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<p class=MsoNormal>The following item was seen on AllAfrica.com at
http://allafrica.com/stories/200712131227.html .<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>UNECA Champions Local Language On Net<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Highway Africa News Agency (Grahamstown)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>http://hana.ru.ac.za/<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>13 December 2007<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Posted to the web 13 December 2007<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>David Muwanga<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA)
recently launched the Academic Network of African Researchers on Languages to
undertake research on how "Internet language" can be simplified and
translated into local languages. "We want to link computer sciences closer
with languages with an objective of bridging the language digital divide that
does hinder our local people from using ICTs especially in the use of
Internet," said UNECA's Director of ICT, Science and technology Division
Aida Opoku-Mensah.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>At the same time, the International Development Research
Centre (IDRC) has launched a programme to review the national ICT policies of
African countries on how they address the issue of languages. "We would
like to see which country has language in its ICT policy", said IDRC
Senior Programme Specialist Dr. Adel El Zaim. He said it remains the role of
African governments to monitor and implement policies encouraging use of local
language and encourage its application in schools.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>"If a government in Africa implements such a programme
it would have created employment for the local software developers, while many
local people would benefit from and understand the local content since it will
not be in foreign languages," he emphasised. He noted that IDRC has set up
an ICT project covering Morroco, Tunisia, Jordan, Egypt and Sudan but is facing
implementation hiccups due to lack of a single language to be used in the
process.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>"In Morocco and Tunisia we had French, while in Sudan,
Jordan and Egypt we found Arabic and English languages being used. We are
talking of a knowledge society and in the end we had to use all the three languages
in the network in order to enable them communicate with the rest of the World,'
he said.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Chairman of the advisory committee in ICANN, Mohammed Sharil
Tarmizi said Africa's Internet penetration is only at 3.5 percent.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>"We have more than 6800 languages in the world but how
many of them are African and are used on the Internet? African governments
should set up policies that give guidelines on how trhey should get involved in
language issues and commit the telecommunication providers to venture into rural
areas instead of isolating them," he emphasised. He said that out of the
6800 languages that were identified by the United Nations Educational
Scientific and Cultural Organisations (UNESCO), 94 percent are spoken by only 3
percent of the world population.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>"In Africa we know there are languages that are not
written and with time they would disappear. But if we use our local content, we
would be enabling our people to create own jobs and products that are relevant
for the emerging people and the emerging market," he said.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal>Copyright © 2007 Highway Africa News Agency. All rights
reserved.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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