Today we had a lunch meeting with Salomao Manica (ICT Policy Commission), Laureno Chemane (ICT Policy Commission), Aeneas Chuma (DRR) and Violet Kakyomya (PO).
Salomao started by explaining the reasons as to why they would rather not hold a meeting with 8 countries (one powerful being the issue of country selection, the second the issue of impact at the continental level).
We all agreed to have a full Africa meeting instead. Given the existing schedule of events, it was suggested that the workshop be held between 18 and 20 August in Maputo. A new international conference facility is now operating and used for the upcoming AU meeting in July.
The idea is to now invite government and non-gov representatives to the meeting. Salomao was especially keen on including civil society in the proceedings. Chuma suggested that Diabre and/or Janneh send a letter asking COs to support participation with local resources.
The CO has offered to recruit a local consultant to start working on the “road map to Maputo” as early as possible. A local company will be recruited to support all the logistics of the workshop. UNDP, thru HQ and SURF WA, will provide substantive support on the preparation of the agenda.
I also mentioned the additional assistance that Pierre will be getting thru the intern.
One idea suggested was to do a case study of the Mozambican ICTD Strategy process to be showcased at the workshop and less successful.
NEPAD sponsoring will also be sought.
Finally, in a later meeting with Fred Tipson, Markle expressed interest in the workshop and hinted at providing financial support for tangible inputs (i.e., it will not pay for travel but could pay for the case study or equipment, etc.)
Raúl
