19 September 2001

Bonn, Germany: The United Nations Information Technology Service (UNITeS) has been nominated as a finalist for the Stockholm Challenge Award for its efforts to support rehabilitation efforts in the wake of a devastating super cyclone in Orissa, India.

The Stockholm Challenge is an annual awards programme highlighting initiatives in areas where information and communication technologies (ICT) have a great impact on people's lives.

An international jury has reviewed a record number of 742 projects from 90 countries to select finalists and winners. As one of the finalists in the "Health and Quality of Life" category, UNITeS has been invited by the City of Stockholm to participate in the final events that will take place 23-26 September in Stockholm, Sweden.

Through its information services, the Orissa-UNITeS project supports rehabilitation efforts after coastal areas of the Indian State of Orissa were severely devastated by a super cyclone in October 1999. A team of eight national UN Volunteers working under the UNITeS umbrella set up local information kiosks where they collect and disseminate information about damage, needs, and aid activities from and to all parties involved in the rehabilitation effort. They build capacity by training local citizens on relevant use of computers and the Internet.

As a result of the project, villagers now express their problems and needs by email to their authorities. Self-help groups or district/state governments can take informed decisions on which relief activities to apply, and citizens read about government programmes, like pension or employment services, on the Internet. And volunteers track weather patterns on web sites in efforts to avoid panic and provide early warning.

UNITeS is a global volunteer initiative with the aim to build individual and institutional capacities on the application of ICT to human development. Announced by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his Millennium Report, UNITeS is managed by the UN Volunteers programme. In addition to the volunteers in Orissa, there are some 50 ICT volunteers working through UNITeS in diverse projects around the world.

The Stockholm Challenge Award (www.challenge.stockholm.se) attracts ICT-entrepreneurs from all over the world and that rewards best practice of information technology. The participating projects show in practice how ICT can be applied to social welfare and health care programmes, or as a tool in favour of democracy.