The IFAP is UNESCO’s international programme which seeks to address the information divide between the north and the south, and among various social groups. IFAP aimed at harnessing the new opportunities of the information age and create equitable societies through better access to information. IFAP established in 2000.
The IFAP concentrates its efforts on the five priority areas
- Information for Development focuses on the value of information for addressing
development issues. - Information Literacy empowers people in all walks of life to seek, evaluate, use and create information effectively to achieve their personal, social, occupational and educational goal.
- Information Preservation will be predominantly executed by strengthening the underlying principles of the Memory of the World Programme, beyond its registers, which serve as catalysts to alert decision makers and the public at large.
- Information Ethics cover the ethical, legal and societal aspects of the applications of ICT and derive from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- Information Accessibility encompasses the many issues surrounding availability,
accessibility and affordability of information, as well as the special needs of people with disabilities.
The main objectives of the IFAP are:
- To promote international reflection and debate on the ethical,
- Legal and societal challenges of the information society,
- Promote and widen access to information in the public domain through the organization and digitization and preservation of information,
- Support training, continuing education and lifelong learning in the fields of communication information and informatics,
- Support the production of local content and foster the availability of indigenous knowledge through basic literacy and ICT Literacy training,
- Promote the use of international standards and best practices in communication,
- Information and informatics in UNESCOS fields of competence and
- Promote information and knowledge networking at local national regional and
international levels.
To facilitate implementation of the programme each UNESCO member state is required to form a National Committee to coordinate programme activities.
In 2010 UNESCO National Commission of United Republic of Tanzania established IFAP National Committee. The committee works closely with information stakeholders to promote an enabling environment for access to information, to identify relevant programmes for implementation and coordinate their implementation in the country.
