Youth prepare for WSIS

By Paul Vecchiatto, ITWeb Cape Town correspondent

Cape Town, 27 Jun 2005

Five hundred delegates are attending a New Economic Plan for Africa`s Development (Nepad) Youth Conference on Information Society today and tomorrow in preparation for the next round of the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS).

The conference is hosted by the Department of Communications and the Presidential National Commission on Information Society and Development and is being held at Bela-Bela (formerly Warmbaths) in the Northern Province.

Communications department director-general Lyndall Shlope-Mafole is also the chairperson of the Presidential National Commission on Information Society and Development, and has been a staunch supporter of the WSIS process from her time as SA`s representative with the International Telecommunications Union.

The second round of the WSIS is due to be held in the Tunisian capital of Tunis on 16 to 18 November.

"The director-general is the driver behind this conference," says Jerry Majatladi, the department`s chief director for media and communications.

Majatladi says communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri is due to address the conference later today.

According to a communications department statement, the main aims of the conference are to:

* Prepare the African youth to be informed and active participants at the youth summit which will take place during the WSIS.

* Initiate a platform for the African youth to engage in dialogue on issues regarding information society and to initiate a network among these youth for the post-summit activities.

* Build a cadre of young people who will raise awareness about WSIS in their countries, and promote e-awareness, and be active participants in building an inclusive information society in their countries and the continent.