Report of workshop on strategies for human resources development for information management in Africa

Abstract

Human Resources development and utilization is a major concern of many African countries. Various sectors of the African economies lack adequate highly qualified personnel, either because those well trained leave their countries for greener pastures or some sectors first have not been able to train adequate numbers of staff. In the information and documentation sector, lack of highly qualified staff with skills to handle information using modern techniques is a stumbling block to the development of the African member states. The African member states, realizing the poor situation in regard to information and documentation infrastructure in many African countries, created the pan African documentation and information system (PADIS), under the aegis of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The overall objective of PADIS is to assist African member states in the development or strengthening of their information and documentation infrastructures. The main objective of the workshop was to bring together experienced people from various institutions in Africa, dealing with the management of information and documentation centers, to discuss the problem of human resources development in the sector.