Networking Change - Creating Opportunities through ICTs (Video)

This 30-minute video describes how information communication and technology (ICT) can help women fight poverty from impoverished areas in rural India. This video was produced in the framework of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)'s pilot project "Putting ICT in the Hands of the Poor", which examines the information needs of poverty stricken communities in South Asia, with a special focus on gender issues.

As described on the UNESCO website, the gender divide is considered to be one of the most significant inequalities which cuts across all social and income groups. UNESCO’s concern about women’s marginalisation from ICT stems from the assumption that women benefit less from new educational and employment opportunities. In many instances in India, women who live in rural areas do not have structured local communication networks or access to information and knowledge, barriers that compound and enhance poverty.

Three experiences are depicted in the films:

• Nabanna community network in Baduria, West Bengal,
• ICT Learning Centre for Women in Seelampur, a poverty stricken area in New Delhi, and
• Namma Dhwani Local ICT network in Budikote, Karnataka, India.