Development via the internet

Some 23 specialists in institutional communications attended a seminar on 'The Internet as a Tool for Development' held recently in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, according to the UN Department of Public Information. Participants in the seminar, organised by the United Nations and the Francophone Institute, represented ministries and institutions in the fields of education, information/communication and development from nine countries in French-speaking West Africa. It aimed to promote the use of the Internet as a tool of economic and social development in the region, the DPI said. Participants were trained to set up web sites and to present their institutions and activities. They were also introduced to information resources on the United Nations, the UN system web sites and those of the francophone organisations. Participants came from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal and Togo. Others represented UN Information Centres in Dakar and Ouagadougou and the Abidjan office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).