03 December 2003

Bonn, Germany: Walking the streets of Timbuktu, tourists bump into many young people already trying to make a living in this sand strewn, remote city in northern Mali. Some, like 14-year-old El Moctar, are guides of one of West Africa’s most talked about places. He approached a group of visiting UN Volunteers working on a decentralization project recently and offered to take them around to the city’s sites: the mosque, the library and the nearby sand dunes. Surprising his clients, he stated in a serious tone: “Since I have an email address that I opened up at the Community Telecentre, my life has changed. I can communicate with my tourist friends, send them handicrafts that they order from me and even reserve hotel rooms for them.”

In Mali’s rainy season, stretching from June through September, the road that leads to Timbuktu in the middle of the desert is nearly impassable. Only the skyways and cyberspace make it possible to visit this legendary city.

Indeed, getting to Timbuktu isn’t all that difficult anymore – it’s a mouse click away. You can just ask Mayor Mohammed Cissé who is embracing the power of the Internet for the sake of his constituents. Or better yet, send him an email and ask about his work with Malian UN Volunteer Fatoumata Haidara who is striving to get, and keep, the mayor online. “I’m thinking about delegating the traditional work of the mayor to my deputies in order to devote more time to this project that I hold close to my heart,” the mayor said.

The “online mayor” pilot project is part of the decentralization work of the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) in Mali to apply information and communication technology (ICT) for the development of rural regions. A main objective is to help bring government and decision-making closer to the people. Four UN Volunteers are active in this work. They set up community networks and train personnel in managing the computer systems that back up these networks of people. They also develop computer programmes and research content for web sites.

Timbuktu’s budding information needs are drawing considerable attention from others as well, including the French Afrique Initiatives group and its private national partner, Groupement Malien d’Informatique. The two groups have joined UNV, a number of local non-government organizations (NGOs) and professional associations in the project, and will contribute content to a new web site for the city, www.tombouctou.net.ml. The site will be launched during the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), the first part of which will take place in Geneva from 10 to 12 December 2003.

The web site will feature news and a section called “the Mayor at your Service”, which is to outline all facilities available from the mayor’s office, list job offers and publish current commodity prices. The “Decentralization in Timbuktu” pages will gather political texts from local leaders and public information about decentralization activities in the immediate region. “At the Heart of Timbuktu” will cater to tourists and historians and will include hotel booking information and historical and cultural reports.

Timbuktu’s “online mayor” is a pilot project that could serve as a model for similar initiatives in other Africa cities as well as those overseas.

* Henri Valot coordinates UNV's decentralization support project in Mali.