• SustainUS Briefing on Rural Development for the 16th Session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development

May 2008

I. Implementation of integrated planning and decision making

Rural Development Case Study – Youth Empowerment Project: solving ethical issues that arise in the decision-making process from the implementation of global policies in local and need-specific settings – Uganda

Description – How may the implementation of global policies, like the Millennium Development Goals, infringe on the decision-making processes of local and grassroots NGOs? This case study would analyze the successes and struggles of the Youth Empowerment Project, an initiative of Youth Encouragement Services (YES) funded by UNICEF. The program sought to assist orphaned children as well as their extended families by providing health care, school fees, vocational training, scholastic materials, shoes and school lunches. By examining terms of the agreement between YES and UNICEF on how the money was to be spent, the resources delivered to the beneficiaries, and the quarterly and final project reports, the case study assess how global organizations and local groups and NGOs insure that their legitimate concerns are reflected in decision making processes for implementing aid and development programs.

II. Local entrepreneurship through public private initiatives

Rural Development Case Study – Kuppam HP i-community – India

Description – Kuppam is a village in India, about 105 kilometers from Bangalore, with a population of 300,000 and 62,400 households. Through private-public partnership, HP’s i-community facilitated a framework of solutions to implement explicitly stated community needs in numerous areas such as healthcare, education, entrepreneurial development and agriculture. Key Initiatives of the i-community are:

a) Village Photographer Programme: This entrepreneurial development initiative trained women in photography and provided them with free HP digital camera and solar-powered printers. These entrepreneurs now earn a steady income by taking ID photos and pictures of cultural and official events. This inturn empowered them to discuss lines of credit for their group with banks.

b) Solutions Portal: Bilingual web based applications on the i-community portal which provides an easy access to essential information and services such as citizen empowerment, health, economic development and education.

c) ICT infrastructure: A wireless wide area broadband network enabled ICT driven solutions like internet telephony, internet radio and public broadcasting. This network also connects various service providers like the Community Information Centers (CICs), government offices, hospitals and police stations.

d) Mobile Solutions Centers: Mobile vans equipped with telemedicine services, literacy testing station, solar-powered computers and soil testing laboratory, have made solutions more accessible to an average of 15,000 people per van, per month.

e) Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) help lines to hospitals and police.

Kuppam, through public-private partnership has transformed into a self-sustaining economy where access to common technology has created income, raised literacy rates, provided access to healthcare, government services and education and opened new markets.