic Empowerment: The Role of ICTs Social Development Week February 2008

2 Basic ICT statistics for Afghanistan One telephone mainline per 1000 people Four mobile phone companies Eight telephone mainlines per 1000 people in largest city Five million cell phone subscribers out of 35 million people Fourteen television sets per 1000 people Less than one personal computer per 1000 people Two internet users per 1000 people compare to South Asia average of 7,973 2

3 The Challenge Develop income generating opportunities for women who cannot leave their compounds. The operating environment is a mid-conflict zone with active combat. The mid-conflict situation is exacerbated by suicide bombers and guerrilla warfare. Engagement with stakeholders severely limited by security and by their seclusion. Low levels of literacy and numeracy among younger women no schools under Taliban years. 3

4 The Opportunity High demand from stakeholders. Strong private partner with pre-existing experience in use of mobile phones as income generating model for women. Government is willing and eager. U.S. Congressional mandate to spend $2 million per alternative livelihoods project. Field research proved that there ARE women traders who leave households to sell to other home-bound women. Full teleconnectivity for target area. 4

5 Our counterparts willing and eager 5

6 Major Success: We hit the ground running Immediate 24 hour response from WB gender team to my query from the field. Referred to contact at Grameen Foundation who sent entire package of business models, contracts, village phone manuals, training programs, etc., ready for translation into local languages. Saved us 6 months of work huge cost savings. Engaged with willing private provider immediately due to strength of networks. 6

7 7 Badakhshan Nurestan Kunduz Badghis Herat Farah Nimroz Helmand Kandahar Uruzgan Zabul Ghazni Ghowr Faryab Jowzjan Balkh Parwan Samangan Sar-e-Pol Takhar Bamyan Paktika Khost Paktia Wardak Logar Kabul Konar Nangarhar Laghman Kapisa Baghlan Mazar-e-Sharif Kunduz Herat Kandahar Qalat Ghazni Khost Gardez Jalalabad Asadabad Bamyan Parwan Lashkar Gah Farah Tirin Kowt Sharan Maimana Pul-i-Kumri Faizabad

8 Helmand Province 8

9 IED Alley 9

10 Stats on Helmand Province Population 990,000 Stronghold of Taliban movement Porous border with Pakistan High cell phone penetration due to robust illicit economy Women are not allowed to leave compounds Per capita income high due to illicit income from poppy trade, but distribution highly skewed. #1 producer of opium poppy in Afg and #2 in the world and growing For 2006, record crop yielded 6,100 tons of opium: enough to make 610 tons of heroin - outstripping the demand of global heroine demand by 1/3 10

11 The airport in Lashkargah, capital of Helmand Province 11

12 The Project: ALP/S Alternative Livelihoods South covering 3 provinces: Helmand, Kandahar, and Uruzgan. Implemented by Chemonics as USAID contractor. Total funding $119 million. Combination of agribusiness, infrastructure, and BDS components. 12

13 Business Model: Grameen Phone Private sector partner engaged: Roshan Telecom One of biggest mobile networks in Afghanistan Strong record of corporate social responsibility Largest roster of female staff in a male-dominated field in a misogynist environment 13

14 Public Call Centers (PCOs) are big business so we set up Helmand Village Phone Program Call center is pay-per-call mobile phone for public use women operate out of fruit and vegetable stands, homes. Popular because personal mobile phones still out of reach of most Afghans Mobile phones are key instrument in hawala money transfer and remittances 14

15 What Operating will work environment for our deteriorates- country? Helmand Village Phone Program Cancelled July 2006 my counterpart, Director of Women s Affairs, Amajan Safia, machine gunned down in Kandahar on her way to work. August 2006 woman and her 10 year old son are publicly hung by Taliban in Helmand for having a mobile phone on them. Project is assaulted 9 times over course of 2 years, 7 staff killed, road IEDs, ambush with small- arms and RPGs, office hit by suicide bomber, innumerable death threats and night letters to staff. 15

16 Other Constraints to this model in Afghanistan and other fundamentalist parts of the world 1. Mobile phones are increasingly a major tool for sex workers and their managers influences perceptions of women s s access to mobile phones. 2. The sound of a woman s s voice is still considered inflammatory and seductive. 16

17 Key Lessons Learned Knowledge management works superbly in the gender group of the World Bank Consult with insurgents (?!?) e.g., Al Sadr militia running MOPH in Iraq ICT projects can be construed as intelligence work for opposing groups. Evaluate socio-political context thoroughly Similar risks exist in other fragile areas such as western Pakistan and eastern Congo where violence against women is endemic, rule-of-law does not exist, and militias run the local areas. 17

18 Roshan successes in ICT in Afghanistan Successful PCOs for women are working in Kabul, Hirat, and Mazari-sharif less conservative environments with stronger security. Agricultural public-private partnership with Mercy Corps in the south where Roshan can bring market prices to farmers through sms messaging, which targets male farmers, but still has the potential to defuse stigma of cell phones. Vodafone launch Afghanistan s first mobile money transfer system, branded M-Paisa is a mobile technology platform that provides financial services for those without access to banking. Pioneering telemedicine with Cisco Systems using broadband technology, wireless video consultation and digital image transfer, to provide hospitals in Afghanistan with real-time access to specialist diagnosis, treatment and training expertise from abroad. 18

19 We can t t give up 19