Internet Access and Training Program (IATP)

Internet Access

Why Provide Internet Access?
Reported Internet penetration rates in Eurasia vary between 1% (Turkmenistan and Tajikistan) to 30% (Ukraine and Belarus), though such statistical data is not always reliable. By providing access to the Internet, IATP fosters the development of new human networks through which ideas are exchanged and new viewpoints are formed. These networks thus enable citizens to better understand the complexities of their local and national communities as they strive to develop more active civil societies and promote democratization. At the same time, access to the Internet can have a remarkable impact on individual and organizational productivity, as information resources contribute to more effective decision-making.

Student Defends Her Legal Rights Following Seminar

Irina Betianu, a college student from Chisinau, Moldova, succeeded in defending her legal rights in purchasing an apartment. This success was due to an awareness-raising seminar at the IATP center. The seminar, led by Moldova State University law professor Vasilie Fotescu and organized by IATP, focused on the status and protection of students’ legal and human rights. Betianu drew upon the seminar in completing a transparent purchase of an apartment, despite the attempts of the owner to ignore some steps of the process and gloss over some facts. The seller also wrote the agreement in difficult language and delayed the signing without stating a reason. Using the knowledge she acquired at the seminar, and with additional help from Fotescu, Betianu found out how to construct a secure and legal contract, where to get assistance with legal questions, and how to use her rights to her advantage. Betianu commented “I’m very glad that I attended this seminar and could find a way of solving my problem. In our country few know their rights. This is why rights are often violated.”

IATP Strengthens Civil Society Links in Eastern Ukraine

IATP helped to create an online database of NGOs in Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, uniting over 100 NGOs across the region and promoting coordinated civic development. Within a week of a July information communication technology (ICT) training for NGO officials, more than 30 NGOs applied to register on the online resource http://cso.dp.ua as part of the Civil Society Initiatives project (CSI). CSI is supported and funded by the private, non-profit organization National Endowment for Democracy, which aims to strengthen democratic institutions around the world through nongovernmental efforts (http://www.ned.org/).

After its launch in June, CSI’s online portal had only a few NGOs in its database since the registration process required users to have basic ICT skills. At the request by the NGO Tamarisk, which manages CSI in Dnipropetrovsk, IATP developed a series of ICT courses for interested NGO officials on how to register online, use online forms, and to promote the database among potential users. By the end of July, Tamarisk presented the online database and discussed its potential impact with NGOs, local officials, and businesses at a roundtable on solving local problems. The high level of interest stemming from this and other events increased the number of participating NGOs to 100 by August. During the next few months, project managers plan to involve another 50 active NGOs in CSI activities.

Tamarisk representative Natalia Stadnichuk commented, “Thanks to IATP, we are sure to implement our six-month project on creating the Dnipropetrovsk NGO database much faster. Cooperation with IATP adds value to the Civil Society Initiatives’ project so we can involve more parties in solving community issues.”

IATP Partners with Civil Society Organizations to Better Serve Local Communities

In April 2008 in Moldova, 30 finance officers underwent IATP training to improve the quality of their work. Another eight representatives from local administrations learned how to use specialized accounting software. Additionally, in Ukraine, a visually impaired IATP user developed a nine-month-long English language training course for 14 youth, and an architect successfully advocated for the preservation of historical sites using IT skills acquired through IATP training. Finally, representatives of a local NGO in Georgia raised over $8,000 in grants for a program to enhance disabled children’s education thanks to IATP training. By teaching ICT skills to local advocates and NGO officials, IATP is helping improve both the reach and the sustainability of the non-governmental sector across Eurasia. Below is additional detail on each of these IATP success stories:

Thirty finance officers of local administrations in four Moldovan districts of Volovita, Soroca, Sculeni, and Peresecina improved the quality and efficiency of their work due to newly obtained skills as a result of a training series co-sponsored by the IATP center in Chisinau and the NGO Center for Assistance to Public Authorities (CAAP). CAAP is a non-governmental think tank established in 2002 with the aim to help create a favorable environment for social and economic development in Moldova. In early February, CAAP Regional Coordinator Stella Jemna conducted training-of-trainers at the IATP Center in Chisinau to teach eight representatives of local administrations how to use a specialized accounting software product called "1C Book-Keeping." In April, four of these newly qualified trainers instructed their colleagues in applying this software to their daily work. Financial officers immediately began using the program, which helped them automatically record and process all financial transactions and increase the speed and accuracy of their work. Teaching government officials ICT skills improves their constituent services and streamlines inefficient bureaucracy.

