SPEECH BY THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, HONOURABLE M. T. THABANE (M.P) AT THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF DPE WEBSITE

MASTER OF CEREMONY

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:


It is a pleasure for me to be present here today, to participate in this important occasion. I am highly impressed by the work you do, which is that of education and provision of information. It is programmes like this that will see Lesotho become part of the Information Society the status for which we aspire for. This is evident from the ICT Policy that was adopted by the government in March 2005.

This policy emphasizes use of ICTs in developing the economy and bridging the digital divide. It targets amongst others, eradication of poverty. Ladies and gentlemen, you will recall that information is a prerequisite for any development or fight against poverty. Therefore, apart from empowering our people, you are doing a very important job of assisting in the fight against poverty and other detrimental diseases like HIV and AIDS. Also rest assured we have noticed that HIV and AIDS is a core stream in all your programs. To this I say thank you for making a difference to the lives of Basotho.

We note with interest that most of the work you do contributes in one way or another to the achievement of the Vision 2020 objectives to mention but a few: Good governance, Economic Justice and Policy dialogue, Community organization and Empowerment.


Ladies and gentlemen,

Development of a website is a critical step in bridging the digital divide. It is a way of

providing access to ICTs and contributes to the attainment of global programs like the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the World Summit for Information Society (WSIS) program of action. Let me also take this opportunity to advise you that you should not only stop at launching of this website, the development of content and applications should continue.

Content and applications of ICTs should be treated with the seriousness they deserve. No meaningful development will take place if information provided is not appropriate and relevant to the society that receives it. What do we mean by relevant content? We mean information needed by our people, necessary for the development of their day today lives.


KHOTSO, PULA, NALA

THANK YOU