The World Summit Award (WSA) is a global initiative to select and promote the world’s best in e-Content and Creativity, held in the framework of and in cooperation with the United Nations’ World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS). WSA places its emphasis on cultural diversity and identity, the creation of varied information content and the digitalization of educational, scientific and cultural heritage. It aims not only to make the benefits of the new Information Society accessible and meaningful for all humanity, but in particular to raise public awareness and give deserved public recognition to the highest quality e-Content, produced all over the world.

WSA strongly aims to encourage openness towards different cultures and to support the exchange of local best practice examples by and within its international network. It sees the bridging of the digital divide and narrowing of the content gap as its overall goal and, as of today, involves 168 countries on
each continent. The WSA associate partner network consists of over 120 professional organisations engaged in the development of multimedia on the national and international level. WSA is supported by numerous governments, heads of state and international organizations, including UNIDO, UNESCO and the UN ICT Task Force. All main activities are conducted with a strong support of the WSA worldwide partner network and are coordinated from the WSA Central Office at the ICNM – International Centre for New Media. For more information please visit: www.wsis-award.org

The award will be held in 8 categories:

* e-Learning,
* e-Culture,
* e-Science,
* e-Government,
* e-Health,
* e-Business,
* e-Entertainment, and
* Special Category: e-Inclusion.

It is my pleasure to invite you to an awareness session on the award on Saturday June 4 2005 at 10am, holding at the Lagos Digital Village, 46 Coattes Street, Ebute Metta, Lagos. The awareness session, with the theme "Showcasing the Best of Nigeria's eContent and Creativity", will introduce the awards in Nigeria, introduce potential nominees to the process website (for Nigeria) and flag off the process of selecting with the launching of the website that will serve as the official platform for the Nigerian eContent Awards. We look forward to the opportunity of working with you on showcasing the best of Nigeria's eContent and Creativity. Please write wsa-nigeria@icnm.net to confirm participation so we can make adequate arrangements for your participation.

[English translation follows...]

Chers Jeunes Africains:

À la conférence de développement de télécommunication du monde (Istanbul, 2002),
les participants ont souligné le besoin d'une plus grande coordination
régionale de faciliter une approche coordonnée et d'engager des membres dans le
processus de WTDC dès l'abord.

En réponse à ce besoin, une série de réunions préparatoires est organisée dans
chacune des cinq régions d'ITU, dont une est la réunion préparatoire régionale
de l'Afrique qui sera accueillie par le Nigéria. L'objectif est d'adopter des
stratégies appropriées de développement au niveau régional et secondaire, basé
sur des initiatives et des projets aussi bien que sur des questions et des
matières concernant les conditions de développement et des priorités des pays
de chaque région.

La pré-conférence accueillera un forum de la jeunesse, avec le thème, la
"Jeunesse et les Télécommunications: Associés pour le développement" -- pour
discuter la participation, la participation et l'entrée de la jeunesse au
processus de WTDC. La pré-conférence verra ses résultats introduits dans la
conférence principale en tant qu'élément de la jeunesse africaine entrée
dans le processus de WTDC. Le forum de la jeunesse aura lieu à Abuja - au
Nigéria de 1 au 3 juillet, 2005. Veuillez voir le site Web
(www.ncc.gov.ng/ITUWorkshop/itu-arpm/index.html) pour plus de détails et si vous
êtes intéressés à demander concernant une camaraderie, s’il vous plait
completez la forme jointe ou demande "d'une fiche de demande de camaraderie" à
partir de wtdc-youth@pin.org.ng. Les applications se fermeront Juin 3 2005.

Veuillez noter qu'après avoir rempli ce "formulaire de demande de amaraderie",
vous aurez le besoin immobile d'accomplir "la fiche de forum de la jeunesse"
comme décrit sur le site Web d'événement
(www.ncc.gov.ng/ITUWorkshop/itu-arpm/youth.html).

Les meilleurs souvenirs,

Pour L'Unité 2005 De la Jeunesse De l'WTDC-Afrique

===========================================================================

Dear African Youth:

At the World Telecommunication Development Conference (Istanbul, 2002),
participants underlined the need for greater regional coordination to
facilitate a coordinated approach and to engage members in the WTDC process
early on.

In response to this need, a series of preparatory meetings are being organized
in each of the five ITU regions, one of which is the Africa Regional
Preparatory Meeting which will be hosted by Nigeria. The objective is to adopt
appropriate development strategies at regional and sub regional level, based on
initiatives and projects as well as on questions and topics relevant to the
development requirements and priorities of the countries of every region.

The pre-conference will host a Youth Forum, with the theme, "Youth &
Telecommunications: Partners for Development" -- to discuss youth
participation, involvement and input to the WTDC process. The pre-conference
will see its outcomes fed into the main conference as part of African youth
input to the WTDC process.

The Youth Forum will take place in Abuja - Nigeria from 1 to 3 July, 2005.
Please see the website (www.ncc.gov.ng/ITUWorkshop/itu-arpm/index.html) for
more details and if you are interested in applying for a fellowship, please
copmplete the attached form or request for a "Fellowship Request Form" from
wtdc-youth@pin.org.ng. Applications will close on June 3 2005.

Please note that after completing this "Fellowship Request Form", you will
still need to complete the "Youth Forum Registration Form" as described on the
event website (www.ncc.gov.ng/ITUWorkshop/itu-arpm/youth.html).

Best regards,

For WTDC-Africa 2005 Youth Unit

'Gbenga Sesan