5 December 2006
Mindset Network- a South African NGO- was announced the winner of the 2006 Development Gateway Award. The award issues a $100,000 cash prize as acknowledgement of excellence in the use of information and communications technologies for development, and .recognizes projects, organizations and individuals who improve the lives of young people. The Development Gateway Foundation is an international NGO that provides Web-based tools to make aid and development efforts more effective.
Receiving the award on behalf of Mindset Network, Lusanda Jiya, Business Development and Marketing Executive of the organisation said “Education is the key to the elimination of poverty and as an organisation, Mindset strives to empower youth and health professionals through innovative and engaging educational tools.”
The Awards Ceremony was held by Development Gateway Foundation at a special lunchtime forum at the ITU Telecom World in Hong Kong on Dec. 5, 2006. Organized by the International Telecommunication Union and sponsored by the government of China, this annual event brought together the world’s leading information and communications technology companies, decision-makers, organisations, government officials and other technology stakeholders.
Previous winners include esteemed individuals such as joint 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus and the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, as well as cutting edge projects such as, eChoupal (a program of ITC Limited of India). Mindset Network was selected from among the 160 nominees.
“By recognising achievement in ICT, the Development Gateway Award highlights the impact technology can have on development. As Mindset we are proud to receive such recognition by the international community. It gives us confidence that in providing educational support to our youth and communities we are on the right track. However, there is much more work that we need to do to ensure that the benefits of this kind of support to both the education and health sectors for South Africa and Africa is more widespread ” said Vis Naidoo, Mindset’s CEO.
Mindset Network is a not for profit organisation set up in 2002 for the purpose of providing educational solutions for the formal education, health and livelihoods sectors (see www.mindset.co.za for more details).
Issued for and on behalf of Mindset Network
Contact: K. Falconer
+27 11 408 1457
+27 73 463 6841
kofi@mindset.co.za