Press Release: National Project to Strengthen E-readiness and support the Preparation of an ICT Policy in Lesotho

Press Release

The government of Lesotho, with financial assistance of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is embarking on a major effort to develop a national Information and Communications Technology (ICT) policy. The policy will establish the appropriate enabling environment for the development of ICT in Lesotho. Although Lesotho has a relatively adequate voice telephony capacity (both fixed and mobile) and reforms have been put in place to improve the situation further, it has one of Africa’s lowest internet connectivity with merely three internet service providers and approximately twenty one thousand internet users out of a population of 2.2 million. The importance of urgently addressing the digital divide and the need to accelerate connectivity has been recognized by the Government of Lesotho as one of its key priorities.

The national ICT policy project is being financed by an allocation of US$ 95 000 from the UNDP ICT Trust Fund. The project is a major step towards developing the ICT for development assistance in Lesotho, a country eager to address the growing digital divide. The project is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology, through its ICT department and the planning unit.

The draft National Vision states that “By 2020, Lesotho shall be a stable democracy, united, prosperous and at peace with itself and its neighbours. It shall have a healthy and well-developed human resource base, its economy will be strong, its environment well-managed and its technology well established”. Against this background, and realizing the importance of ICT development as a critical platform for national development, as well as a major driver for economic growth and job creation, the Government of Lesotho has requested UNDP to provide assistance in preparing a national policy and strategy to provide the overall framework for ICT development and to support an enabling environment for releasing the transformative potential of ICT to attract the relevant investment for infrastructure, enterprise, services and capacity development.

The overall objective of the project is to strengthen Lesotho’s national capacity to prepare a national policy and support the accelerated strategic use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to promote human development in Lesotho. The Government of Lesotho has thus identified a number of key areas- a central national infrastructure, increase Government connectivity and promote community and school connectivity- all necessary to successfully tackle the growing digital divide. The project consists of a number of core activities which are believed to further facilitate the process of including ICT for Development as a development agent in Lesotho:

a)     reviewing the legislative frameworks, contents, policies and institutional arrangements governing national e-readiness

b)     Ensuring the development of a national ICT policy within the context of the on-going Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) process effectively linking ICT to national priorities for poverty reduction.

c)      Supporting the establishment and capacity strengthening of the ICT Department within the Ministry of Communications. The department which will serve as the key body for monitoring implementation of the national ICT policy.

The project will also use the consultative process of the development of the national ICT policy as an important tool in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic. HIV/AIDS is a key development challenge in the Lesotho context, and exploring ICT as a tool for effective information and knowledge management, and information dissemination will be a priority. 

A team of International and Local consultants, experts and researchers is already working on drafting the National ICT policy. As part of the national consultative process, the team is holding dialogues with various stakeholders in Government, the private sector, academia, all aspects of civil society and the public at large, including especially the youth. In pursuit of this process, and utilizing ICT techniques themselves, the team will be conducting a public dialogue using radio, mobile SMS, email and feedback through government website.

The Team consists of:  

  18 July 2003