Capacity Development Initiatives for Marginal Communities: A Few Case Studies

Abstract

Capacity development initiatives for marginal communities with information and knowledge under the contemporary global scenario perhaps could be one of the effective instruments to make a meaningful change towards sustainable human development in developing countries. Information networking can play a key role in the initiatives toward enhancing opportunities for improved livelihood, health for all, food security, disaster management, and sustainable development. Best practices are already known in this regard such as e-commerce for better livelihood and employment, telemedicine for health, tele-food for food security, early warning for disaster preparedness, and sustainable development network as a comprehensive treatment for the sustainable development. This chapter focuses on how capacity development initiatives for marginal communities work with reference toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in developing countries. It approaches the issues and concerns related with the empowerment of the marginal communities, problems, and apprehensions in human and social capacity development in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector. A lot more effort is required from governments, NGOs, and other multilateral agencies in order to bring about a sustainable mechanism of ICT planning, implementations, and development in developing countries. This chapter aims at highlighting the importance of ICT development, and the issues and concerns that are related for its expansion in the developing world for securing sustainable development.