On Wednesday the 30th of June, Elsa Caternet, Project Director, and Agathe Dalisson, International Projects Coordinator, were invited to participate in the recording of Ziad Maalouf’s “L’Atelier des Médias” on RFI, accompanied by Sree Rameshaiah from Mahiti, Internews Europe's partner in India.
During the programme, two projects supported by Internews were presented, Freedom Fone in Zimbabwe and MySMENews in India, both representing excellent examples of the use of mobile telephony at the service of social development and of information sharing.
The programme was broadcast on RFI on the 3rd of July. It is available as a podcast.
Given the very high penetration of mobile phones (sometimes higher than that of the Internet) in certain developing countries, Internews Europe is very active in the development of projects using mobile telephony to circulate information that can truly change the lives of those who benefit.
In India, Internews Europe pilots the "My SME News" project, the first economic news agency dedicated to helping the poorest of the poor. In the slums of Calcutta, 500,000 people currently benefit from this service, established thanks to a partnership with local micro-finance initiatives.
In Zimbabwe, Internews Europe accompanies the development of Freedom Fone, an interactive information exchange service that uses mobile phone technology. Zimbabwean citizens can currently use this service to share their views and ask questions on the creation of the new Constitution which follows on from the establishment of the National Unity Government in February 2009. Freedom Fone is led by Kubatana, Zimbabwean partner of Internews Europe.