EAC Secretariat joins with Tanzania ministry of EAC to launch information centre
ARUSHA, Tanzania, July 29, 2011/African Press Organization (APO)/ — The East African Community Secretariat in collaboration with the Ministry of East African Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania will launch an Information Resource Centre on Thursday 4 August 2011 at the Ministry headquarters at Water Front Building in Dar es Salaam.
EAC and GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) funded the Centre’s establishment, as part of the Information Sharing and Networking Project through which similar centres in other Partner States’ Ministries of EAC will be set up.
The aim of the newly established Information Resource Centre is to raise awareness of the various stakeholders about EAC. It is expected to be the focal point of access to EAC information in the United Republic of Tanzania. Policy makers, students, researchers and other stakeholders are among the targeted beneficiaries of the resource centre.
According to the EAC Principal Librarian Mrs Sarah Kagoda Batuwa, “the project will facilitate timely access to EAC information for the Partner States and also enable them be continuously aware and knowledgeable about developments in EAC”.
The establishment of the Information Resource Centres follows a survey done by the EAC Library Department in 2008/9 to assess the information needs of key Ministries such as Ministries of EAC, Finance and Trade, with regard to EAC information.
Basing on the results of the survey, the 18th Meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers urged Partner States to establish Model Resource Centres in EAC coordinating ministries as central access points for EAC information.
Notes to Editors
• The EAC Secretariat since its establishment has been generating a lot of information on the regional integration process, including among others, Summit, Council decisions, studies and reports. However, this information was neither easily accessible nor shared effectively with Partner States.
• In this regard the Information Sharing and Networking Project was developed in 2008 aimed at enabling the sharing of EAC information with Partner States in order to enhance implementation of Council decisions.
• In the Financial Year 2008/2009 a survey was carried out to assess the information needs of key Ministries (including among others, Ministries of EAC, Finance, Trade and Industry and Labour) with regard to EAC information and, to establish the availability of libraries/resource centres in these Ministries and their capacities to handle EAC information in terms of infrastructure, equipment, human resource, space, tools, funding etc.
• The establishment of the Information Resource Centre at the Ministry of East African Cooperation in Dar es Salaam follows the signing in December 2010 of a financial agreement by EAC and GIZ.
SOURCE
East African Community (EAC)