Fourteen visually impaired young people will learn English in a special nine-month course developed by active IATP user Larysa Sayevych in Donetsk, Ukraine. The President of the English Speaking Club and visually impaired herself, Sayevych won a grant of $20,000 from the World Bank for her new project aimed at facilitating employment for disabled individuals. Due to IATP training Larysa acquired the necessary skills to teach her students English using ICT. According to the project proposal she has three months to develop teaching methods and to select two groups of students, and then nine months for to train the students. Larysa commented, “I am very happy that I can help people like me find a better job, not feel deserted, feel valuable to society.”

The access IATP provides takes on even greater importance considering the environments of many countries in which the program works. For example, mass media in some former Soviet states is under strict government control, and the Internet is often the only way to access information untainted by national governments for political purposes. IATP is creating opportunities for journalists’ professional development and citizen journalism, as illustrated below.

IATP Empowers Budding Journalists to Report on Critical Issues using Web 2.0

Sponsored by a special grant from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), a four-day conference facilitated cross-border dialogue and demonstrated new technologies for supporting free speech for youth from Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. From February through May 2008, IREX conducted intensive training for third- and fourth-year journalism students between the ages of 18 and 25. The training culminated in a conference for 11 finalists on utilizing ICT in journalism.

Participants were selected through a competitive selection process during which they learned about relevant Internet applications, ICT, and blogging. The process required that they use IATP centers to communicate online with famous Georgian journalists, create blogs, and publish articles on them. Examples can be found at: http://blogs.mail.ru/list/nelegalnii_adres/, http://anichankotadze.wordpress.com/, http://yanaisraelyan.wordpress.com/, http://nargizka.wordpress.com. Based on the young journalists’ blogs and their level of participation during the training and online discussions, IREX selected 11 finalists out of more than 150 young people from the three countries in the South Caucasus for advanced training in Batumi, Georgia.

Despite disagreements among their governments, a history of enmity, as well as the mix of divergent cultures and religions, the participants collaborated in online learning exercises to study each other’s countries and learned more about the current situation in the South Caucasus, including the main challenges and the achievements in development of democracy and media. As part of their assignment, the finalists researched the political and social situations in their neighbors’ countries and later discussed and compared them with their peers.

During the conference, finalists interviewed Georgian citizens in Batumi on the Georgian parliamentarian elections, which took place during the week of the conference. Nargiz Ibragimova from Azerbaijan learned from her experience taking on-the-street interviews and shared, “From the first day of the training, I started asking all the Georgians around me about their political preferences. I was surprised when the results were announced and the National Movement, the present ruling party, received 63 percent of the vote, since about 80 percent of the people I interviewed were voting for the United Opposition Movement.” They also collated reports on the results of the elections from Georgian, Armenian, and Azeri online magazines, and compared those articles with ones from the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). As a result, participants learned to recognize different attitudes and opinions and cover events in a neutral way.

Participants’ bios, information about their training, and links to their blog and articles, were combined onto a single online collaborative portal (http://iatpcauc.wikidot.com). The participants from the three countries will reunite on July 17 for an online discussion on applying Web 2.0 technologies for professional needs. At the conference, trainees vowed to spread their knowledge in their home countries by organizing seminars and sharing their expertise with others. Three participants from Georgia, Ani Chakvetadze, Keti Mgebrishvili and Yana Israelyan, already conducted seminars on wiki journalism and blogging for peers in June. IATP will utilize materials and best practices from this training and conference in order to offer specialized courses for journalists throughout its network in Central Asia and Western Eurasia.

IATP Trains Journalists in ICT Techniques

As journalists face increasing demand for instant reporting, ICTs constitute an exciting new set of tools. IATP and the Independent School of Journalism Tajikistan – 21st Century are collaborating to train Tajikistan’s journalists in the latest technologies. Training for press service employees and journalists was held at the Media Center Building in Dushanbe.

Using interactive methods of teaching, IATP staff engaged representatives of public media organizations and the press services of the Ministries of Internal Affairs and Emergency Situations. Dushanbe IATP Center Administrator Abdurahim Abdumajitov taught advanced ICT skills and methods of creating effective public presentations. IATP Mobile Consultant Suhrob Rahimov taught participants how to add information to a website, use email, perform online research, and utilize online tools, such as www.mail.ru, www.yahoo.com, and www.gmail.com.

The Asia-Plus media group (www.asiaplus.tj) published a news story about the IATP course in its official website. Together with the Independent School of Journalism Tajikistan - 21st Century, IATP has trained more than 15 journalists and governmental officials since August 2008.

E-mail this page