Policy Statement 2: Government shall ensure that Malawi adheres to the ICT
standards as enlisted in international and regional agreements to which it is a
signatory.
3.10. UNIVERSAL ACCESS OF ICT AND ICT RELATED SERVICES.
The majority of Malawians live in rural and underserved areas. These areas do
not have adequate access to ICT services due to poor or no network coverage,
insufficient access to public pay phones as well as personal phones, very limited
availability of postal and Internet services, limited TV coverage, and lack of
relevant Internet content that may be useful to them. One of the fundamental
principles of the Constitution of the Republic of Malawi is to enhance the quality of
life in rural communities and to recognize rural standards of living.
Policy Statement 1: Government shall ensure that all people in every part of
the country have access to affordable, reliable and efficient essential ICT services
in their community by 2016.
Policy
Statement
2:
Government
shall
promote
the
development
and
implementation of initiatives for the creation and development of electronic local
content that will inform, educate and entertain the public.
Policy Statement 3:
Government shall ensure the provision of financial
incentives to ICT service providers for expansion of infrastructure and services to
areas that are not economically viable and ensure that services are viable and
sustainable in the long term;
Policy
Statement
4:
Government
shall
facilitate
the
deployment
and
exploitation of ICTs in the promotion of diversification and improvement of the
quality of information; increasing accessibility to ranges of information resources
within and outside the country and creating a supportive environment for the
development of the mass media and the private press in the information age;
Policy Statement 5: Government, in coordination with Non-governmental
organizations and development partners, shall mobilize financial resources for
implementation of ICT programmes for women and the youth;
Policy Statement 6: Government shall encourage and promote the development
of special ICT services for the disadvantaged communities and the disabled;
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